The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-08-30
MUCH READING IS
DONE IN kEOkUk
Ninety Thousand Volumes Taken Out
Of Public Library Every Year,
and Ten Thousand by
School Children.
SOME FEATURES UNIQUE
Has Smoking Room, Section OF Books
by keokuk Authors and Remark
able Collection of His
toricaI Treasures.

The condition and use of the pup.
lie library is very good lndex oi
the character of the people inhabiting
any town or city.
Keokuk makes much use OF It's e4-
cellent public library.
Generally when the annual re-
ports are in, it is found that heokuk
circulates more books per capita
from her library than does any city
in the state except the seat OF tne
university
The Keokuk library is over fifty
years old. 1t was large while it was
the property of a voluntary assocla-
tion which later transferred 1t to the
city of Keokuk.
1t is conducted in way to make
it the most useful and easy OF access
to the masses of the city OF keokuk.
A board of trustees administers 1t,
board members being appointed by
the mayor and generally reappolnt
ed. so that the term of actual serV-
ice is very long, lifetime in some
instances. This conduces TO con
slant expert administration OF the
library.
keokuk People Are Readers.
In the Keol1uk public library there
are about $4,000 books, with over
thousand being added every year.
There is a large accumulation or the
best books of permanent value, IN
art, history, sociology and other
sciences, as well as In every depart
ment OF literature.
The number Of books taken out and
read during a year is about 10000
volumes. nearly 10000 of which are
read by school pupils in the public
and parochial schools of Keokuk.
About $500 persons have cards en-
tftIing them to receive books, which
is an average of about two to the
family throughout the city.
In the Forefront of Service
Every facility for reading and re-
search is given the public. College
students come for miles around to do
research work among the large col
lection of solid works in the Keokuk
library.
The library is open Sunday after
moons except during the hottest
months Of the year.
The Keokuk library is one of only
two in America having a smoking
room, the other being at Joplin, Mis-
souri,. This smoking room is fitted
up for men to smoke and read in the
greatest comfort books being taken
to it as to any other department.
In the matter OF a building, the
Keokuk is entangled in requests
and Carnegie rules, making 1t i'm
possible as yet to get Carnegie
building, or even to build a new IL
brary outright without paying the
penalty of sending $4,000 to Williams
college, in Massachusetts. The Keo-
kuk library is not elegantly housed.
although it's rooms are adequate for
its purpose in the same way that a
log cabin well lighted and heated is
a very good place TO study Latin
and history.
Soldiers, Mark Twain and Others.
AS historical depository and
museum, the. Keokuk library is sec
ond only to the big state historical
building.
There are real treasures Of the
civil war in which Keokuk played so
important part. There are many
oil portraits of famous statesm en-
and generals whom Keokuk gave to
the world. There is the famous oil
portrait Of Mark Twain, lost fo-
many years, painted while he lived
here in Keokuk. There is the Keo-
kuk directory of 1858, all the type Of
which was set by Mark Twain in the
print shop of his brother, Orion
Clemens, on Main street nea- Second
street, in which directory Samuel
Langhorne Clemens gives himself
the occupation Of antiquarian. j"
There are a multitude of really i'm
portant historical things, including
the only portrait OF Chief Keokuk
made during his life.
feature to be seen nowhere else
is the section of shelves containing
books by Keokuk authors, a score
and more in number of authors, and
with many books. The Keok1k
biography Of each is shown on cards
in the cases.