The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-07-25

lished by the Library War Service,
American Library Association, the lead
ing article, by Albert F. Coyle, relig-
ious secretary of the army and navy
Young Mems Christian Association at
Pensacola, deals with the library war
service at the Pensacola station, and
is published here in its entirety, ow-
ing to its local and national interest:
By Albert r. Coyle.
What use, indeed, would soldiers or
sailors have for books, when limpid
Florida skies and azure Gulf waters
combine to promote play, or lull into
loaf1ng and somnolence?
Surely, if books could be dispensed
with anywhere, it ought to be at the
artillery posts and naval air station
skirting Pensacola harbor. The answer
is found In the handsomely appointed
library rooms and the crowd of eager
readers found In each of the Y. NJ. C.
A. buildings which minister to the
needs of the soldiers, sailors and avi-
ators at the Air Station, and at Forts
Pickens and Barrancas.
The need for adequate library facil-
tiles at the larger cantonmen is fairly
obvious; whereas, the generous extern
sion OF this work to the hundreds of
similar military posts and naval sta
1888
patent but even more imperative. The
Transformation effected by the Library
War Service at Pensacola is impress
sively Indicative of urgent opportuni-
ties elsewhere. When a visiting ad-
miral of the Navy recently inspected
the new library room and magazine
den" at the Pensacola Air Station. he
pronounced them superior to similar
equipment in any navy yard he had yet
seen. Less than five months ago the
Admiral could scarcely have found an
armful of good books among all the
enlisted men; whereas now, both at the
Air Station and the neighboring artil-
| lery forts, one man out of every four
reads and returns book a week!
|. Even in the fertile South things do
not grow without a reason, Topsy {
| testimony to the contrary notwith
| standing When the first Army ant
| Navy Y. NJ. G.. A. secretary arrived or
/ the job last August, he found no pub
| lie library in Pensacola, and only {
few musty books with funeral binding
behind padlocked doors-the ghost o
a former chaplain's library-availabl
for the men of the service.
A local books campaign was insti
tuted, with the result that some fiv,
hundred good volumes were placed oil
1
and the Air Station, and good readin,
was stimulated by placard advertise
ment and personal talks with the mer
An appeal for assistance to the A. l.. A
brought a generous promise of flv
thousand volumes and other books a
; they We're needed. Such collection
was thought too valuable to leave un
protected upon open shelves; for as OIL
marine put it, You can't get togethe
two. or three thousand men witheu
having a few rascals among them. an
those few will soon cause our bes
books to evaporate" Moreover, tn,
/ library would be worthless for refer
ence purposes, unless the books were
! classified and each book kept in it
place. A large class room in each ~
building was immediately set apart a:
/ a library. Shelves were installed, wall:
/, and floors stained, large reading table:
made and vanished, ample lighting ia
cilities provided. librarians desk place.
| by the exit door, and all was ready
for the reception of the books,
1t is more, however. than a midsum-
mer nights dream to classify. list anc
prepare for the shelves upwards of sil
| thousand volumes The aid OF the A
l.. A. was again invoked, and thanks II
the indefatigabls assistance of Mis-!
Lucy E. Fay, Librarian of the Univer-
sity or Tennessee library, the books
were ready for the loan desk STAMP
even before the interior decorating wal
completed.
The library Of the Air Station now
| comprises 400 volumes, about one
sixth Of which are non-fction. -Four
large reading tables with movable
chairs are supplemented by window
seats in the FIVE windows. periodica
and magazine room or den" open of
| the library, where representative news
| papers from all parts of the countr,
and the current national magazine:
| are kept on file.
Al the new Fort Barrancas "Y," {
corner room with six windows con
tains the library of some $500 volumes
of which one-fourth is non-fiction. The
| features of this library might com,
mend themselves to others planning
similar collections. A large interior
window opening from the library into
the main auditorium enables every mar
who enters the building to see tbs
tempting array of books within, thus
making the library its own best 'adver-
tisement. Moreover. the one door II
the room is situated just at the enc