Evening journal., 1919-08-23
94,457 VOLUMES
IN FREE LIBRARY
Annual Report Shows In
crease OF 1926 for Year
Ending February Is
BUILDING FUND
is NOW $3l6.273

ID NUW 81 .Z/o
The tweniy-nflh annual report Of the
Wilmington Institute Free Library
which includes the 62d annual report OF
the Wilmington Institute has been Is
sued from the press of Charles l.. Story
and shows that despite the war. the
past year was a busy one for the IL
brary. The report IS FOR the year end
ing February 2S 1919. Il states that on
March 4. 1919, there We're 9i.t01 vol
umes on The shelves an increase Of 4290
volumes during the year.
The report OF the treasurer Henry 7.
Bush shows the receipts for the year
10 have been Sii,ii6.22, and The eX-
penditurcs TO be Si09i755, leaving a
balance OF S3.22S.67 Tile building fund
on March 1 Of this year. tOtaled S3iG,
1882.
The report OF Arthur L. Bailey, IL
brarian, in part. follows:
ION March 4, 1918. there were 9O,i62
volumes on the shelves Of the library.
During the year there were added 1905
volumes 2,ii2 volumes were worn out
and discarded being replaced by new
copies Of the same books. while 79s
volumes for various reasons were dis
c0rded absolutely The net increase,
therefore. was 1925 volumes, and the
number in the library on the 2Sth OF
February, 1919 was 9i.ij7 volumes.
While the library was closed 10 the
public in October an inventory OF books
in the library was taken. This inven-
tory showed 1851 volumes missing. IL
also showed that lO22 volumes miss
ing at the previous inventory in 1916
had been found OF returned to the IL
brary.
\ gift made in July, for the purchase
OF Russian books. still remains in the
hands OF the treasurer because il has
been found impossible TO buy any Rus
sian books from the principal dealers
i'm New York.
Registration and Circulation.
The net registration at the end Of
the year was 1901, an increase Of SO. I
II should be noted that this is an in
crease in spite OF the fact That the H. .
brary was open 2l days more last year
than this.
The total number Of books issued for
home use was 1859 owing TO the
influenza. all departments share i'm the I
loss Of -, i22 volumes, but IL is inter- /
estlng TO note that the average number +
OF books issued. per day, is greater |
than during the year previous.
Juvenile Work.
Although the total yearly circulation /
in the juvenile department fell short OF /
last years by i779, due 10 closing the /
library during the influenza epidemic. /
the average daily circulation increased I
from 279 10 $50 volumes.
The work Of the reference department I
has increased considerably during the |
year. The vertical file collection OF
on subjects OF current inter- /
est. was thoroughly overhauled and the /
space il now occupies Is double what |
it was before 4 large collection OF clip
pings from city papers has been CLASH 4
fed and filed.
Branches.
BrandyNine and Rockford branches
have pursued the even tenor OF their
ways without much change in any
way. At Brandywine the lot at the
back Of the building was used for gar
dens by some Of the older children or
The neighborhOod. At market prices,
s3j worth Of vegetables were raised.
Il is still very difficult TO get as
sistants or substitutes who are willing
10 work at Rockford At no time has
the library been open full time after
noon and evening. For most OF the
time 70 has been closed al least three
afternoons each week As stated last
year. this condition will remain as long
as The branch remains in its present
10 alton
There have been few changes on the
,iaff. Miss Dorothy L. Hawkins. who
look a years course at the New York
state Library School. returned TO the
staff July 18th. Miss Janice Souther-
land began the apprentice work Oc-
.ober iSt. There have been many boys
some OF them have had their names
On the payroll for three consecutive
months. some for two months, but 4
Dn1v one during the entire year 9th
arwise. the personnel Of the stan has /
remained unchanged Unchanged also
has been The loyal service that the h
members have given The library. The
income at our disposal prevents pay
ng salaries which compare favorably
with those paid by commercial insu-
Iutions. For the service rendered the I,
work is unquestlonably underpaid
complaints have been few
and the work has increased in ef-
1ciency.
During the year ii9 volumes have
been added to the duplicate pay col
lection and % volumes transferred to
Ihe main library. leaving 356 volumes
in the collection.
The gifts for the year include the
following: 23i bound volumes. ii35
pamphlets. iii leaflets. i30 aliases and
, numbers Of periodicals.