Perth Amboy evening news., 1911-01-24
YEAR REPORT OF LIBRA
RAN IS EXCELLENT

tContinued from paEs IL
Ing Club, organized and managed by
the girls themselves under the direc-
| ton of the librarian. The club was
little more than an experiment, but
showed the enormous field for devel-
opment that lies In this direction.
Any one with ideas for civic I'M
provement could not do better than
to help the older boys and girls, es-
~pecially in the northern section OF
the city, form for themselves some
sort of a social organization which
would mean to them something In
the way OF profit and pleasure.
Since October this room has also
been used as a meeting place by the
Art Department of the Woman's
Club.
In February one of our library
new members. AS a direct result OF
this extra assfstAnce our work with
the children has been carried on In
their reading has been better direct
ed, we have been able to give closer
personal attention to the require
ments Of borrowers, and all detail
connected with the administration
of the library has been kept thor
onghiy up to date.
Through May and June opportuni-
ty was given Miss Fraser and Miss
Bovine. of the stan, to take the Sum
mer Course In Library Training con-
Quoted by the State Commission at
Asbury Park. Both young ladies
N aA Hi. kY-~A Ar .~..cA ond
returned to US feeling that. they had
gained much toward 8 wider knowi-
edge OF library methods.
The annual meeting OF the New
Jersey and Pennsylvania Library
Associations, held as usual at Allan
tic City In March, was attended by
the librarian, and In October, by SCI
curing substitutes. the entire staff
had the pleasure of attending the
annual meeting OF the New Jersey
Association at Asbury Park.
The value of~these conferences In
furnishing a centre for an exchange
of ideas and in giving those actively
engaged in the work new zeal for
carrying 1t on. cannot be owe esti-
mated.
The grounds about our building
were further improved last spring by
the addition Of more trees, and the
building itself has been kept In good
repair. On three occasions thieves
have forced an entrance into the
library by way OF the basement win
dows, we have now had each of them
protected with heavy wire reel
which we trust win prove effective.
Circulation.
The steady increase in the number
OF books issued for home reading
has continued during 1910, which
shows a gain OF 5,336 over 1908 and
of 29,071 oyer 1904, fhe first year
that the library was open in the
present building.
Dividing the total circulation by
the number OF ru1umes we have,
shows that each book WIS circulated
rs times. This is considerably
above the average.
Geographically we are located in
the centre OF the city which Is rapid
~ building up about us, but many
people still complain that 1.-THE lib
fary IL too far away" Temporary
isposit stations at two convenient
north and south Of us would |
ze HAG Observation-Disclosures
OF books.
To supply ore fiction for those
who desire that class of reading. we
In April what Is known as q
Pay Collection. BY this
system the newest
books are put into the hands OF the
people who wisf, them, without ex-
pense to the library, while those
who do not are to spend the penny,
and who do not mind waiting are
provided for by the duplicate copy
in the frea collection. Many OF our
borrowers have commended ttat~ pIsn
ana expressed themselves as much
pleased with 1t.
Another satisfactory measure
adopted has been In the manner of
directing attention to older and less
popular books than current fiction
by selecting every week a certain
number of books from each class
and placing them where they attract
notice, BY this plan OF rotation
every book In the library is given an
opportunity to be put into e~ircula-
ton.
The usual vacation plan Of allow