Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-02-04
| ANNUAL L,sRxRv MEETING.
Public Library Shown to be in Good
Condition BY Annual Reports.

Condition ~ annual REPORTS.
That the public library is in good
condition turnout Its Various depart
ments is shown in the reports of the
officers, given at the annual meeting
held Wednesday evening. The repor,
OF the president, DIR. Cora Williams
Choate, summarized briefly the mos,
! important items of interest in the H.
brary during the year ending Dec. 81.
OF these the one Of greatest value tc
the public was the re-classification OF
the library.
The report Of C. c.. st Clair, treasurer.
showed the income OF the library from
taxes and other sources, to be $5,320.59.
The unexpended balance of 1914 was
$935.04, giving total working basis of
$6.255.63. The expenditures. including
the salaries of the staff, purchase Of
books, and general maintenance of the
library, amounted to $5,470.42, leaving
a balance of $785.21. r. ..e.
The report OF Miss Anna Maude Kim
berly, librarian. gave resume of the
work accomplished in the library in the
various ways during the entire year.
Material gains in every department
were shown. There have been more
new readers registered, more work with
clubs and schools, a larger gain in cir.
culation at the branches. more calls for
reference work. more readers in the
reading rooms. larger number of
clubs and committees using the audi
forum, and more books circulated for
home reading than in any other year
in the history Of the library.
The one big thing, the re- classifica-
ton of the library. has been practically
accomplished in the past seven months
Over $4,000 books have been re-classi-
fled, re-catalogued and all the catalog
cards typed and filed. The old card
catalog was not a correct index to the
books on the shelves. and as the new
catalog now stands it contains a card
for the author of each book in the
library, one for each title. and one for
each subject treated in the book, ar
ranged in strictly alphabetical order as
the words in a dictionary. This places
the library on the same modern cassi-
cation with other libraries.
A total of 1904 books have been
added, CAB by purchase. 2s9 by gift,
ninety-eight bound magazines. and
twenty four transferred from the du-
plicate collection. AS 404 books were
withdrawn as worn out, the net gain
Der of volumes in the library to be at
present 1868.
This circulation of books for home
use registered 1925, gain of $500
over the proceeding year. This in
cludes the circulation from the stations
at Arson and Abbott schools, the de-
post stations at the rest room at the
court house, Y. M. c.. A. and Y. w. c.
A no Ia CT fxxyN Of Jyh iph
during the year. .-.... :.
Nine hundred fifteen new readers
cards were issued, the total number OF
cards in active use numbering 5,32S.
With city population of 16.0S5, many
of whom can not read. the percentage
of those using the library Is very nearly
one-half of the population.
Very many valuable gifts have been
made of books, magazines, pictures and
articles to the museum. The late G.
H. Conover, of Chicago. gave over $50
volumes, including history, travel, BIZ
ography, and natural history. He also
gave twelve pictures, a nucleus for
good art collection. Il Especially to be
mentioned is the large oil copy of Zu-
gels Oxen Fording q Stream. the
original of which is, in the Metropol-
itall museum; the three panel selection
from Abbey's Holy Grail: the quaint
copy of the wedding of Priscilla and
John Alden, and the unique English
hunting scene. Copies of portraits
by several masters were also included.
The children,s department showed a
circulation of 23,545 books. Much spe-
cial work has been done in various
lines in this department.
The summary of statistics shows the
largest daily circulation during the year
to have been 727, ana average Of 2o3;
1859 rental books issued. 1,49S pictures
circulated, the percentage of fiction 81;
magazines and newspapers on file 11S.
twenty-five branch libraries issued,
and desk receipts $247.59.