Palisadian., 1925-12-11
VALUE OF LIBRARY
TO THE COMMUNITY
Tends to Develop and Enrich Hu-
man Life-Would Appreciate
Gifts of Books and
Magazines.

EXTRACTS from the paper read at the
recent meeting of the Cliffside Park
Woman's Club by our local librarian,
Mrs. J. H. Koch. Some of the re-
marks are from other authorities, and
the statistics about our local library
are of special interest to our local resi-
dents who sustain the library.)
"The function of library, as an in
stitution of society, is the develop
ment and enrichment of human life
in the entire community by bringing
| to all the people the books that be-
| long to them. Each community has
! it's own requirements in the way of
books and culture. Every librarian
should study her own town, know the
their interests and the kind of busi-
ness in the place. A library in its be-
ginning can well afford to start at the
level of the community's average
| reading. 1t Is better to keep a little
in advance of the demands of the peo-
pie and develop a taste for the best
books it can get. The library as an
institution exists by the approval of
the people, and it exists for their use
and service. They should be shown
what modern library can do and be
interested in how to use it. People
should realize that all service is free,
that the books are on open shelves for
inspection, that any book that is not
on the shelves-unless it is too ex-
| pensive or radical--will either be pur-
chased for the borrower or borrowed
from the State Library in Trenton,
and we have been able to render
quicker service in this regard-name-
ly, procuring books from Trenton
than has been given by the New York
Public Library at the same time. Our
library here has been greatly hamper
| ed by lack of space, no reading room,
and, in the past, an insufficient income
for books. In this regard we are bet
ter off, so that we can, and greatly de-
sire to, serve anyone in the communi-
ty in research or reference work Any
department in the club which desires
special books we can provide with
such and the same for any other or
/ ganizations in the town. We hope
that people will form the habit of com
ing to us and we will serve them to
the best of our knowledge, ability and
resources. The greater our service
the more our community will need us; ;
the more we are needed the greater
the necessity for expansion. and the
greater the willingness of the commu-
nifty to support us and assist in our
expansion.
IL have outlined briefly what the
library can do for the community.
Now what can the community do for
the library?
First and foremost, the community
can use the library. The greater our
circulation the more money we receive
from the state. Our friends can ad
vertise us to everyone.
"They can give us books, magazines,
volunteer labor and, above all, help us
to get home for ourselves. We are
opening a branch in the Grantwood
school and hope to have reading ta-
bles there, something we have long
required.
"Our circulation is increasing by
leaps and bounds. We are open from
2 until twice a week. Last Monday
we issued 43S books in $50 minutes,
receiving almost as many That is
pretty quick work.
What we need most is adequate
housing facilities, shelf room, reading
room, etc.
"Our circulation this year so far is
close to 10000 books. We hope the
community will realize our need and
help us to home in the near future.
We have no memorial as yet for our
boys who died for us in France. What
better one could we give than library
building that for all time can help to
educate our youth and to disseminate
the truth about war and help us to
prevent another such catastrophe by
learning ways to prevent il through
better relations and better laws be-
tween nation and nation?
"A good library is an asset in any
community. Help us to improve ours
and to increase it's usefulness"