The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-12-11
Fort Library Has
 Comforts Of Home
Fairfield Private Handles Books for Terry, N Y. {, Buddies; Modern Soldier Improves His Mind

and the quiet atmosphere becomes friendly mantle that rests pleas antly upon the shoulders of the spirit. The pages of Q book rustic softly under the fingers of khaki clad private, and a sergeant's pen scratches reassuringly as words flow for someone remembered.
 Dedicated April IS, 1942, the Fort Terry Library has rapidly grown from a collection of 5000 titles to an excellent assortment of over $500 volumes ranging from technical sub- jects to the most modern fiction. Through the Victory Book Campaign many fine books have been con- tributed by libraries and organiza- tions throughout Connecticut. va- rious publishers have also contribut- ed freely, and each month the Book of the Month Club has donated its selection for that period.
 There are luxurious easy chairs and settees upholstered in red leath- CT for those who wish to relax, ma gazine racks containing current pe- riodicals, and well-stocked writing tables for those who prefer to write letters. Strategically placed ash trays add 8 definitely masculine touch.
 Two enlisted men, Pvts. LeRoy Holman and Harold Refer, serve as librarians under the supervision of Lieut.. Arthur A. Staff, the Library Officer.
 Pvt. Holman, a lanky six-footer from Fairfield, Conn. is we'll trav- eled individual who speaks of Fair field and London with equal fam iliarity. Tn the summer of 1897, Pvt. Holman travelled to Europe as a member of the Experiment in Inter- national Living, spending month in Norwegian home before leaving for a bicycle tour of Norway during which he practiced his Norsk voca- bulary on the bewildered Norwegians At Oslo he bade his Norwegian hosts goodbye and journeyed home by way of Sweden, Denmark and Germany The following summer found him in England, from which point he trav- eled through Belgium, the Rhine land, the Black Forest Switzerland, on to Paris, and back to Fairfield.
 Pvt. Refer is a chubby lad who halls from Brooklyn, N. Y, and has flair for vociferous dramatics. Be- fore entering the service he was with the internationally known William Morris theatrical agency of New York and Hollywood. His daily con- tact with celebrities of the stage and screen gave him theatrical ambi- tion which even his duties as a i- brarian have failed to stifle. The walls of his room are hung with photographs of celebrities ranging from Ramon Navarro to Cassie Daly. all tenderly inscribed to the Fort Terry librarian, and library squat ters are no longer astonished when Pvt. Refer swings into an imper- sonation of Willie Howard or starts declaiming Hamlet's "Soliloquy" as he loans book.
 Since the boys took over more than 2000 books have been taken out by the men of the post. Prob- ably twice that number have been read by soldiers who prefer to read in the comfort and relaxation of the reading room rather than in the barracks.
 Most popular are volumes dealing with current history and late fic- tion. although technical books are by no means neglected. Mathema- tics, psychology, sociology, self-de- velopment-these too, find eager and interested readers.
 Among those late books most in demand are Kings Row., "The Song of Bernadette", See Here, Private Hargrove" and "The Raft.
 Here every evening as the sha- dows creep over the land and the bleak wind busters across the pa- rade ground you'll find men of Fort Terry curling up with good books and debunking the popular concep- tion that soldiers are hard hitting, loud-lunged individuals with no time to waste on the finer things of life. The modern soldier has a mind-keen. alert, intelligent-and he's improving that mind. Ask the Fort Terry librarians!