The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-01-24
PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM BIRMINGHAM'S EXAMPLE
 OF EFFECTIVE SERVICE
By FLORA MrLNER HARRISON

It would be hard to find better exam pie of effective service than that daily demonstrated in Rirmingham's public li- braries. It is necessary but to spend 8 few minutes at the loan desk. to pass by the shelves where people are selecting books throughout the day, to go through the childrens department. and into the reading and reference room to see what use is being made of the central library. A visit to any one of the branch H. braries-. will show service of the same kind.
 A glance at report recently made will show in figures the increase and will give some idea of the progress the libraries are making. The months of November, 1913, and November. 1914, were compared There was an increase of POT per cent in the number of books added to the li- braries, of 249 per cent in the number of new borrowers of books registered in the loan department, and of 115 per cent Tn the number of books issued for home use, while in comparison of the year ending September 30, 1913, and September 30. 1914, there was an increase of from 30 to 50 per cent in every department.
 Some Instances of Service
 Late one Saturday afternoon recently girl asked at the loan desk for something for an invalid, "a book like Daddy Long Legs or Friendship Village or some thing of that kind that a sick person would enjoy"
 Look over this list and the librarian indicated d bulletin board on which was posted list headed, Books for h. valids.'
 a On the corner of the desk were several books marked "As interesting asa novel,. They are such books On Board the Good Ship Earth, a. collection of s'Mr. Dooley'. stories, and others that one would enjoy reading and yet would probably not think of in looking for a popular novel. a
 In other places in the room are collec- tions pertaining to given subjects and to topics of current interest. These are changed from time to time, so that even the frequent visitor or regular patron finds something new.
 In the afternoons. especially on Satur- day, there is stream of people passing in and out. Books for reading on Sunday are in demand on Saturday, and the range of books called for then and at other times is almost as wide as the varied in- terests represented in Birmingham.
 Reference and Reading Room
 The reference room is in constant use. Club members are there every day to look up references on every possible subject for papers, and school children for material for debates. The visitors to that spart- ment change according to the hours of the day. In the morning there are those who have leisure at that time or who take the time to go for notes for papers or ad- dresses. Later the number of these in- n iph pupils enter. begin a search for debate books, encyclopedias. books of parallel readings, and references, and settle down in quiet groups or alone to get up ma terial for recitations or for school socie- ties. At dusk there are those who drop by from work to inform themselves on some subject that has come up during the day or to look over magazines and papers. One finds there, the daily papers from other cities as well as Birmingham dailies. In the evening others spend an hour or more in reading. The room is comforta- ble and quiet and with the abundant mat ter it offers is a good place for reading or study. One who desires may find there every convenience for carrying on a course of reading or study through the winter.
 The periodicals are in demand constantly and the selection is good including some thfiS iol dliilOSl every stpdIdte lIttTeSt
 Attention to Individual Calls
 And speaking of separate interests, one is mistaken to think of the library as handling it's work en fnasse. There is much more individuality in it than one would imagine. not only Individuality in the sense of it's being conducted espe- cially for Birmingham, but also for the individual people of Birmingham. The directory is used. and list is kept of people who have asked for books on gwen subjects or who, the di- rector knows gre interested in certain lines. When a book is found that will be of service or pleasure to one of these a card is sent. notifying him that such and such a book is in the library. For example, a man who had no card at the library and had probably never used it directly was working on certain l civic question. for which he wanted all the information he could get. A card was sent him that a book on that subject vas il. the library, and he called for it at once. 1t had probably not occurred to him that he could find what he wanted, | and the library. recognizing this fact. makes an effort to supply such needs even before there is a call at the desk
 Two books were ordered short time ago on rruif;Cipal ownership and cards were sent cut as soon as they arrived. | modifying three or four men most in- teI ested ill this question that these books could be secured By o'clock the next 1 afternoon both books were out
 This plan is carried out on a large | scale, MT. Milan adding to and revis- | ing lis list ir order to accommodate as | many persons as possible. Anyone who wants to be informed as to what books are l added to the library and deal with their 1