Arizona republican., 1919-11-07
EVERYBODY NEEDS

The task is to be accomplished pri- marily by stimulating interest in l- braries. When an eX-soldier writes and asks for book of frog-farming, or engineering, or for the works of Charles Dickens, he is referred to his local library, if there is one If there is no library, but the state has Ii. brary commission he is referred to the commission. If neither of these agen. cies has the book, the library associ- | ation furnished the book through local agancy. In this way the man not only gets the book. but he is i'm. pressed with the fact that he ought to have a better local library.
 During the war the American Li- brary Association bought and wal given about seven million books. This was one of the largest collections of books ever gathered together It was about three times as large as the col | lection in the library of congress 1 The association established libraries i in the camps and hospitals abroad and in the camps and hospitals in this country. It may not have reached every man in the army with books. but it reached enough of them so that I couple of million books were literally read to pieces.
 And it gave to many Americans a good library service for the first time. That is the fact that the library As saciation is building upon. Many of the men in the military and naval for ces came from sections where there were no libraries, or none of any real value They did not miss books and libraries because they had never known what it was to have them Now they do know what it is to have then. They realize that the commun- ity ought to be able to furnish a man with a book on any subject he wants to study. Whether he wants to stim- ulate his imagination and put in his leisure by reading fiction and poetry or whether he wants to improve him. self in the technique of his profession or to learn new one what he needs is in books, and he ought to be able to get them. While he was in the service he was able to get them. Ane the association believes that he i. going to demand that society do as well for him in peace as it did in war
 The army has taken over the Ii. braries established by the association in camps and hospitals. wherever those camps and hospitals are to be main tained permanently. The navy vii make some similar arrangement. Thu the soldiers and sailors will have |; permanent library service, whereas they had practically none before th' war. The association has also ar ranged to furnish books to the coas guard, the light house service ant the public health service hospitals.
 But the men in these services repre- sent only very small fraction of tn public. The discharged soldier wh learned the use of books. whether fo pleasure or practical purposes. whil he was in the service. is the conver whom they especially wish to hold H is the man who will influence publi opinion in favor of more and bete libraries.
 For this book service by mail, whii it may grow into a large thing an even a permanent thing, is not de signed to take the place of communit s libraries. Indeed, it cannot take tn Q place of them. It is designed to stim e ulate interest in libraries. The as o sociation officials say that there mus - be library in every city and towi
 and above all, an effective commissi