The Wyandotte news-herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1943-1963, 1945-03-15
LIBRARY
CONTINUED from Page A.

are to judge by response to the
annual QUESTIONABLE on reading
trends sent by the American Libra
ry Association to public libraries In
a crosS-section of American towns.
AS we stride firmly into our
fourth wartime year 1t is revealing
to look back over 1914 and see what
was read here in Wyandotte and
throughout America. ANY librarian
will notice first with pleasure, I
assure you) that people began read
ing more in 1914 than they had In
the previous war years. In 1913 IL
brary circulation hit the bottom all
over America. Beginning in 1914
1t began to climb again and today
circulation Is rising steadily. The
number Of people reading is also
on the increase as the growing list
of library patrons demonstrates.
Why are larger number Of people
doing more readingP There are, of
course, many obvious reasons in an
swer to that question. The ALA.
survey report puts 1t like this:
Population shifts are beginning
to settle. The layoff in several in
dustries has begun. Men and women
who devoted time to civilian de-
Tense an volunteer war work are
now able to fit these activities into
the routine of their daily lives with
out the sacrifice of other inter-
ests. People who were at first too
distracted by war to read are now
finding in war an incentive to read.
Mothers with husbands away from
home are reading to their children
because both are lonely. Relatives
Of men in service are reading
about strange lands where our for
ces are stationed. High school boys
have realized that education counts
in the armed services, and are be-
ginning to prepare themselves for
rapid promotion. The war is respon-
Sible for interests In new world
markets, social services, foreign
languages, politics, as well as in
new ways to fix the refrigerator
and entertain the baby"
AS I stated before, there were
also several changes in reading in
terest during 1914. Highest in ma
tional interest in 1913, reading
about the war and war heroes de-
cidedly slackened In 1914. This Is
most noticeable on the two coasts,
many Middle West communities re-
porting steady and often increasing
demand for war books. We, here In
our Detroit suburban area, find
ourselves closer to the coastal states
than to the rest of our Middle West
in that respect. Perhaps the fact
that we are an Industrial commun-
ity and therefore the war struck |
home" sooner and more forcibly to
us than to the people in Iowa, Ne
braska, etc., explains the differ
ence.
Along with the slackening of
reading interest In the war has
come interest in "the everlasting L"
as evidenced in the steadily grow
ing popularity of books on hobbies,
gardening, small independent bus
ineSes, music, hanicrafts and the |
arts, "an Of them lone-woh enter
prises."
I can't help wondering, however,
II the facts don't demonstrate mere
ly slackening Of reading about the |
war, rather than slackening of in
terest. Countless people came into |
Bacon Memorial Library during the
past year and said, "Give me a good
book, not too difficult to read
and not about the war" Probably
the explanation Is, not that people
are losing interest In the war, but
rather that the intensity of emo
tional and physical pressure caused
by the war has driven them to seek
reading matter which win serve as
release from fatigue and an escape
from painful reality. Current read
ing interests do demonstrate un-
deniably what one librarian In Gin
cinnati terms interest In SELF" but
that appeals to me as a form Of re-
lease from war worries rather than
a selfish interest. Such constructive
sublimation Of instructive desires Is
surely an intelligent approach to
reality.
In some cities demand for tech
nical books dropped as much as
40 per cent, but because Of wyan-
dotte's continual industrial research
that Is not true here. Research
workers are on a constant search
for and investigation of new chem
icals and new technical fields. Post
war building Of homes, schools, and
public buildings is striking q new
high-Spot of interest.
The new T-26 tank, called the
Go-aro1 Dor.l,;~r A..