Evening star., 1938-11-20
Arlington Library System
Built Up by Women
Mrs. R. W. Livingston
One of Prime
Movers
By JESSIE FAINT EVANS.


way, if she refuses to become dis
couraged."
This has been the success slogan of
Mrs. r. w. Livingston and her fellow
motivators of the Arlington County
Library Association.
About Is years ago little groups
of women, literally just across the
Potomac's winding way. in the
county which takes its name from
historic Arlington on its banks,
banded themselves together in their
communities ito do something"
about there being no books available
for their families
Today, the five libraries located
at Arlington. Aurora Hills, Cherry
dale. Clarendon and Glencarlyn,
united in a standard county library
system under the joint name of the
Arlington County Library Associa-
tion. represent, In growth and de-
velopment, what they did about 1t.
From mild hammered. soft-spoken
Mrs. r. w. Livingston, with her
cheeks as pink as winter apples un-
der the crown of her softly waved,
prematurely snow-white hair, I
learned at first hand of the way by
which the little embryo library
groups have come to their unification
in the present set-up, of which she
is president.
United for Common Cause.
This mother" of the Lyons Village
Women's Club, as she is known far
and wide in her community, whose
successful Inauguration and motiva-
ton of its activities led to her being
the president and guiding spirit of
the Arlington County Library Asso-
citation, says. Our present unif.ca-
ton is the result of every one being
united for a common cause. OF
course we wouldn't be human If we
weren't proud that other States and
several library training schools con-
slider our plan and general organiza-
ton scheme, as we'll as our intensive,
but practical, common sense survey
of our problems. model ones for vii
lagos and counties elsewhere.
I'VE have been blessed, too." she
continued, "by the support which
the leading men in our community
have given us after they discovered
that we were neither going to die
a-borning nor a-struggling, and were
willing to prove our usefulness to our
communities before asking for their
financial support"
Two Have Been Outstanding.
1.-TWO have been outstanding in
practical assistance, Fletcher Kemp
our superintendent of schools. for
leadership and cooperation with the
centralized plan objective. and
Frank C. Hanrahan, Arlington S
county manager, for our library
budget"
This has made possible" she went
on, "up-to-date reference material
such as two standard encyclopedias
and unabridged dictionaries and
other necessary reference guides in
each of our five centers, adult books
of fiction, including books of travel
biography and history, and chill
dren's books listed by the Amer
ican Library Association. It has
also included necessary library up
keep, book repair and replacement
and the service of trained IL
brarian to standardize and direct
us volunteer helpers"
These unpaid volunteer helpers,
mostly busy mothers, who somehow
some way manage to find the time
from their own household manage
ment problems, now number IS for
the five little community Ii
braries. Their proud record is that
not one of the IS has ever let
the Arlington County Library AS
sociation down either by failing to
or send an acceptable sub
stitute for the number of hours
of weekly service promised to the
community library nearest her home
Doing something about estab-
fishing the original FIVE little library
units in Arlington County meant
starting them up in f1rehouses, aban-
doned garages, over stores. almost" "
as Mrs. Livingston puts it, "in any
proffered. donated space that
couldn't be used for any other pur-
pose. Everything had to be con-
tributed. even to the custodial serv-
ice of those who issued the books
and saw that they we're returned"
Women Did the Work.
Volunteer groups of women work.
ing in organized shifts, swept floors,
washed rooms, painted or white
washed them, built coal or wood
fires in central stoves. kept them
going, and constituted themselves
librarians" of those first little
make-shift libraries. Both the Ar
lington and Cherrydale community
libraries still have coal stoves in
the center of the rooms which
house them.
The only one of the five which
has received an endowment up to
the present time is at the one at
Gencarlyn. to which the late Gen.
S. S. Burdette in his will donated
his own library and sufficient funds
to start its library building. which
since 1923. has been a center of
its neighborhood's community ac-
tivities.
Others kept going through the
faith, the perseverance and the in
domitable energy of their feminine
motivatorS. For the cause of more
books and better books" they organ
lied sociables and concerts and gave
card parties. They conducted pie,
cake and cooky sales that drew GUS
toners from far and near. Even
now the Arlington. Cherrydale and
Clarendon groups find weekly cooky
jar sales never failing means for
replenishing depleted library treas
uries.
A decade ago the Clarendon Ii
brary group provided the bulk of