Evening star., 1919-10-15
SANGU|NE OF RAISE
FOR LIBRARY AIDS
Librarian Bowerman Con.
fident Of Action by Re-
classification Board.
SUBMITS ANNUAL REPORT

commence that the joint congress
sional commission on reclassif1cation
of salaries in the District will recon-
mend better salaries for workers at
the public library is expressed bv DR..
George F. Bowerman, librarian. in
the course of his annual report sub-
mitted to the District Commissioners
today as part of the report of the
library board. DR.. Bowerman has been
librarian of the public library for
fifteen years.
DR.. Bowerman's report in part fol-
lows:
The Library staff.
designations from the library sta II
nave always been excessive because
otthe low statutory salaries prevailing
throughout the service. Previous to
the war the annual turnover had
! ranged from q per cent to SO per
cent: In the fiscal year 1918 the resig-
nations numbered eighty Ave with a
.oLai force tincluding bindery) of
! ninety nVe, or turnover of 80 per
GENT last year with total average
| force dncluding bindery) of 100 the
reservations numbered ninety eight.
Ih or turnover Of ss per cent. That the
| lprary was able to keep going at all
m the face of such constant disorgan-
izIng changes seems almost incredible:
IN retrospect the experience was al
| moSt nightmare: 1t was only pos
voted band of a few of the older
| trained and experienced members of
the stan. who resisted the attractions
81 higher salaries and stood by the
/ ,s<I
OF assistants. for. the most part
meagerly trained. inexperienced and
constantly shifting, have somehow
pulled the library through the year.
Outlook Is Improved.
! Conditions for the coming year are
of all of the lowest paid professionai
stan were increased, in most cases by
$50 and in a few cases by $I2O: the
3onus paid throughout the federal and
District governments has been in
creased from $120 to s240(per annum:
! SO that the minimum pay for profess
sional assistants is for the year 3s40.
[ rne prospects for further improve
ment in library salaries are good. If,
as is confidently expected, the Nolan
minimum wage bill becomes a law
curing the coming year in the form
y u was passed overwhelmingly by the
mum basic salary of. every empioye
Of the library with the exception Of
pages under eighteen years Of age,
will viii be $l;oso; added to that is the
! for the present, year.
The library is also hopeful of
| considerable Improvement in salary
conditions as a result of the work of
the congressional joint commission on
reciassidcation The case of this Ii
| Drary for better salaries Is so strong
that the commission, which has cre-
ated a strong impression for broad
spiritness and onen-mindness. can
scarcely rail- to recommend substan-
tial salary increases for the library
stan. Indeed, encouragement that
| tnis Will be the result has already
been given by statement of the Sec
| retary OF the commission, former Rep.
resentative Edward Keatins, who de-
clared at big meeting OF govern
ment employees called by the commits
sion that the employees of this Ii
orary are grossly underpaid." On the
same occasion Mr.. Keating said he
| wondered how librarians lived a ali
ne thought IT must be that the library
scnoois nave courses in Which the
students are taught how to live on
much less than other people
Cooperation in Social Service.
The library 4habitually joins in
! every social service enterprise which
oaers any opening for library coop
YORK with several other agencies. was
one which has produced a large in
crease in the use of the literature of
sex education by parents.
Even oefore the signing of the
armistice the United States nuhi;c
health service sought to extend To the
civilian population. it's Gamma t1n
against venereal diseases. The s,,r.
geon general circuIarized the puhlic
librarians of the country to secure
tInelr cooperation. inclosing with his
letter one from the executive secre-
tary OF the American Library Asso-
cation commencing the plan to Ii.
Drarians. The plan involved askin,
the l1brarfes to stock the books on seY
eoucation contained in a list annroyed
ny q committee composed OF the sur-
Seoi.h general United States public
missioner OF education and ~
Cnarles w. Eliot. the circularizine of
parents with letters from libra r;a g
ana the distribution of the list Of an
proved books. VI Ap-
ttncugh a. the plan seemed better suit.
gu 70 smaii towns where the people are
personally known to the librarians vat
was nevertheless undertaken h:r.
since this library is a semi .rovernn.n;
lnsu.u!ion' letter from the surgeon
e"C puUuC nc0lth service q
USED IN circulariztng the parents Of the
nstrict. to 3e, 900 of whom this circuia :
oeing sent in sealed enyelone, TO-
eether with letter from the librarian. n.
ana the list of books 1t was possibIe
10 carry out this plan only throuRi the
co-operation of the public school and
community center officers. The super.
lhtendent Of schools secured from the
pupils the names and addresses M
their parents and the general sec.
retary OF the community center de.
partment arranged to have voluntee,
committees. from the various organ
lied committees of The District To-
gether with the community secretaries
come to the library in groups and ad-
oress large portion of the envelopes
The community secretary OF the Wilson
Normal School Center served az chair"
man OF the whole committee at the re
quest Of the general secretary Th.
library staff addressed the remainine
envelopes and folded the letters a nd civ
culars. The library has purchased from,
five to twenty-five copies each ~ ~.
books in the approved list.
Performed Public Service.
During the influenza epidemic the
library also performed public service
outside of it's usual channels fau
members of the staff served as nurses.
eight or ten others put their knowIedes
OF library methods to good use bv aid
ing with the card record work AZ the