Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-15

mature, condition and proba-
BILE future of American civiliza-
ton"
Search for Ideas
Many readers, the report
states, turned to works of phi
losophy, psychology and reli-
gion in "the search for ideas to
make life more meaningful."
The annual library report fol
1923, issued by District Ii
brarian Harry N. Peterson, also
lists, in its Is pages, a variety
of other facts and figures re-
lating to the city's book-lend-
ing branches.
In releasing the report, Mr.
Peterson noted that the library
administration is still vigorous
ly pursuing its efforts to obtain
from the American Library AS
ISOLATION a retraction of state
ments made in an association
sutGy-report last July.
The association report, pub.
lished at the associations an.
nual convention in Chicago
declared that Of 10 large cite:
selected for survey, "the grea.
test racial inequality" in library
services occurs in Washington
and Birmingham, Ala.
Indignant Reply
The reports release brought
a quick and indignant reply
from Mr.. Peterson. District II.
braries, he pointed out, never
have been segregated and the
number of volumes in library
branches in predominantly Ne.
gro sc ctions exceeds thos ir
branches located in predomi.
nantly white neighborhoods.
He charged that the distri.
button of branches and vo.
Tunes throughout the city 4
totally at variance with reports
in the association study, which
was based on a mail survey b!
a arch firm. Association
Officials in other parts Of tn
country also have criticized
the survey.
Highlights of the Washing
ton library report for f@;s
1868 include:
Current Facilities-The cit.
library n etwork includes TIL
Central Library at Seventh ant
X streets NV, II branches
the Extension Department,
headquarters office and tw,
bookmobiles.
At the end of the fiscal yea
the system had 1,402.509 catal
ogued books, pamphlets ant
documents; of these. 8S5,8S'
were in the adult category ant
546.6 were in the juvenile ca
tegory. Also there are 1877, 25
mounted pictures, 1881 must
discs, LAB literature discs
1913 language discs, 1853 dicta
ton records and 3O7 recording
in other categories.
Other Highlights
Reading Trends Besides ex
pressing increasing interest Il
books on science. history. poll
tics, religion and ethics. Dis
trict readers have shown NOR
interest in physical fitness an
medical science.
Readers sought volumes Of
such local topics as home rule
crime, urban renewal, rapil
transit versus freeway con
struction. city planning, opel
occupancy In housing and vot
ling requirements.
There was a continued de
lmand for books on caree
h oices and employment op
Iportunities. Homeowners wer
frequent borrowers Of books Of
real estate home remodeline
painting and woodworking.
Capital improvements
Funds appropriated by Con
gress In the previous fiscal yea
enabled construction starts o
a replacement for the Palisade
branch and q new Capitol Vie
branch. A site for the propose
new Southwest branch hs
been acquired and action hs
been initiated to obtain q SIT
for a proposed new West En-
branch.
Public Use-In fiscal 1886
there were 2.9l8.319 book boz
rowings in District libraries. a
increase Of l34,037 over tn
previous year. A total {
35o,173 books for children wer
sent to classrooms by the Il
, brary departments schools di
vision.
Pictures. photographs an
prints distributed during tn
year totaled 94,263. There wer
6,064 loans Of films and film
strips. The period Of loan fc
most adult books averaged 2
days.
Needs-The most pressin
need is for an new Central Il
brary. The present buildin
: dates from 1908. when the G
tvs population was 100000.