The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-15
Our NeU Librarian

17 r you haven't dropped in to well come MT. L. W. Josselyn, the new librarian, to Birmingham. you have missed meeting one of the most cultured and charming gentlemen who has come to this city within the past many years.
 MT. Josselyn is the type of man who will make friends readily and easily; he has all the cordiality and urbanity that the man who occupies such a position should have, and he is friendly and not bit high browish,'' but very genuine and very real.
 MT. Josselyn has devoted a great many years of his life to library work so he knows what he is about he has been trained in the servicise and trained well. and he comes to this com munity thoroughly equipped to take charge of the library work here.
 When 1 went in to see MT. Josselyn yesterday.3I didn't go with the inten- ton of having a technical talk with him about his work: rather, more l in- tended to talk sort of heart to heart like about books, the ones he likes best, and the ones I like best. and the ones the public likes best and to talk to him about the products of the great work of the libraries during the war, and into just this line of conversation we drifted just as if it were social call I was making instead of formal call on business bent.
 Tn the first place. MT Joselyn said. answering my question :a3 to the i'm portant incident in his life during the past few years which had meant more to him than any other, 'I may as we'll tr1; t1 tant thing that has happened to me during the past few years was when came to Birming gham. Why, I never saw such big, thriving, cooperative, wide-awake place, Everybody is so nice and so cordial. and so interested in libraries and books and all that, why it stirs me up and spurs me on to big things.
 "Of course. my first impression of your city, MT. Josselyn continued, lis the sterns necessity of more library room; also an auditorium. l find that have dropped down into the very midst of the movement of building an auditorium and city hall and library Naturally, I would like to see the li- bary built first. although from what can learn the auditorium is most gen. orally conceded to be the most essen- tial
 The plans for a combination of a city hall and library, of course, appeal to me very much" Mir. Josselyn said but I look even further ahead than that for this big, thriving, growing city. look to the day when a separate library building will be erected which will be an honor and a credit to this town
 find an intensely enthusiastic spirit toward library work in Birming- ham" MT. Josselyn said. People read great deal evidently. and they read good books. Out of the war, which has revolutionized everything under the sun, reading and appreciation of books has grown tremendously. The gener- osity of the public in contributing to the library fund during the war-the books we sent to the soldiers and all the work connected with the library war work has shown the most satisfac- tory results. We bought few books that were unnecessary; but that. of course, comes from our training in li- brary work; we are taught to be fru- gal; frugal with our salaries with our library funds: with everything con- nected with the work. Indeed. during my work at Camp Johnson, Jackson vile, Fla. had the greatest difficulty. in strengthening matters out with pr. Putnam, librarian at Washington, and the head of the whole system of library war work, when I had to spend a cou- pie of hundred dollars to put new roof on the library at the camp
 And the soldiers were very appre-