The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-02-05

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 partment reports a circulation of 10,571 volumes, 4,592 questions an- swered and an attendance of 19,627. This is five per cent increase in book circulation, IT per cent irl- crease in the number of questions asked and a IA per cent drop in at tendance. Library experience shows that the home use of books on trades, machine-shop practice, en- gineering and similar subjects is stimulated by employment as well unemployment. Experience shows also that attendance" defined as people who stay to read books and magazines, always decreases with an | improvement in business conditions.
 Approximately 150 books were ad- l ded in this department by purchase and about 45 more were received as gifts. Most of the latter were acqutr- ed by direct request, from manufac- turers and business organizations. These gifts range from small pam phlets, handbooks, and training and operation manuels, to such out standing publications as Super finish a gift of the Chrysler Com pany and the Warner & SwaSey Company's 'Ttrret Lathe Opera tors Manuel" two very valuable additions to the collection.
 Monthly lists of new books added in this department were printed in the newspapers and were, in ad- dition, mailed directly to factories and business firms. This form of publicity has for a period of three Years brought most gratifying results 1 in the number of requests by the public for specific books listed.
 Reference Department
 In the Reference Department, ma terial collected for debating teams and reading lists made for individ- uals indicated strong interest in the European War and the foreign policy of the United States. Assis- tance given to high school students revealed the emphasis being put on current history today and the real effort being made by teachers to awaken and develop an intelligent interest in contemporary problems. A sudden rush to take out citizen ship papers, occaSioned by the European crisis, brought many peo- pie to the reference room each day in search of one book, '"The Morton Allan Directory of European Pas senger Steamship Arrivals" This book lists every ship which came in- to an American port from 1890 to 1880. When an alien applies for cit izenship papers he has to prove the date of his arrival in this country. The simplest way to do this is to give the name of the ship on which he took passage. But the people who came to America years ago, es- pecially if it was 30 or 40 or even 50 years ago, knew little about the ships that brought them. They came from small country towns and usually left all details to an agent. They may remember the port from which they sailed, the approximate year, and perhaps the season of the year. The Reference Department staff, with this meager information, must try to determine the ships on which these aliens arrived in this country.
 Early in the year the Reference Department launched a systematic publicity campaign. An exhibition commorating the 500th anniversary of printing from moveable type, at tracted large numbers of people. The art classes of Leavenworth High School made excellent posters for this exhibit and the Library gave copy of Rockwell Rents Master pieces of Art to the student whose poster was judged the best. Printed copies of this poster were exhibited in all c. R. & l.. buSSeS during the month of the exhibit. The Water bury Republican-American, during this month, set up in the reading room a most interesting display il- lustrating the processes used in producing a newspaper. Local print ing firms also displayed examples of their work, and the day the exhibit opened radio station VERY played a recording by Archibald MacLeish, Librarian of Congress, on the celebration of the Anniversary.
 Music and The Library
 A public library welcomes all gifts, great or small, a single book or a sum of money which might provide a memorial collection, branch li- brary or even a new central library building. The W. P. A. Adult EducaL tion program with its Learning to Listen" music appreciation classes has demonstrated how starved mus ically many Waterbury people are These classes have been held the past IS months in a room on the top floor of the Library. Facilities in- clude a rented Capehart machine and the use of a small privately owned record collection. It is uncer- tain how long these classes will con- tinue or what value may become permanent from one of the most successful experiments in adult edu- cation ever conducted in Waterbury. A collection of recorded music for the Library would seem the natural outgrowth of so successful an ex- pertinent. Record libraries have been for many years a part of the book collection in many public libraries. The Midwest has long been ahead of New England in utilizing this new and exciting form of book.
 } The Bronson Library has for three years exerted every effort to obtain a library Of recorded music from the CarngeIe Corporation Of New York. These music grants have been given to great many college libr- aries throughout the country and to Q few public libraries. Through these grants tho Carnegie Corporation hoped Co demonstrate what could Do done culturally with music just as the Carnegie grants of Q generation ago. demonstrated, through public libraries what could be done for n community with books. Late ln iO40 the Trustees of the Carnegie c0r-