Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1909-11-04

!
One of the best ways Of keeping up
a good circulation is by the regu-
lar purchase of new books It mat
ters not how small the list may be,
! fer the interest and expectation of
finding something new acts as an
incentive. AS matter of fact, the
old books are superior to most of
| those put on the market, but the peo-
! pie crave the latest
Judicious advertising in the daily
papers is often times helpful Ad-
vertise the material the library has
on any subject before the public as
we'll as lists of books. But in my
judgment, the best and surest way
IS the personal relation of the Ii
brarian to her patrons getting to
know their interests, needs and then
bringing the right book and the right
rf son together. A bright, interest
ins story, given to a tired, discour-
aged woman, will bring her back.
But in spite of. every effort on
the part of the librarian, the circu-
lat1On may be low. In our own city
We have, as you know, an exception
ally good library of something like
$500 carefully selected books, with
two trained librarians in charge, who
meet every possible requirement as
to ability, both earnest and united
IN their desire to please the public
All the above suggestions have been
carefully anticipated by them and
also many other plans for urging
greater interest in the work they
have in charge. For example, in the
hope Of inducing the men employed
in the mills and factories located in
and around Grand Rapids, large pla-
cards have been posted in conspic-
uoUs places on which are printed the
Library hours and the attractions it
offers to visitors, especially mention
ing the six new industrial magazines
lately added to the circulation de-
ton in the main library last year
was about 800 with a decrease from
the school patrons Of over 700, an
increase of only 200 which the libra
rian claims is far below the average
Of other libraries in the state One
reason for the marked falling off of
amount of fiction, said to have been
added to the school library. The To-
cation of the present library quar-
ters with its long flight of stairs,
have been another hindrance which
can be corrected in two ways. Eli
ther by securing a new building more
centrally located, with library rooms
on the ground floor, or if this seems
unadvisable, to establish a branch
station on the opposite side of the
river for the benefit of the many
west side patrons.
1t would seem as if a better idea
Of the correct patronage of the libra
ry might be obtained if some record
were kept of the users of the refer
ence books, and reading rooms.
There are many hundreds of volum
es Of valuable books and magazines
that are not in the circulating de
partment and yet are in constant US
age.
just one more suggestion, and that
is that clipping collection would be
an inexpensive and invaluable addi-
tion to the library We have in our
own home such a collection filed in
case made to order, which is sim
iliar in appearance to a chiffonier,
with a double row Of drawers, made
large enough to hold the large size
filing envelopes. By saving ones
newspapers and magazines, and when
at leisure, clip all items of more than
passing interest, and filing them in
the envelopes which are placed al
phabetically, one could soon have the
nucleus Of a library that could be
continued Indefinitely. AS to sub
jects, clip the lives of celebrated men
and women or anecdotes concerning
! famous people; an interesting bit Of
statistics which one ought to have
at command an historical study, a
description Of a famous painting
natural history, wild flowers, anythin:
which seems worth while Such a
collection would be especially use
ful to club women and to pupils in
our public schools.
But no matter how much effort ma
be put forth by our librarians to
make the public library attractive
both by the selection of good books
and the manner in which they are
housed, those efforts will be practi-
cally useless without the cooperation
OF a responsible and sympathetic