The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-01-06
FROWNS UPON CHEAP
BOOKS; GET THE BEST
DO NOT PICK THOSE RIGHT HOT
FROM THE PRESS.
Suggestions Made BY Miss Maud
van Buren, in Her Annual he
port Which She Submitted to
the Board of Directors Last
Night; Intensive Work Has
Been Done During Past Year.

submitted to the library board ~
Miss Maud van Buren,, the librarian;
To the Board Of Directors: Cen
tlemen: Herewith is submitted the
report of the Mankato public library
for l9lO--the seventeenth in the his
tory of the library. The work this
year has been intensive rather than
extensive and results are encOuraS
ing as will be seen by that part oil
this report under the heading cir
culation.'
No attempt will be made TO set
forth here all the activities of the
library, as these have been recorded
i'll previous reports; but word
about our aims and their outcome
within the past five years may not
be out of place since the members
of the staff leave SO soon for other
fields OF work,
Frown on Cheap Literature.
No library can afford to lower its
standard by placing on its shelves
books bot from the press just be-
cause they are blazOned forth on
billboards and magazine covers. The
argument that patrons pay taxes
and support the library and there
fore should have what they want
is dangerous one for library 10
hold, as dangerous as the sale OF
more intoxicating liquor to the man
already full That library has no
excuse for existing, which does not
rise above the plane of the 10 cent
show.
Our object has been not to put
ur2n our shelves the largest number
of books our money could buy, but
to select SO carefully and push so
strenuously as to raise the standard
of taste in the community and to
make of this institution center OF
culture.
People Have Good Taste.
MankatCnians have as good taste
as the proverbial Bostonians, we be-
leve, and we have proven by ey-
perience that our patrons will read
good literature when good literature
is put within their reach; when
UOOho vi iCttl idIbCi IMAM
books of an ephemeral nature are
placed to catch the eye of every
one approaching the desk-fiction
that is sound and wholesome and
nOn-fictiOn to appeal to the student,
the professional man, the artisan,
the tradesman; to the mother, the
society woman, the housemaid, the
no nj
elevate the taste; nor does this bar
cut light notwithstanding for the
tired mother requiring recreation;
for the sentimental miss in high
school or factory, reading for the
man or woman getting his or her
first introduction to literature.
The library takes q part in all cam
paigns; tuberculosis, the commission
plan of government, good roads, food
inspection, politics, etc, thereby
standing for the practical as well as
the cultural.
That the institution has taken u
firm hold on the community life is
evidenced by the use made of it by
men and women in every walk OF
life Several important improve
nents about the building have been
made, chief among them the thor
ough cleansing of the building, the
addition of a sanitary fountain, anu
IL n4w stack which furnishes ample
room for growth in the circulating
department, but the congestion il
the reference room is u serious prob
elm which must be met before tho
summers magazine binding is done
Registration.
With the 925 new patrons record
ed this year our total registration
is now G,156. Many of these, how
ever. are students who remain but
few months. AS a result of the
reduction Of the nonresident fee
from three dollars to one dollar f;
year. there has been an increase
III the nonresident membership bu
it is still hoped that in the near flu
ture the county commissioners ma,
provide the small sum required t,
make the library free to all resi-
dents of the county. Every possbl,
privilege is granted residents ami
transient patrons. There are few
rules and no ''red tape" i'm our re
gime.
Circulation.
This phase OF the work has beef
marked not SO much by quantity a
by quality. Looking back over tn
five years of our experience here
the staff sees marked improvement
in the Kind os r.: < done In thi
time the circulation of non-fictiol
has increased from "a to As per cen
and the fiction called for is Of
much better grade now than fol-
merly. OF the non-fction circulation
noticeable growth in the dram
and sociology is recorded. The TO
lowing table shows where the in
crease has been largest and wher
the patrons main interests lie:
In 1905, philosophy, 140; religion
1870; sociology, 435; language, SO
science, 493; useful arts, 973; fin
arts, 51i literature, LOS; histor,
621; travel, 1,O66: biography, 75(
Continued on Page Seven.