The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-12-16


 Every community is struggling
 with its own local aspects of an economic situation more difhcult than any national or international emergency since the war. How
 can the local librarian join in the community attack on this prob-
 lem? What can the library do to
 keep a discouraged mass of work
 less men and women from losing I the zest for living; from shrinking I fearfully before a sense of im- l pending change? How can the library help men and women keep
 minds alert and ready to attack
 the task which they may find to do l-to meet the era which must arise | from the situation against which
 the whole world is struggling?
 The library has it's own prob-
 lems; reading rooms in many towns and cities are crowded with lreaders who never before had so much enforced leisure. Book use
 of all sorts shows heavy increase;
 several city libraries are lending | 50 per cent more books on certain
 subjects than they did two years ago.
 In the present emergency the | librarians duty may well be some thing more than narrowly profess sional. A new significance attach- ing to books and their use suggests l a wide field of usefulness for every | librarian outside the walls of any | library. The need is urgent for the | imagination that sees the essential need for books in any readjust- =. ar,+ +o ,a1y oapditi0nc of 1ifa The old ways of meeting the days work
 will not answer the purpose now. | The duties lying ahead involve not So much different activities as in- vesting the work of librarians with a new vitality, a new signifi- canoe, a deeper sense of unity in
 connection with community re-
 sponsibility for meeting the pres ent emergency. If the library is
 ever to prove itself live, active
 community asset, this seems to be | the time.
 Among the chief factors is the urgent demand for literature on the causes of the depression, voca- tional readjustment and books on l trades and occupations. There Is also present everywhere the need
 for aid in making family budgets
 and in meeting the problems of home life.
 Maintaining Morale by Books Regular library patrons are turn | ing to book to maintain their own
 morale. The man out of work.
 whether educated or not, is strugg- l ling against restlessness, 8 sense Of futility which is hard to combat.
 A part of the librarys regular job | is to meet this demand out of q budget that is mot being increased. The question of immediate need | is upon us; the latest and soundest
 information on timely subjects
 must be at once assembled in order to give readers an intelli-
 gent understanding of the present economic situation. The following lists may help in this. Fortunately. a. great deal of the best material | is in pamphlet and magazine form,
 cheaply available. After 1t is re-
 ceived, 1t must be quickly put into
 usable shape to circulate. A sud- den fondness for paper covered
 booklets and reports must be de- veloped by the librarian, and this
 helpful print, representing the la- | test interpretation of the problem, ! must be brought out in card cata- logs, unless 1t is already in the
 magazine indexes.
 Most of all there is pressing
 need to call this good material to the attention of the community and get it used. The newspapers are interested in this practical type of library service. The library that is active in this way, whose
 use by men out of employment is
 noticetbly increased, obviously jus
 tifies its investment at the time, and in a way that discourages cuts.
 The library may be called upon to
 extend its evening and Sunday hours to serve as leisure reading
 room for those who would other
 wise aimlessly tramp the streets Tying Up With the Radio A national program of radio broadcasts on the present econom- ic situation and on Psychology to-
 day, dealing also with child de- velopment is already under way
 over the National Broadcasting Company's network on Saturday
 evenings from 8:30 to 9:00 p. m.
 Eastern Standard Time, the lectur- CTS being outstanding authorities.
 This program, sponsored by the
 National Advisory Council on Ra-
 dio in Education, SO East 42d
 Street, New York City, Is arranged so that the broadcaster shall men, tion at the end of each lecture the
 fact that the public library can supply the best and latest litera-
 ture on the subject. Is your library
 ready?