Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-06-08
LIBRARIANS REPORT
Continued from page One)

aZlneS together with the monthly
American Library Association Book
list and the monthly Readers Guide
to Periodical Literature, both neces-
sary library tools. For subscription to
the various periodicals there was paid
out during the year SOAPS, some of
the money being for two-year renew
ais at a reduced rates. The library
also regularly received as gifts nine
weekly and monthly periodicals and
one daily newspaper, together with
the daily Congressional Record, re-
ceived from the government. Like
wise important were the gifts of older
volumes and parts of volumes which
were given by local residents for use
in the reference department. Among
the donors of magazines, both new and
old, during 1915 were the ladies' sew
ing club of St. Casper's Catholic
church, the local Christian Science So
ciety, the trustees of the Mary Baker
Eddy fund, the Ladies' Aid Society of
the First Congregational church. the
Ladies Aid Society of the First
Methodist Episcopal church, Mrs. E.
P Ames, the late Mrs. G. D. Green. c.
F. Greenough, Mrs. Charles Humph
reys, and Mrs. o. C. Standish.
The Story Hour
The third year of the library story
hours for children brought a greater
attendance than either of the two pre-
vious years. For the younger children
there were Is weekly story hours dur
ing the months of January, February,
March, November and December with
total attendance of TAI children. or
an average of more than Al children
per story hour. At one of these story
hours, however, there was a grafo-
nola concert to which the children of
all the grades of the public schools
were invited, the attendance for this
story hour being 120 children. Con-
tinuing the plan of the previous year
the story hours for the children of the
intermediate and grammar grades of
the schools were held every other
week during the months in which the
other story hours were given. There
were nine of these story hours for the
older children, not including the one to
which both the younger and older
children were invited. The attendance
at these nine story hours was 228 chit
dren, or an average per week of more
than 25 children. During 1915 there
had been 20 story hours for the small
er children, with total attendance of
| 539 children, and seven story hours
for the older children with a total at
tendance of 224 children.
In the fall of 1916 the committee of
volunteers who have so ably under
taken the work of the story hours re-
organized with Mrs. M. L. Altstetter
and Miss Marie brennan as a sub
committee to superintend the story
hours for older children, and Mrs. W
c. Schafer, Mrs. G. E. Howe, Miss
Emma Cummings, Miss Ruth Brown
and Miss Helen Brigham as sub
committee to superintend the story
hours for the younger children. Miss
Elvira Taft was later made a mem
Der of the second committee.
The Art Exhibit
Through the cooperation of num-
| Der of the libraries in the Ohio Lii
brary Associations and the museums
of art in Ohio the local library was
enabled in November to have the first
of series of exhibits of reproduc-
tions of the works of representative
artists, the first small library in Ohio
to be so honored. This first exhibit
consisted of reproductions in sepia
of protrait drawings by Hans Holbein
court painter of Henry VIII, of Eng
land, and one of the greatest masters
of portrait painting. The exhibit was
free to the people of Wauseon, and
those who saw it expressed appre-
citation of the opportunity of having
such a free exhibit in this community
The cost to the library is a member
ship fee of two dollars and the pay
ing of the transportation charges one
way of each collection sent. The pur-
pose of the committee in charge is to
send one collection a month to a IL
brary.
The Future
In closing this report it may be fit
ting to point out some recent develop
ments in the library movement here
in Fulton county the influence fol
which the Wauseon library can justly
take a large share of credit The
subscription library at Delta has beer
in existence several years and has
been constantly growing. Within the
past year, however, small libraries
have been started at Archbold anc
Swanton, both with aid from the state
library. 1t was in response to calls
from these two villages that in June
of 1916, ]. H. Dice, state library or.
ganizer. came to Fulton county ant
visited Wauseon. While here he met
with members of your board and ex
pressed himself strongly in favor o.
county library with the Wauseon IL
brary as a nucleus At the state IL
brary meeting at Cincinnati in Octo
Der, which your librarian attended, the
county library movement seemed tt
take precedence of every other topic
and only this spring the state legis
lature passed the Marker bill to facili
tate the establishing of county librar
les all over Ohio. The fact that Gov.
ernor Cox vetoed the measure ha:
not seemed to dampen the ardor of the
ever increasing number of friends Of
the county library movement, who are
now rallying to make all they can ou
of the existing county library Law
which was passed in 1898, the first Of
its kind in the United States. Though
the coming of such library to Full
ton county seems inevitable, it may bt
several years before the hope can ac
tually be realized. And, in the meal
time. may it not be possible for tn,
people of this community so to builc
up their library that when called upol
it may be able quickly to respond t.
the call for greater service!
Respectfully submitted,
HOWARD B. SOHN, Librarian
To The Public
81 have been nsinp Chamberlain, ,