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THE   QUESTION   MARK 
Published  by  the  Boston  Public  Library  Professional  Staff  Association 
Volume  IV,  Number  2 March  1949 


Publications  Committee:  Mildred  R.  Adelson,  M.  Dorothy  Brackett,  John  M.  Carroll, 

Eleanor  DiGiannantonio,  Sarah  M.  Usher,  Chairman 


Publication  date; 
The  fifteenth  of  each  month 


Deadline  for  submittino;  material; 
The  tenth  of  each  month 


HOW  DO  YOU  DO? 

Wien  the  first  issue  of  the  bulletin  of 
the  B.P.L.P.S.A.  appeared,  it  carried  at 
its  masthead  the  phrase  "Question  Mark", 
for  two  reasons.  First,  a  more  formal 
title  had  not  been  adopted;  and  secondly, 
it  represented  a  state  of  mind.  With  the 
passage  of  time,  that  name  became  perma- 
nent since  it  seemed  to  suggest  the  poten- 
tialities of  such  a  bulletin  as  a  growing} 
evolving,  intelligent,  inquiring  periodi- 
cal.  Of  course,  the  question  marks  asso- 
ciated with  certain  aspects  of  the  bulle- 
tin have  been  eliminated,  since,  though 
young  in  years,  there  has  already  been 
established  a  challenging  tradition  to  be 
lived  up  to. 

The  first  Editor-in-Chief  was  Miss  Honor 
C.  McCusker,  formerly  the  Curator  of 
English  Literature,  who  left  the  service 
of  the  Library  to  assume  duties  with  the 
State  Department.   She  was  most  happily 
succeeded  by  Mrs  Sarah  W.  Flannery,  Chief 
of  the  History  Department,  whose  direction 
of  and  contributions  to  the  Question  Mark 
are  fresh  in  your  minds.   This  issue  of 
the  bulletin  is  its  first  appearance  under 
its  present  editorial  aegis. 

The  Question  Mark  will  continue  to  gath- 
er professional  information  of  especial 
interest  to  members  of  the  Association 
It  will  try  to  report  information  about 
people  and  events  throughout  the  system 
that  does  not  travel  too  far  or  too  fast 
through  a  group  the  size  of  the  Boston 
Public  Library  family.   But,  as  the  pres- 
ent President  of  the  Association  has  al- 
ready pointed  out,  much  of  the  vitality 
and  vigor  of  such  an  undertaking  depends 
on  you. 

The  name  is  still  the  Question  Tferk. 
Commas,  periods,  quotation  marks,  and  so 
on,  as  well  as  questions  marks,  will  be 
supplied  and  are  all  ready  waiting  to  be 
used.   But  you  be  sure  to  supply  the  wordsJ 


PERSONAL  NOTES 
New  Staff  Members 

Margaret  F.  Green,  Kirstein  Business 
Branch. 

Matthew  P.  Gallagher,  History  Depart- 
ment. 

Isabelle  M.  McHugh,  Office  of  the 
Trustees. 

Mrs  Barbara  P.  Cotter,  Reference  Divi- 
sion Office. 

Robert  J»  Harris,  Book  Stack  Service. 

Salter  R.  Curley,  Science  and  Technol- 
ogy Department,  (formerly  part-time  in 
Fine  Arts  Department). 

Norma  E.  Dalton,  Book  Stack  Service 
(formerly  part-time  in  Book  Stack  Service). 

Joan  L.  Hopkinson,  Book  Selection  De- 
partment, Circulation  Division. 

Mrs  Jane  M.  Jackman,  Cataloging  and 
Classification  Department,  Reference 
Division. 

Frank  A.  Milillo,  Book  Stack  Service. 

Naomi  R.  Michalak,  Charlestown  Branch. 

Duane  E.  Young,  Circulation  Division 
Office. 

Isabel  M.  Martino,  Parker  Hill  Branch, 
(formerly  part-time  at  Brighton  Branch). 

Resignations 

Fiorina  E.  Reffi,  Allston  Branch,  to  be 
married. 

Babies 

A  daughter  named  Joan  Margery  was  born 
to  Mr  and  Mrs  Earn on  McDonough  on  February 
24,  1949.   Mr  McDonough  is  on  the  staff 
of  the  General  Reference  Department  and 
Mrs  McDonough  (Phoebe  Stone)  is  a  former 
staff  member. 

Deaths 

Bridget  Day,  retired  member  of  the 
cleaning  staff,  on  March  2. 


-2- 


Fublication  by  Staff  Member 

The  Library  Journal  for  February  15, 
1949  carries  an  article  by  Roger  P. 
Bristol  of  the  Cataloging  and  Classifica- 
tion Department  of  the  Reference  Division: 
"It  Takes  Courage  to  Stock  'Taboos'". 

Library  Visitors 

Mr  Howard  M.  Nixon,  Assistant  Keeper  in 
the  Department  of  Printed  Books,  British 
Museum,  visited  the  Boston  Fublic  Library 
on  January  27,  1949.  Mr  Nixon  is  visit- 
ing American  libraries  and  microfilming 
institutions  to  study  the  latest  techni- 
cal developments  and  library  practices. 


Miss  Johanna  R.  Wolff,  children's  li- 
brarian from  The  Hague,  Holland,  visited 
Boston  libraries  during  the  week  of  March 
7,   She  has  been  in  this  country  on  a 
fellowship  from  UNESCO,  since  the  first  of 
October,  1948.  Miss  Wolff  has  visited  li- 
braries in  New  York  City,  Cleveland, 
Detroit,  and  other  large  cities,  as  well 
as  The  Boys  and  Girls  House  in  Toronto, 
under  arrangements  made  by  Miss  Mildred 
Batchelder  of  A.L.A.  headquarters  in 
Chicago.   On  Wednesday,  March  9,  Miss 
Wolff  spoke  informally  to  the  children's 
librarians  of  the  Boston  Public  Library  at 
their  monthly  meeting,  telling  them  about 
library  work  for  children  in  her  country, 
and  of  Holland's  pleasure  in  the  receipt 
of  the  delightful  Treasure  Chests  of  chil- 
dren's books  from  America. 

********** 

ALUMNAE  NOTES 


Naomi-Churchill  Dick,  who  left  the 
Office  of  the  Trustees  in  the  early  fall 
for  work  in  a  civilian  capacity  with  the 
United  States  Department  of  the  Army,  re- 
turned from  Germany  several  weeks  ago» 
On  "Wednesday,  February  23,  she  was  married 
to  Captain  Howard  G.  Dice  at  Leslie 
Lindsay  Memorial  Chapel ,  Emmanuel  Church. 
After  spending  their  honeymoon  in 
"Washington,  D.  C,  and  Sun  Valley,  Idaho, 
Mr  and  Mrs  Dice  will  live  in  Omaha, 
Nebraska,  pending  a  hoped-for  reassignment 
abroad.  While  in  Washington,  the  couple 
had  lunch  with  Corporal  Doris  A.  Quigley, 


also  a  former  member  of  the  staff  of  the 
Office  of  the  Trustees. 


Mr  and  Mrs  James  P.  McDevitt  have  an- 
nounced the  birth  of  a  son,  Daniel  John, 
on  February  9.   Mrs  McDevitt  is  the  former 
Agnes  Dunn  of  Charlestown  Branch  Library. 
Daniel  John  has  two  brothers  and  two  sis- 
ters. 


Mr  and  Mrs  John  Niland  have  announced 
the  birth  of  a  son,  Lawrence  Joseph. 
Margaret  Niland  was  a  member  of  the  staff 
in  the  Book  Selection  Department  of  the 
Reference  Division. 

********** 

IN  MEMORIAM 

MARY  URSULA  NICHOLS 

Three  months  after  her  mid- summer  trans- 
fer to  Faneuil  Branch  Library,  a  little 
North  End  girl  asked,  "Where  is  Miss 
Nichoxs?  She  liked  children".   This  in- 
stinctive recognition  of  the  underlying 
attitude  of  the  former  Branch  Librarian 
reflects  the  fact  that  to  the  end  of  her 
service,  Mary  Nichols  remained  at  heart 
what  she  had  first  chosen  to  be — a  Chil- 
dren's Librarian.  A  faithful  and  compe- 
tent executive  and  administrator,  she  was 
by  predilection  a  worker  with  and  for 
children. 

To  her  staff,  Mary  Nichols  had  three 
outstanding  qualities:   kindness  and  un- 
selfishness, honesty,  and  courage.   Her 
new  assistants  she  took  to  all  points  of 
interest,  introduced  them  at  all  schools, 
both  public  and  parochial,  and  to  all 
social  agencies  in  the  district.   She 
never  nagged  her  staff.   Her  Yankee  humor 
was  dry  and  delightful.   Nor  was  it  from 
her  that  we  learned  of  her  going  to  the 
home  of  a  cleaning  woman  too  ill  to  get 
out  of  bed,  and  building  a  fire  and  making 
tea — and  not  merely  once. 

Her  innate  honesty  was  inflexible.   She 
was  no  less  exigent  with  herself  than  with 
her  staff.   If  she  arrived  at  9:02,  she  so 
reported,  with  a  scrupulous  honesty  that 


-3- 


inspired  respect.  From  workmen  or  library 
employee,  she  insisted  on  a  dollar's 
worth  of  service  for  every  dollar  the 
taxpayers  provided. 

No  fear  of  disapprobation  deterred  her 
from  defense  or  attack  where  she  felt 
principle  to  be  at  stake.  Mary  Nichols 
never  attempted  to  evade  or  to  shift 
responsibility.   And  though  we  were  so 
close  to  her  that  we  perhaps  took  it  for 
granted,  in  retrospect  we  realize,  at 
least  in  some  degree,  the  magnificent 
courage  with  which  she  faced  life,  well 
knowing  that  the  ever- increasing  physical 
burden  of  pain  and  effort  would  have  pre- 
cisely the  end  that  brought  merciful  re- 
lease on  ?Jednesday,  January  26,  1949. 

To  work  with  Mary  Nichols  those  last 
fruitful  years  was  a  privilege.  Her  high 
courage  remains  an  inspiration  to  devo- 
tion to  duty.   May  the  earth  rest  lightly 
on  that  gallant  heart, 

Geraldine  S.  Herrick 


E.  CAROLYN  MERRILL  TAYLOR 

Mrs  E.  Carolyn  Merrill  Taylor  died  in 
Brookline  on  February  19,  1949  after  a 
long  illness.   Mrs  Taylor  was  a  member  of 
the  staff  of  the  Cataloging  and  Classifi- 
cation Department,  Reference  Division, 
for  thirty-three  years.  She  was  an  out- 
standing example  of  one  who  ever  retained 
a  marked  enthusiasm  for  her  daily  work. 
Her  almost  superhuman  accuracy  was  evi- 
dent to  everyone  who  had  contact  with  her, 
and  yet  she  was  understanding  of  that 
lack  in  others.  Because  of  her  duty 
nights  and  Sundays  in  the  Music  Depart- 
ment, she  was  aware  of  the  needs  of  the 
public  and  the  catalogers'  responsibility. 
The  scholarly  cataloging  of  the  Music 
Collection  over  the  years  that  she  worked 
with  it  is  a  monument  to  her  industry, 
knowledge,  and  appreciation  of  all  phases 
of  music, 

Mrs  Taylor  made  a  great  contribution  to 
the  Library,  more  than  most  of  us  can 
hope  to  accomplish.   She  was  personally 
poised,  serene,  kind,  and  possessed  a  de- 
lightful sense  of  humor.  We  extend  our 
sympathies  to  her  husband,  Mr  Lucien 


Taylor,  who  is  also  a  former  member  of 
the  staff. 

Alioe  E.  Hackett 

He******  »c  He* 

PRESIDENT'S  NOTES 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Executive 
Board  of  the  B.P.L.P.S.A,  which  was  held 
in  the  Staff  Library  on  Friday  morning, 
March  4,  with  only  one  member  absent, 
was  an  interesting  experience  for  those 
members  of  the  Board  who  had  never  served 
in  that  capacity  before.  Aside  from  the 
routine  business  matters,  a  very  detailed 
discussion  was  carried  on  regarding  the 
plan  outlined  in  writing  by  Mr  Joseph  L.- 
Wheeler, former  Librarian  at  Enoch  Pratt 
Library,  Baltimore,  for  a  series  of  lec- 
tures to  be  presented  under  the  sponsor- 
ship of  the  B.P.L.P.S.A.,  these  lectures 
to  be  based  on  Mr  Wheeler's  forthcoming 
book  on  Administration.  After  a  thorough 
examination  of  all  angles  of  the  question 
it  was  unanimously  decided  not  to  recom- 
mend the  sponsorship  of  such  a  series. 


On  a  separate  page  of  this  issue  you 
will  find  a  list  of  the  standing  commit- 
tees for  the  current  year.   I  am  sure 
that  you  will  think,  as  did  members  of 
the  Executive  Board  when  the  list  was 
submitted  to  them,  that  the  affairs  of 
the  Association  are  in  hands  of  a  very 
competent  group  of  committees,  headed  in 
every  instance  by  people  of  exceptional 
ability.  With  your  cooperation  these 
committees  should  be  able  to  make  a  out- 
standing contribution  to  the  interests  of 
the  Association. 


Let's  all  make  a  real  effort,  if  it 
takes  an  effort--which  I  doubt,  to  make 
our  first  program  of  the  new  year  a 
marked  success.  Bishop  Wright,  a  former 
staff  member  and  currently  a  member  of 
the  Examining  Committee,  is  a  speaker  of 
recognized  ability.  His  knowledge  of 
world  events,  as  well  as  his  recent  trip 
to  Ireland,  makes  him  especially  quali- 
fied to  give  us  a  stimulating  talk  on  his 
chosen  subject.  The  film  on  Ireland 


-4- 


which  is  to  be  shown  is  an  exceptionally- 
fine  one.  Need  one  mention  refreshments 
as  an  inducement  after  that? 


The  chairman  of  the  Entertainment  Com- 
mittee has  two  treats  in  store  for  us. 
She  has  arranged  for  two  hundred  seats-- 
one  hundred  of  them  table  seats,  the 
other  hundred  of  them  first  balcony — for 
a  POPS  night  on  Friday  evening,  June  24. 
Save  that  date!   She  is  also  making  ar- 
rangements through  Philip  J.  McNiff, 
Librarian  of  the  Lamont  Library,  for  the 
members  of  the  organization  to  visit  that 
library,  exact  date  to  be  specified  later. 
Since  it  is  strictly  a  "No  Ladies 
Allowed"  library  this  should  be  a  genuine 
treat  for  the  feminime  members  who  always 
enjoy  going  into  prohibited  areas.   This 
will  be  your  one  and  only  chance  to  visit 
Lamont  and  see  the  latest  in  library 
fashions. 


This  is  the  month  when  every  member  has 
an  opportunity  to  make  a  personal  contri- 
bution to  the  Association.   Dues  are  duel 
Please  accept  this  stupendous  challenge, 
all  twenty-five  cents  worth,  and  give 
your  contribution  to  your  staff  repre- 
sentative today — right  now.  As  soon  as 
the  dues  are  received  by  the  treasurer, 
Mrs  Lydia  Falladino  of  the  Open  Shelf 
Department,  and  the  necessary  records 
made,  your  1949  membership  card  will  be 
forwarded  to  you. 

********** 

Our  president  and  Arthur  H.  Farsons, 
Librarian  of  the  Brockton  Public  Library, 
are  to  be  guest  speakers  on  the  united 
Nations  program,  It's  Your  Move  Next, 
transcribed  over  Station  1-7C0P  at  10:30 
p.m.,  Monday,  April  4. 

********** 

B.P.L.  SCORES  HEAVILY  IN  NOMINATIONS  FOR 
FIFTY  NOTABLE  BOOKS  OF  1948 

On  October  1,  1948  a  letter,  quoted 
here  in  part,  was  addressed  to  this  Li- 
brary by  Mr  Louis  M.  Nourse  of  the  St. 
Louis  Public  Library,  and  President  of 


the  Public  Libraries  Division  of  the 
American  Library  Association. 

"A  committee  of  the  Public  Libraries 
Division... is  preparing  a  list  of  out- 
standing books  for  the  current  year  to... 
be  adopted  as  the  A.  L.  A.  list  of  'Fifty 
Notable  Books  of  1948'....  Representative 
libraries  and  certain  individuals  are  be- 
ing asked  to  suggest  titles. ..of  American 
publications  for  adult  readers  published 
...during  1948.. .selected. ..because  of 
their  usefulness,  their  timeliness  or 
their  contribution  to  permanent  litera- 
ture." 

In  November  and  December  1948  a  commit- 
tee of  twelve  members  of  the  B.  P.  L. 
staff  discussed  nominations  for  this  list. 
Two  hundred  and  thirteen  titles  were  re- 
viewed orally  at  four  sessions.   For  only 
one  of  these  titles,  The  Gathering  Storm, 
by  "^inston  Churchill,  was  there  a  unani- 
mous favorable  vote.  Runners-up  were 
Sherwood's  Roosevelt  and  Hopkins,  with  9 
votes;  Hull's  Memoirs,  10}  Mailer's  The 
naked  and  the  dead,  9;  Stilwell's  Papers, 


8;  and  Paton,  Cry  the  beloved  country,  7. 

The  list  finally  adopted  by  the  A.  L.  A. 
and  currently  appearing  in  The  Booklist 
for  February »15  is  reproduced  below.   The 
36  titles  starred  were  named  by  the  B.  P.  L. 
committee. 

Of  the  14  others,  12  were  discussed  but 
rejected  by  a  majority.   Only  2  were  not 
considered  at  all,  The  Africa  of  Albert 
Schweitzer  and  ^re  need  not  fail,  by  Welles, 


FIFTY  NOTABLE  BOOKS  OF  1948 

♦Bradley.  No  place  to  hide. 

♦Camus.  The  plague. 

*Chase.  The  proper  study  of  mankind. 

♦Churchill.  The  gathering  storm. 

♦Conant.  Education  in  a  divided  world. 

Crankshaw.  Russia  and  the  Russians. 
♦Eisenhower.  Crusade  in  Europe. 
♦Evatt.  The  United  Nations. 
♦Fairbank.  The  United  States  and  China. 
♦Faulkner.  Intruder  in  the  dust. 

Freeman.  George  Washington,  2v. 
♦Gandhi.  Gandhi's  autobiography. 
♦Giedion.  Mechanization  takes  command. 
♦Greene.  The  heart  of  the  matter. 

Hamilton,  ""itness  to  the  truth. 
♦Hull.  The  memoirs  of  Cordell  Hull. 


! 


■■  •    •: 


. 


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-5- 


Joy  and  Arnold,  The  Africa  of  Albert 
Schweitzer. 
♦Kinsey  and  others.  Sexual  behavior  in 

the  human  male. 
*Krutch.  Henry  David  Thoreau. 
*La  Guardia.  The  making  of  an  insurgent 
*Laski.  The  American  democracy. 
*Lecomte  du  Nouy.  The  road  to  reason. 
♦Literary  history  of  the  United  States. 

Lockridge.  Raintree  County. 

Lomax.  Folk  song  U.  S.  A. 

MbWilliams.  A  mask  for  privilege. 
♦Mailer,  The  naked  and  the  dead. 
♦Malone.  Jefferson  and  his  time  (v,l). 
♦Mann.  Dr  Faustus. 

Mearns.  The  Lincoln  papers. 

Merton.  The  seven  storey  mountain. 
*Paton.  Cry,  the  beloved  oountry. 
♦Plievier.  Stalingrad. 

Russell.  Human  knowledge. 
♦Sandburg.  Remembrance  Rock. 
*Shaw.  The  young  lions. 
♦Sherwood.  Roosevelt  and  Hopkins. 

Sitwell.  Laughter  in  the  next  room. 
♦Stewart.  Fire. 

♦Stilwell.  The  Stilwell  papers. 
♦Stimson,  On  active  service  in  peace 

and  war. 
♦Taylor.  The  taste  of  angels. 

Toynbee.  Civilization  on  trial. 
♦Van  Doren.  The  great  rehearsal. 
♦Vogt.  Road  to  survival. 
♦Ward.  The  West  at  bay. 
♦Wecter.  The  age  of  the  great  depres- 
sion, 1929-1941. 

Welles.  We  need  not  fail. 
♦White.  Man  called  White. 

Wilder.  The  ides  of  March. 

Editor's  Note:   If  it  was  modesty  which 
prompted  the  committee  to  present  its 
report  without  listing  its  membership, 
we  commend  it  for  that  desirable  quali- 
ty. Feeling  that  it  should,  at  the 
same  time,  be  commended  for  its  achieve- 
ment, we  list  the  names  so  that  due 
credit  may  be  given  to: 

Christine  Hayes,  Chairman 

Chief,  Book  Selection  Department, 

Reference  Division 
Geraldine  M.  Altman 

Branch  Librarian,  Jeffries  Point 

Branch  Library 
Harry  Andrews 

Second  Assistant,  Branch  Issue 

Department 


John  M.  Carroll 

Chief,  General  Reference  Depart- 
ment, and  Deputy  Supervisor 

Muriel  C.  Javelin 

Chief,  Open  Shelf  Department  and 
Supervisor  in  Charge  of  irrork  with 
Adults 

Priscilla  S.  MacFadden 

Chief,  Fine  Arts  Department 

Louisa  S.  Metcalf 

First  Assistant,  Open  Shelf  De- 
partment 

Ollie  J.  Partridge 

Second  Assistant,  Open  Shelf  De- 
partment 

Edna  G.  Peck 

Chief,  Book  Selection  Department, 
Circulation  Division 

Mary  F,  Ryan 

Assistant,  Parker  Hill  Branch  Li- 
brary 

Theodora  B.  Scoff 

Branch  Librarian,  Mattapan  Branch 
Library 

Lois  M.  Shoemaker 

Probationary  Assistant,  History 
Department 

********** 

BRANCH  LIBRARY  NOTES 

The  East  Boston  Branch  Library  will  hold 
Open  House  on  Monday,  March  28th, from 
seven  to  ten  o'clock.  A  special  program 
\vill  be  held  in  the  Lecture  Hall  at  eight 
o'clock.  A  social  hour  with  refreshments 
will  take  place  afterward.  All  who  have 
worked  at  East  Boston  and  interested  staff 
members  are  cordially  invited. 


A  display  of  interest  at  the  Jamaica 
Plain  Branch  Library  has  for  its  caption, 
on  a  large  green  shamrock,  Ireland,  land 
of  scenic  charm.  Photographs  of  both 
scenes  and  people  typical  of  Ireland  were 
obtained  through  the  courtesy  of  the  Irish 
Consulate.  Neighbors  and  members  of  the 
staff  filled  a  cabinet  with  pieces  of 
Irish  linen,  peat,  a  jug,  a  cup  and  saucer 
brought  from  Ireland,  an  ancient  cross 
made  in  Ireland  over  fifty  years  ago,  and 
albums  and  photographs  taken  in  Ireland. 
The  Irish  airway  contributed  a  large  post- 
er of  Wicklow.  Books  by  the  authors 
O'Brien,  O'Flaherty,  Byrne,  Callaghan, 


i    :    ■     • 

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-6- 


Purcell,  Laverty,  McLaverty  are  circula- 
ting well.  A  book  talk  on  Irish  fiction 
is  planned. 

This  is  one  of  the  series  on  other 
parts  of  the  world,  such  as  Pan  America, 
Scotland,  Palestine,  and  the  Near  East, 
to  be  displayed  at  this  branch  in  con- 
secutive order. 


On  February  26  Mrs  Miriam  Hannon  was 
the  guest  of  honor  at  a  luncheon  given  by 
the  Staff  of  the  South  Boston  Branch 
Library  at  Hampshire  House.   Superb 
shrimp  cocktail  was  followed  by  a  deli- 
cious curry  of  turkey,  with  luscious 
strawberries  and  ioe  cream  in  various 
forms  for  dessert. 

A  gift  of  dinner  plates  in  the  "Wedgwood 
Napoleon  Ivy  pattern  added  to  her  china 
set.  Friends  take  notice  I   Mrs  Hannon 
has  been  transferred  to  Allston  Branch 
Library. 


MARCH  17  IN  SOUTH  BOSTON 

To  the  people  of  South  Boston  the  month 
of  March  has  a  dual  significance — the 
joint  celebration  on  March  17  of  Evacua- 
tion Day  and  Saint  Patrick's  Day.  ""hile 
appreciating  the  importance  of  the  first, 
to  the  many  Irish- Americans  who  live  in 
that  part  of  the  city,  it  is  the  second 
which  they  celebrate  with  the  greater 
degree  of  affection.   It  is,  therefore, 
appropriate  that  the  three  branch  librar- 
ies should  feature  displays  stressing  the 
history  and  legends  of  Ireland. 

South  Boston  Branch  started  its  cele- 
bration with  an  Irish  Night.  The  film 
"lings  to  Ireland  was  shown.   Patrick 
Joyce,  a  seventy-seven-year-old  resident 
of  the  district,  played  Irish  tunes  on 
his  fiddle,  and  Anne  Connors,  Children's 
Assistant,  sang  ,,177hen  Irish  Eyes  are 
Smiling." 

On  display  at  this  library  are  souvenirs 
of  Ireland  furnished  by  the  people  of  the 
district,  including  a  fine  collection  of 
Irish  linens  and  Irish  ware  lent  by  Mrs 
Patrick  J.  Foley  and  Mrs  Catherine 


Connolly,  and  three  Irish  dolls,  complete 
in  every  detail,  lent  by  Mrs  Patrick  J. 
Foley. 

In  the  display  case  in  the  juvenile 
room  of  Washington  Village  Branch  Library 
is  a  little  old  man  playing  a  fife  and 
looking  at  a  pot  of  gold  at  the  end  of 
the  rainb&w — a  leprechaun,  a  fairy  or 
sprite  in  Irish  folklore.  Underneath  a 
poster  bearing  the  caption  Irish  Tales 
are  books  for  young  people  on  and  about 
Ireland.  Bookmarks  with  green  shamrocks 
scattered  over  them  are  being  given  to  the 
children,  and  appropriate  books  are  set 
aside  for  the  adults  of  the  district. 

The  City  Point  Branch  Library  is  featur- 
ing a  display  of  articles  from  Ireland, 
including  Irish  Baleek  china,  china  cups 
and  saucers  from  Sligo,  lent  by  Mrs  Helen 
McAuley,  Irish  linen  and  an  old  Irish 
shillelagh.  There  is  also  a  handsome 
replica  of  the  famous  Book  of  Kells  and 
an  illuminated  manuscript  copy  of  the 
Gospels  in  Latin.  Featured  too  is  a  book 
called  Atlas  and  Cyclopedia  of  Ireland, 
lent  by  the  Neponset  Branch  Library.   This 
book  which  lists  leading  Irish  families, 
gives  coats  of  arms,  and  shows  pictures 
and  maps  of  Ireland,  has  been  particularly 
intriguing  to  the  people  of  the  district 
who  have  found  much  pleasure  in  identify- 
ing familiar  landmarks.  A  poster,  St. 
Patrick  and  the  Emerald  Isle,  has  also 
caused  much  interest  inasmuch  as  on  it  are 
indicated  family  names  common  to  specific 
parts  of  Ireland.   Shamrock  bookmarks  and 
book  lists  are  being  distributed, 

********** 
BPLEBA  VALENTINE  PARTY 

On  Thursday,  February  10,  1949,  the 
Boston  Public  Library  Employees'  Benefit 
Association,  Inc.  held  a  Valentine  dinner 
and  dance  in  the  Salon  of  the  Hotel 
Sheraton.  The  room  was  appropriately 
decorated  with  valentine  motifs  and  color- 
ful balloons  were  attached  to  each  chair, 
both  effecting  a  gay,  holiday  air.   Over 
200  people — past  and  present  staff  members 
and  their  fri end s--en joyed  a  delicious 
dinner  and  the  talented  singing  of  Alice 
O'Donnell  of  Book  Stack  SerTioo  and  the 
Herman  Sisters,  Martha  of  Charlestown 
Branch  Library  and  Patricia,  formerly  of 


.  ■    ■ 


! 


■i'  r.:    :•.;■    ■-,  ■  ■     ■■  ■:■■ 

■  ■  ■      ■■■..'.' 
.     :      .       ■■  ;    ,tuv: 

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-7- 


the  Branch  Issue  Department. 

The  highlight  of  the  evening  was  a  mock 
marriage  skit  with  Alvin  George  of  the 
Stock  Purchasing  Department  as  the  bride 
and  Henry  B.  Jones  of  Book  Stack  Service 
as  the  happy  bridegroom.   John  McNally  of 
the  Buildings  Department  acted  the  part 
of  the  officiating  clergyman. 

Frank  Myers  and  the  Braves  Troubadours 
provided  tuneful  music  for  dancing  until 
1  a.m.   From  all  reports  everyone  felt 
this  was  the  best  affair  sponsored  by  the 
Employees'  Benefit  Association  to  date. 
Congratulations  to  the  Entertainment 
Committee  I 

********** 

WORN  THRESHOLDS 

Someone  has  noted  that  the  Library's 
attractiveness  rises  as  the  thermometer 
drops  and  that  bad  weather  may  be  an  in- 
centive for  getting  started  on  a  book 
that  one  has  long  had  in  mind  to  read. 
That  may  be  so,  but  what  happens  when  we 
have   pleasant,  balmy  weather  such  as 
Bostonians  experienced  in  the  week  of 
February  25  to  March  3,  just  gone  by? 

In  that  week  special  arrangements  were 
set  up  at  the  Central  Library  whereby  an 
hourly  count  was  made  of  visitors  to  the 
Library.   The  count  revealed  that  a  total 
of  31,035  persons  entered  the  Central 
Library  in  these  seven  days.   This  is  an 
average  of  4,434  persons  a  day,  or  369 
visitors  during  each  hour  that  the  Li- 
brary was  open. 

********** 
MASSACHUSETTS  LIBRARY  ASSOCIATION 

Library  expansion  programs  was  the  main 
topic  of  the  morning  session  of  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Massachusetts  Library  Associa- 
tion at  the  Brookline  Public  Library  on 
February  9,  1949. 

Harvard  University's  program,  outlined 
by  Keyes  D.  Metcalf ,  Director,  was  es- 
tablished ten  years  ago,  and  encompassed 
four  units— for  less  used  books,  treas- 
ures, undergraduates,  and  underground 
stacks.   The  building  of  the  New  England 


Deposit,  Houghton,  and  the  Lamont  librar- 
ies took  care  of  these  needs,   Lamont  pro- 
vides underground  stacks  in  addition  to 
facilities  for  undergraduates.   Mr  Metcalf 
thinks  Harvard's  expansion  program  is  con- 
cluded.  It  will  use  the  New  England  De- 
posit Library  or  a  regional  library  in- 
stead of  planning  more  buildings  in 
Harvard  Yard, 

The  Boston  Public  Library's  program,  as 
presented  by  Milton  E.  Lord,  Director,  in- 
cludes expansion  of  the  Central  Library 
and  of  the  branch  libraries.   Of  the 
Boston  University  buildings  recently  pur- 
chased, the  former  Boston  Athletic  Associa- 
tion building  will  be  used  as  a  service 
building  for  the  staff.   Mr  Lord  reminded 
the  group  that  the  building  has  a  swimming 
pool  and  an  excellent  indoor  track!   The 
College  of  Liberal  Arts  will  probably  be 
razed.   If  the  main  entrance  to  the  Cen- 
tral Library  is,  changed  from  Dartmouth  to 
Boylston  Street,  the  Boylston  Street  side 
vail  then  be  used  for  much  needed  exhibi- 
tion space  and  will  furnish  corridors  be- 
tween the  present  building  and  the  new- 
buildings. 

Three  new  branch  libraries  are  planned 
for  1949,  each  to  cost  $75,000  including 
the  land.   The  buildings  will  be  one  story 
high,  without  cellars,  of  a  type  that  can 
be  used  for  commercial  purposes  if  they 
are  no  longer  desirable  as  libraries.   It 
is  hoped  that  a  bookmobile  may  be  bought 
later  in  the  year  to  meet  the  interim 
needs  of  the  public  until  more  branch  li- 
braries are  built. 

Since  no  funds  are  available  for  new 
buildings,  the  expansion  program  of 
Framingham  Public  Library,  described  by 
Edward  Perry,  Librarian,  means  looking 
critically  at  its  organization,  its  per- 
sonnel, and  its  book  collection.   The 
branch  in  the  town  hall  is  now  larger  than 
the  main  library.   The  library's  one  en- 
dowment fund  is  restricted  to  the  main 
library.   Mr  Perry  hopes  to  liberalize 
this  arrangement  so  that  the  branch  li- 
braries may  share  in  the  fund.   If  the 
March  town  meeting  provides  the  money  for 
his  new  classification  and  pay  plan,  he 
will  be  able  to  strengthen  the  staff,  re- 
placing lost  members  and  adding  more.   The 
recataloging  of  the  library  provides  an 
opportunity  to  weed  out  "dead"  books.   A 


-8- 


central  or  circuit  collection  is  being 
built  up  to  avoid  overduplication. 

Stacy  B.  Southworth,  Chairman  of  the 
Board  of  Free  Public  Library  Commission- 
ers, announced  that  the  report  on  certi- 
fication, undertaken  by  the  Advisory  Com- 
mittee of  librarians,  will  be  ready  with- 
in two  or  three  months, 

Thurston  B.  Taylor  of  Worcester  Public 
Library  urged  the  members  to  write 
Congressmen  Kennedy  and  McCormick  to  pro- 
mote favorable  action  on  the  Library 
Demonstration  Bill. 

At  the  afternoon  meeting  Virginia 
Kirkus  spoke  of  the  influence  of  best 
seller  lists  on  reading.   Miss  Kirkus 
thinks  one  of  the  evils  of  best  seller 
lists  is  that  poor  books  are  listed  be- 
cause their  authors  have  previously  writ- 
ten good  books.   The  lists  show  unusual 
interest  in  war  novels  and  a  lessening  of 
the  preponderence  of  historical  novels. 
Miss  Kirkus  characterized  The  Naked  and 
the  Dead  as  "painfully  authentic"  and 
was  surprised  that  it  became  a  best  sel- 
ler.  Discussing  it  with  soldiers  she 
learned  that  it  gave  them  a  sense  of 
comradeship  and  of  knowing  each  other. 
Occasionally  books  of  literary  value  do 
make  the  best  seller  lists  as,  for  ex- 
ample, Graham  Greene's  Heart  of  the 
Matter  and  Rumer  Godden's  Candle  for  St. 
Jude. 

Siri  M.  Andrews,  Young  People's  Librar- 
ian at  the  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  Public 
Library,  said  that  A.L.A.'s  Plans  for  the 


Teen  Age  represents  idealism  in  book 
selection  for  the  student  of  junior  and 
senior  high  school  age.   Miss  Andrews 
thinks  young  people  are  reading  less. 
Radio  and  television  cut  down  their 
reading  time  and  influence  the  kind  of 
book  wanted.   Sherlock  Holmes  is  too 
slow  after  hearing  radio  murder  stories. 
Young  people,  with  their  many  activities, 
are  too  pressed  for  time  to  get  the  un- 
derlying meaning  for  which  the  book  is 
selected.   Miss  Andrews  concluded  that 
the  librarian  should  do  her  book  selec- 
tion realistically  and  provide  growing- 
up  books.   Science,  or  pseudo-science, 
fiction,  and  poetry  are  popular  in 
Concord. 

********** 


CATHOLIC  BOOK  7JEEK 

On  Saturday,  February  26,  as  a  final 
gathering  of  Catholic  Book  'Vfeek,  an 
authors'  meeting  was  held  at  the  Parker 
Hill  Branch  Library.   The  four  principal 
speakers  stressed  the  slogan  of  the  Book 
*"Teek,  "Read  Wisely — Share  Truth.",  com- 
menting on  books  which  had  influenced 
their  lives  or  recommending  books  to  in- 
fluence our  lives.   Rev.  Francis  Moran, 
editor  of  The  Pilot,  spoke  on  Catholic 
reading;  Helen  Landreth,  author  of  Dear 
Dark  Head  and,  currently,  The  Fursuit  of 
Robert  Emmett,  gave  intimate  glimpses  of 
people  and  places  in  Ireland;  Mrs  Dorothy 
""ayman,  of  the  Boston  Globe,  began  with 
Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  and  Ben  Hur,  dwelling  on 


their  spiritual  values  and  their  impres- 
sion on  her  early  life;  and  William 
Scofield,  of  the  Boston  Traveler,'  talked 
on  Communism.   Mr  Scofield,  spent  some 
time  in  Europe  last  Fall,  and  gave  an  in- 
teresting account  of  conditions  in  Europe 
as  seen  by  a  news  reporter.   The  speakers 
were  introduced  by  John  O'Loughlin,  Li- 
brarian of  Boston  College  and  President  of 
the  New  England  Unit  of  the  Catholic  Li- 
brary Association.   Rev.  John  Broderick, 
Librarian  of  the  Creagh  Research  Library 
of  St.  John's  Seminary,  was  Chairman  of 
the  Catholic  Book  "leek  Committee. 

********** 
ADULT  EDUCATION  COUNCIL  OF  GREATER  BOSTON 


Several  members  of  the  Boston  Public 
Library  staff  enjoyed  the  dinner  meeting 
of  the  Adult  Education  Council  held  at 
Simmons  College  on  Monday  evening,  March 
7.   Fortified  by  a  delicious  dinner,  pre- 
pared and  served  by  the  Simmons  Cafeteria 
staff,  the  guests  assembled  to  hear  the 
speaker  of  the  evening,  Marc  Starr,  Educa- 
tional Director  of  the  I.L.GoW.U.  and  Mem- 
ber of  the  Executive  Board  of  the  American 
Association  for  Adult  Education,,  The 
meeting  was  opened  by  M.  Norcross  Stratton, 
Vocational  Director,  State  Department  of 
Education,  who,  after  a  brief  business 
session,  introduced  Dr  Harrison  L.  Harley, 
Professor  of  Philosophy  and  Psychology, 
Simmons  College,  who  in  turn  presented  Mr 
Starr,. 

Mr  Starr's  remarks  were  most  challenging 
and  made  those  present  realize  that  on  the 


-9- 


shoulders  of  such  groups  as  the  Adult 
Education  Council,  organized  to  further 
intellectual  freedom,  rested  the  fate  of 
the  future.   Unfortunately,  Mr  Starr  had 
to  return  immediately  to  New  York  and  was 
unable  to  stay  and  answer  the  many  ques- 
tions which  were  around  in  the  minds  of 
his  listeners  by  his  critical  analyses  of 
the  menace  of  social  illiteracy. 

Mrs  Muriel  Javelin  is  the  Executive 
Secretary  of  the  Adult  Education  Council. 

********** 

FILM  COUNCIL  OF  GREATER  BOSTON 

The  April  meeting  of  the  Film  Council 
of  Greater  Boston  will  be  held  in  the 
Lecture  Hall  of  the  Boston  Public  Library 
on  Tuesday,  April  12. 

Subject:  Producing  your  own  motion 
pictures.--  an  exhibit  of 
home-made  movies  produced  by  people  in 
the  Greater  Boston  area. 

A  panel  of  experts  on  the  production  of 
motion  pictures  will  be  present  to  criti- 
cize the  pictures  shown  and  to  offer 
fundamental  suggestions  for  producing 
motion  pictures . 

If  you  know  of  anyone  in  the  Greater 
Boston  Area  who  has  produced  a  motion 
picture,  please  leave  the  name  and  ad- 
dress of  the  person  with  Mrs  Muriel 
Javelin. 

All  individuals  interested  in  the  pro- 
duction, distribution,  or  utilization  of 
educational  motion  pictures  are  invited 
to  this  meeting. 

The  Boston  Public  Library  is  one  of  the 
sponsoring  agents  of  the  Film  Council  of 
Greater  Boston. 

********** 


SOAP  BOX 


IN  A  POOR  LIBRARIAN'S  BUDGET 


"Ten  dollars  dues  for  A.L.A."       ..  . 

It's  oh,  so' easy  just  to  say! 

Two  hundred  cups  of  cheap,  black  coffee 


or 
One  hundred  cups  in  a  tea  shoppe. 

or 
Ten  weeks  carfare  to  work  and  back 

or 
Nylons  a  year  you  shall  not  lack  ■ 

or 
Boston  Symphony  for  one  whole  year 

or 
You'll  drink  a  hundred  glasses  of  beer 

or 
Eight  plays  for  dollar-twenty  each 

or 
Three  and  one-third  cheap  opera  seats 

or 
Sixty- seven  "cheese  on  rye" 
You  sadly  say  and  softly  sigh. 
It's  scrimp  and  save  to  do  as  you 

should. 
A.L.A.  you'd  better  be  goodj 

Shakespeare  (of  course) 
* 

77ANTED: 

An  adequate  answer  to  the  question 
"Thy  should  Professional  employees  get 
four  weeks  vacation,  and  Subprof essionals 
get  only  two?" 

Answers  accepted  from  any  one,  if 
anyone  can  think  one  up0 


Enigma, 


********** 


'■'.     ,: 


- 


■ 


.  ■    •    : 


'  - 


BOSTON  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  PROFESSIONAL  STAFF  ASSOCIATION 
Officers  and  Standing  Committees,  1949 
Officers 


President 
Vice-President 
Corresponding  Secretary- 
Recording  Secretary- 
Treasurer 


Edna  G.  Peck 
Frank  P.  Bruno 
Irene  J.  "r,Tadsworth 
Mery  J.  Brady- 
Mrs  Lydia  A.  Palladino 


Mrs  Geraldine  S.  Herrick 
Charles  L.  Higgins 


The  Executive  Board 

Helen  Sagoff 

Standing  Committees 


Catherine  M.  MacDonald 
Louisa  S.  Metcalf 


Constitution 

Moorfield  Storey,  Jr.,  Chairman 
Mrs  Gertrude  L-.  Bergen 
Roger  P.  Bristol 

Gladys  R.  "r!hite 

Entertainment 

Margaret~A.  Calnan,  Chairman 
Mrs  Margaret  D.  Butler 

Rose  G.  DiPasquale 
Mrs  Mary  D.  Farrell 

Veronica  M.  Flattich 

Mildred  E,  Francis 

Mary  A.  Hackett 

Marion  R.  Herzig 

Mrs  Grace  B.  Loughlin 

Jean  Tatson 

Mrs  Edna  M.  Wollent 

Membership  and  Hospitality 
Marie  J~Pineo,  Chairman 
Rose  E.  Baravella 
Anne  P.  Connors 
Mary  T.  Crowe 
Barbara  Gilson 
Ruth  Riceman 

Men's  House  Committee 

Charles  J.  Gillis,  Chairman 

Louis  Polishook 

Robert  J.  Roper 


Rare  Book  Department 
Mattapan  Branch  Library- 
Cataloging  and  Classification 

Department,  Reference  Division 
Mt.  Pleasant  Branch  Library 


Connolly  Branch  Library 
Periodical  and  Newspaper 

Dopartm^nt 
North  End  Branch  Library 
Cataloging  and  Classification 

Department,  Reference  Division 
Book  Stack  Service 
Business  Office 
Parker  Hill  Branch  Library 
Roslindale  Branch  Library 
Branch  Issue  Department 
Director ;s  Office 
Staff  Hospital 


Uphams  Corner  Branch  Library 
3c ok  Preparation  Department 
South  Boston  Branch  Library 
"lest  Roxbury  Branch  Library 
History  Department 
Connolly  Branch  Library 


Cataloging  and  Classification 
Department,  Circulation  Division 

Science  and  Technology  Department, 
Patent  Room 

Science  and  Technology  Department 


■ 


•   ■  •■•■ 


■ 


i 


■ 

•  - 

." 

,  ■■;. 

- 

'  . 

■ 

>  ■ 

. 

• .-. ; 

Program 

Mrs  Geraldine  M.  Altman,  Chairman 
Roger  P.  Bristol 

Mary  F.  Daly- 
Margaret  A.  Morgan 
Dorothy  F.  Nourse 


Jeffries  Point  Branch  Library 
Cataloging  and  Classification 

Department,  Reference  Division 
Statistical  Department 
Dorchester  Branch  Library 
East  Boston  Branch  Library 


Publications 

Sarah  M.  Usher,  Chairman 

Mildred  R.  Adelson 
M.  Dorothy  Brackett 
John  M.-  Carroll 
Eleanor  DiGiannantonio 


Records,  Files,  and  Statistics 

Office 
Jamaica  Plain  Branch  Library 
City  Point  Branch  Library 
General  Reference  Department 
Kirstein  Business  Branch 


Staff  Library 

Leonard  J.  Macmillan,  Chairman 

Harry  Andrews 

Mary  F.  Daly 

Mrs  Evelyn  G.  Green 

B.  Joseph  O'Neil 

Mrs  Mary  W.  Taters 


Book  Purchasing  Department 
Branch  Issue  Department 
Statistical  Department 
Jamaica  Plain  Branch  Library 
Periodical  and  Newspaper 

Department 
Cataloging  and  Classification 

Department,  Reference  Division 


"Somen's  House  Committee 

Mary  O'G.  Cahill,  Chairman 
Deirdre  M.  Barry 
Mary  E.  Cull inane 

Flora  A.  Ennis 
Mary  L.  Gilman 
Mrs  Mary  L.  Sands 


Book  Purchasing  Department 
Book  Stack  Service 
Cataloging  and  Classification 

Department,  Reference  Division 
Book  Stack  Service 
Lower  Mills  Branch  Library 
Fine  Arts  Department 


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PROFESSIONAL  STAFF  ASSOCIATION 


THE   QUESTION   MARK 

Published  by  the  Boston  Fublic  Library  Professional  Staff  Association 
Volume  IV,  Number  3 April  1949 

Publications  Committee:   Mildred  R.  Adelson,  M.  Dorothy  Brackett,  John  M»  Carroll, 

Eleanor  DiGiannantonio,  Sarah  M»  Usher,  Chairman 


Publication  date; 
The  fifteenth  of  each  month 


Deadline  for  submitting  material : 
The  renth  of  each  month 


"."HAT'S  YOUR  SCORE? 

What  do  you  know  about  A.L.A.  and  efforts 
to  secure  Federal  Aid  for  Libraries? 

'That  do  you  know  about  programs  for  pro- 
fessional education  and  recruiting  on 
a  national  scale  and  in  our  own  back- 
yard --  or  front  yard? 

'That  do  you  know  about  M.L.A.  and  Freedom 
of  Speech? 

"That  do  you  know  about  Certification  of 
Librarians  in  Massachusetts? 

What  do  you  know  about  libraries  and  the 
Great  Issues  Program? 

What  do  you  know  about  the  Great  Books 
program? 

."That  do  you  know  about  C.A.R.E.? 

Vftiat  do  you  know  about  the  lending  of 
films? 

"That  do  you  know  about  State  Aid 
programs? 

What  do  you  know  about  Bookmobiles  in 
Boston? 

"-That  have  you  contributed  in  time,  sug- 
gestions, thought,  energy,  support,  or 
money,  where  such  were  involved,  to 
these  activities? 

Has  1949  so  far  seemed  like  a  signifi- 
cant year  in  librarians hip  to  YOU? 

It  has  been  an  important  year.   If 
it  hasn't  reached  you,  why  not? 
There's  A.L.A. ,  S.L.A.,  M.L.A., 

B.P.L.P.S.A.,  B.P.L.,  and  YOU. 

What's  YOUR  score? 
********** 

The  Publications  Committee  has  pre- 
pared an  outline  to  help  you  in  report- 
ing news  for  The  Question  Mark.  Copies 
to  be  filled  out  for  the  next  month  will 
be  sent  to  Field  Representatives  with 
each  current  issue.  A  sample  copy  forms 
the  last  page  of  this  issue. 

********** 


PERSONAL  NOTES 

New  Staff  Members 

Patricia  E.    McDonough,   Charlestown 
Branch  Library. 

Robert  J.   Carner,    Rare  Book  Department. 

Transfers 

With  the  closing  of  the  Fellowes 
Athenaeum  Branch  Library; 

Marjorie  A*  Obenauer  to  City  Point 
Branch  Library. 

Mary  Dennison  to  Allston  Branch  Library. 

Etta  Kessell  to  Neponset  Branch  Library. 

Alice  M.  Waters,  formerly  of  the  Allston 
Branch  Library,  has  been  lent  to  the 
Norfolk  House  Center  in  Roxbury  where 
Roxbury  residents  may  use  their  Boston 
Fublic  Library  borrowers'  cards. 

Mrs  Miriam  B.  Hannon,  from  South  Boston 
Branch  Library  to  Allston  Branch  Library. 

Mrs  Mary  D.  Yanovich,  from  Charlestown 
Branch  Library  to  South  Boston  Branch 
Library. 

Engagements  and  ""eddings 

Dorothy  B.  Graham,  Statistical  Depart- 
ment, has  announced  her  engagement  to 
James  M.  Mackey. 

Lola  Robinson,  Book  Stack  Service,  has 
announced  her  engagement  to  Donald 
MacKay  of  Lynn. 

Annette  L.  Shapiro,  Personnel  Office, 
was  married  on  April  third  to  Wilfred  M. 
Sherman.  The  staff  of  the  Personnel 
Office  attended  the  wedding  ceremony  and 
reception  which  were  held  in  the  audi- 
torium of  Temple  Kehillath  Israel  in 
Brookline. 


■  d- 


Babies 

A  son,  Robert  Christopher,  was  born  to 
Mr  and  Mrs  Matthew  P.  Gallagher  on  April 
4.  Robert  has  a  brother,  Matthew,  four 
years  of  age.   Mr  Gallagher  is  a  member 
of  the  History  Department  staff. 

Publications  by  Staff  Members 

Til  son  Library  Pullet -In,  March  1949: 
pp  528-9.  "Public  Relations  Institute", 

Louisa  S.  Metcalf  (First  Assistant,  Open 

Shelf  Department) 

pp  561-2.   "Store  Displays  into  Library 

Exhibits",  Mrs  Irene  H,  Tuttle  (Branch 

Librarian,  South  Boston  Branch  Library). 

Director's  Calendar 

March  16  -  American  Committee  on  Arrange- 
ments for  the  International 
Library  Congress  of  1950,  at 
Washington,  D.  C. 

March  17  -  Nominating  Committee  of  the 
Council  of  National  Library 
Associations,  at  New  York  City 

March  26  -  Panel  on  Libraries,  for  the 
Committee  on  UNESCO  Program 
of  the  United  States  National 
Commission  for  UNESCO,  at 
Washington,  D.  C. 

March  30,  31  -  Meeting  of  United  States 
National  Commission  for 
UNESCO,  at  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

********** 

ALUMNAE  NOTES 

Mr  and  Mrs  Joseph  H.  Lyons  are  receiv- 
ing congratulations  on  the  birth  of  a 
daughter,  Patricia  Dolonia,  born  March  7. 
Mrs  Lyons  is  the  former  Irene  Bixler  of 
the  Information  Office. 


Mr  and  Mrs  Philip  Rotondo  are  the  proud 
parents  of  another  daughter,  Maria 
Margaret,  born  March  16.   Mrs  Rotondo 
was  Sadie  Stella,  former  assistant  at 
the  Jeffries  Point  Branch  Library. 


Mrs  D.  Richard  Sturgis  (formerly 
Florence  Stanley  of  the  Young  People's 
Room)  has  an  article  on  the  Great  Books 
Foundation  in  the  Christian  Science 
Monitor  Magazine  Section,  April  2,  1949. 
Mrs  Sturgis  also  wrote  Charlotte  Bronte, 
Artist  which  appeared  in  the  Monitor  of 
October  11,  1947. 

SIMONS  COLLEGE  STUDENTS 
AT  THE  BOSTCi  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

Four  students  from  the  Simmons  College 
School  of  Library  Science  and  one  student 
from  the  School  of  English,  are  doing 
field  work  in  the  Boston  Fublic  Library 
from  April  4  to  16.,   Their  assignments 
include  work  in  the  Information  Office, 
Book  Selection  Department  in  the  Circula- 
tion Division,  Rare  Book  Department,  Fine 
Arts  Department,  General  Reference  De- 
partment, Cataloging  and  Classification 
Department  in  the  Reference  Division,  and 
at  Up hams  Corner  and  Memorial  Branch 
Libraries ,      They  are:   Miller  Cook, 
Fhyllis  Glasener,  Esther  N.  Partee, 
Margaret  Me  "raitj  and  Mary  Massa. 

********** 
MARY  U.  NICHOLS  BOOK  PRIZES 

7'ith  the  approval  of  the  Trustees  and 
the  Director,  a  Mary  U.  Nichols  Fund  is 
being  raised  to  establish  the  Mary  U. 
Nichols  Book  Prizes,,   Two  books  of  last- 
ing  value  will  be  awarded  annually  at  the 
North  End  Branch  Library,  one  to  the 
North  End  boy,  the  other  to  the  North  End 
girl,  who  shall  have  done  the  best  work 
in  English  during  the  Senior  Year  at  the 
local  High  School.   The  Fund  will  be  ad- 
ministered and  the  awards  made  by  the 
Trustees  of  the  Boston  Fublic  Library. 

irre  shall  welcome  support  for  this 
Memorial  to  Miss  Nichols.  Contributions 
may  be  sent  to  the  following  staff  mem- 
bers for  transmission  to  the  Treasurer 
of  the  Fund  before  May  1st. 

Dorothy  K.  Becker  -  North  End  Branch 

Library 
Duilia  Capobianco  -  East  Boston  Branch 

Library 
Rose  Di  Pasquale  -  North  End  Branch 

Library 
Mrs  Geraldine  S.  Herrick  -  North  End 

Branch  Library 


********** 


-3- 


PRESIDENT'S  NOTES 


Apologies  are  in  order.  Through  an 
error  -  entirely  my  own,  sad  to  say  -  the 
name  of  Robert  Roper  was  omitted  from  the 
Program  Committee  for  the  current  year» 
I  have  apologized  privately  to  Mr  Roper; 
I  would  now  like  to  do  the  same  publicly. 
Please  excuse  me,  Mr  Roper,  I'm  sorry. 


A  committee  on  CARE  has  been  appointed; 
Helen  M.  Donovan,  Jamaica  Plain  Branch 
Helen  L.  Lambert,  Uphams  Corner  Branch 
Eamon  E.  ^cDonough,  Chairman,  General 

Reference  Department. 
Notices  will  be  forthcoming  shortly. 


The  Executive  Board  will  join  me,  I  am 
sure,  in  expressing  thanks  to  Mrs 
Geraldine  Altman  and  the  Program  Commit- 
tee and  to  Margaret  Calnan  and  her  fellow 
toilers  on  the  Entertainment  Committee 
for  the  exceptionally  pleasant  evening 
provided  for  us  on  Friday,  April  8,  at 
our  first  open  meeting  of  the  current 
year.  Superlatives  are  necessary.  The 
evening  was  perfect  in  every  respect. 
More  need  not  be  said,  except  a  hearty 
thanks  to  all  those  who  gave  so  freely 
of  their  time,  talents,  and  money. 


At  the  recent  Executive  Board  meeting 
held  in  the  Staff  Library  on  April  1, 
several  projects  for  staff  participation 
were  discussed.   It  is  hoped  that  con- 
crete plans  for  at  least  one  major  activ- 
ity may  be  ready  for  release  to  the  mem- 
bers in  the  next  issue  of  The  Question 
Mark. 


How  about  those  dues?  Paid?   Of  course 
they  are.  But  just  in  case  the  matter 
slipped  your  mind,  how  about  seeing  your 
field  representative  today!   Paid-up  dues 
are  so  much  nicer  than  unpaid  dues. 
Don't  you  agree? 


Miss  Calnan  has  completed  arrangements 
for  the  visit  to  the  Lamont  Library,   The 
date  is  April  30,  1949— the  time,  7:30 
P.M.  At  that  time  Philip  McNiff,  the 


the  Librarian*  has  made  arrangements  where- 
by the  staff  members  of  the  Boston  Public 
Library  will  be  given  a  conducted  tour 
through  the  new  library.  All  Boston  Public 
Library  staff  members  are  cordially  invited 
to  take  advantage  of  this  generous  offer 
on  the  part  of  the  Lamont  officials.  Since 
"no  ladies  allowed"  is  the  rule  at  Lamont, 
this  offers  a  real  challenge  to  the  femi- 
nine members  of  our  staff. 

Miss  Calnan  also  has  kindly  offered  to 
arrange  for  dinner  in  Cambridge  should  any 
of  those  who  are  going  wish  to  make  it  a 
gala  occasion  by  including  a  dinner  party 
before  being  exposed  to  the  charm  of  the 
most  beautiful  library  in  New  England. 

A  specific  notice  regarding  registration 
for  attendance  is  about  to  be  sent  to  all 
branch  libraries  and  departments. 


Don't  forget  to  save  that  other  impor- 
tant date,  June  24th  ... 

...  B.P.L.P.S.A.  Pops  night  ... 
One  hundred  floor  seats,  one  hundred  first 
balcony  seats.   First  come,  first  served. 
wIhy  not  stake  a  claim  now  by  contacting 
Miss  Calnan,  Connolly  Branch  Library? 


At  the  Executive  meeting  on  March  4th, 
the  President  was  instructed  to  write  to 
the  Director  regarding  the  matter  of  long- 
service  bonuses.   The  following  letters 
are  self  explanatory.   Mr  Lord's  letter 
should  be  very  gratifying  to  the  staff. 

March  10,  1949 

Dear  Mr.  Lord: 

The  Executive  Board  of  the 
Boston  Public  Library  Professional  Staff 
Association,  at  its  meeting  on  Friday, 
March  4,  requested  that  I  ask  your  coop- 
eration in  bringing  to  the  attention  of 
the  Trustees  as  soon  as  possible  the  mat- 
ter of  granting  long-service  increases  to 
members  of  the  Boston  Public  Library  staff 
at  the  completion  of  twenty-five  years  of 
full-time  service.   The  Executive  Board, 
representing  the  Association,  has  gone  on 
record  as  favoring  such  action.   It  hopes 
that  the  Trustees  will  find  an  opportuni- 
ty, despite  the  many  demands  on  their 
time  and  attention,  to  give  this  matter 


-4- 


careful  consideration. 

If  you  have  no  objections, 
the  Board  would  like  to  have  this  letter 
appear  in  a  forthcoming  issue  of  The 

Question  Mark. 


(signed) 


Very  truly  yours, 

EDNA  G.  PECK 

President, 

Boston  Public  Library 

Professional  Staff 

Association. 


April  11,  1949 


Dear  Miss  Peck: 

I  am  happy  to  notify  you 
that  at  their  meeting  on  April  8,  1949 
the  Trustees  of  the  Library  took  action 
to  change  from  thirty  years  to  twenty- 
five  years  the  period  of  service  upon  the 
completion  of  which  long-service  in- 
creases in  pay  are  accorded  to  members 
of  the  library  staff.   This  change  will 
be  put  into  effect  as  of  July  1,  1949. 


Yours  sincerely, 

(signed)   MILTON  E.  LORD 

Director 

To:   Miss  Edna  G.  Peck 
President 
Boston  Public  Library 

Professional  Staff  Association 
Boston  Public  Library 
Boston  17,  Massachusetts 

******** 

FIRST  1949  SOCIAL  MEETING 

On  Friday  evening  April  8,  members  of 
the  staff  and  their  friends  had  the 
pleasure  of  hearing  The  Most  Reverend 
John  J.  Wright,  Auxiliary  Bishop  of 
Boston,  discuss  his  recent  visit  to 
Ireland.   Aside  from  the  knowledge  we 
gathered  concerning  present  conditions 
in  this  tiny  country,  we  were  all  enter- 
tained by  the  many  amusing  anecdotes 


recounted  with  great  wit  and  charm  by  this 
careful  observer.   His  frequent  references 
to  Helen  Landreth's  Dear  Dark  Head  will 
create  new  friends  for  this  delightful 
book.   Incidentally,  I  wonder  how  many 
were  as  surprised  as  I  by  the  revelation 
that  all  Ireland  is  smaller  than  our  own 
Massachusetts? 

The  talk,  which  ended  all  too  soon,  was 
followed  by  a  film  "Wings  to  Ireland". 
This  was  especially  pleasant  to  view  with 
Bishop  Wright's  words  so  fresh  in  our 
minds. 

A  reception  for  staff  members  and  their 
guests  was  held  in  the  Abbey  Room  follow- 
ing the  conclusion  of  the  film.  Everyone 
had  an  opportunity  to  meet  and  chat  with 
Bishop  "'right,  who  graciously  stayed  well 
on  to  the  close  of  the  evening.  Other 
distinguished  guests  included  Milton  E. 
Lord,  Director,  and  Frank  W.  Buxton  and 
Francis  B.  Masterson,  Trustees. 

Our  thanks  go  to  Edna  G.  Peck,  who  was 
responsible  for  the  presence  of  our  charm- 
ing guest,  and  to  Margaret  A.  Calnan  and 
the  members  of  the  Entertainment  Committee 
for  the  delicious  cakes  and  coffee  served 
so  efficiently.   This  was  no  small  feat 
when  one  considers  the  size  of  the  gather- 
ing--about  300  is  our  guess.  Most  of  them 
stayed  until  well  after  eleven  o'clock. 
We  think  this  is  pretty  good  evidence  that 
the  evening  was  very  enjoyable. 

Geraldine  M.  Altman 

Chairman,  Program  Committee. 
********** 

BRANCH  LIBRARY  NOTES 

The  Junior  Book  Reviewers  Reading  Club 
of  Connolly  Branch  Library  was  host  to  the 
Jamaica  Plain  Branch  Library  Junior  Book 
Reviewers  on  the  evening  of  March  31. 
Both  groups,  each  of  which  consists  of  15 
junior  high  school  girls,  met  in  the 
lecture  hall  of  the  Connolly  Branch  Library 
for  a  special  program  which  consisted  of  a 
quiz,  movies,  and  refreshments.  The 
Jamaica  Plain  girls  were  the  winners  of 
the  quiz,  which  consisted  of  questions  on 
four  different  subjects,  each  contestant 
choosing  the  subject  about  which  she 
wished  to  be  asked.   The  movies  shown  were 
"You  and  your  family,"  which  was  followed 


-5- 


by  a  discussion  of  teen  agers'  problems 
in  relation  to  their  families,  and  "It's 
all  yours,"  a  film  which  tells  about  the 
importance  of  reading  and  the  enjoyment 
one  can  get  from  it.   The  program  was 
under  the  direction  of  Mildred  R.  Adelson, 
Children's  Librarian,  Jamaica  Plain 
Branch  Library,  and  Ruth  Riceman,  Chil- 
dren's Librarian,  Connolly  Branch  Library, 


An  unusual  doll  collection  is  on  dis- 
play at  the  Connolly  Branch  Library  dur- 
ing the  month  of  April.   It  consists  of 
dolls  from  every  country  of  the  world, 
which  have  been  collected  by  Anna  von  Euw 
of  Jamaica  Plain.  There  are  dolls  from 
Hawaii,  Africa,  Japan,  and  a  very  tiny 
doll  which  sits  on  the  head  of  a  pin.  A 
little  doll  carriage  made  of  sea  shells 
contains  two  tiny  sea-shell  dolls.  The 
collection  is  very  large,  containing 
over  200  dolls,  and  the  exhibit  will  be 
changed  from  time  to  time  throughout  the 
month,  so  that  all  the  dolls  can  be  dis- 
played. 


A  collection  of  toys  made  by  the  stu- 
dents at  the  Mary  E.  Curley  Junior  High 
School  for  the  Junior  Red  Cross  has  been 
on  exhibit  at  Connolly  Branch  Library. 
Large  colorful  yarn  dolls  with  long 
braided  hair  and  crocheted  bonnets  were 
made  by  the  girls,  while  the  boys  made 
bean  bags  of  oilcloth,  in  the  shape  of 
cats.  The  toys  are  used  by  the  Red  Cross 
for  distribution  to  children  arriving  in 
Boston  from  Europe  as  displaced  persons. 


Community  night  at  the  East  Boston 
Branch  Library  on  Monday  evening,  March 
28,  was  attended  by  about  two  hundred 
friends  from  the  neighborhood  who  enjoyed 
a  varied  program  of  East  Boston  talent. 
Albert  'Test,  President,  and  officers  of 
the  Friends  of  the  East  Boston  Branch 
Library  assisted  the  staff  in  sponsoring 
the  fourth  Open  House. 

After  a  short  welcome  by  the  branch 
librarian,  Mr  Lord  expressed  his  pleasure 
at  the  interest  shown  by  the  community 
in  the  library  in  his  talk  "The  Library 
and  the  Community."  "Little  Man  in  a 
Fix,"  a  Danish  folk  dance,  was  performed 
by  girls  from  Marginal  Street  Center 


under  the  direction  of  Elizabeth  Pope. 
Directed  by  Anna  Lewis,  girls  from 
Trinity  Neighborhood  House  danced  "New 
Castle"  and  "Black  Nag,"  English  country 
dances.   In  the  main  feature  of  the 
evening,  Lawrence  vroodbury,  Director  of 
Central  Square  Center,  illustrated  with 
slides  his  talk  on  "German  Youth,  Yester- 
day and  Tomorrow, "  based  on  his  trip  to 
study  recreation  in  Germany  last  year. 
The  Mikado  Chorus  from  the  Jeffries  Point 
Boys'  Club  concluded  the  formal  program 
with  several  selections  of  the  Gilbert 
and  Sullivan  operetta  under  the  baton  of 
Dave  Cates. 

During  the  social  hour  which  followed 
the  program,  punch  and  cookies  were 
served  in  the  Children's  Room  which  was 
decorated  with  forsythia,  jonquils,  and 
acacia.  Catherine  Flannery  of  the  Orient 
Heights  Branch  Library  and  Mrs  Geraldine 
Altman  of  the  Jeffries  Point  Branch 
Library  presided  at  the  punch  bowls. 
Frank  W,  Buxton,  Francis  B.  Masterson, 
Trustees,  Milton  E.  Lord,  Director,  and 
Orlando  C.  Davis,  Chief  Librarian  of  the 
Circulation  Division,  were  special  guests. 
The  fourth  Open  House  was  a  memorable  and 
happy  occasion! 


As  you  may  or  may  not  know,  the  East 
Boston  Branch  Library  provides  weekly 
movie  entertainment  for  its  smaller  bor- 
rowers. On  one  such  occasion  it  was 
decided  to  have  a  question  period  follow- 
ing the  shorting  of  a  cinema  attraction 
called  profoundly,  The  Mailman.   Matters 
were  arranged  so  that  the  children  could 
ask  the  questions  and  other  children 
answer  them.  After  several  average 
queries,  one  freckle-nosed  infant  intel- 
lectual arose  and  after  a  dramatic  pause 
asked  — 

"TJhat  doesn't  a  mailman  not  have  to 
worry  about?" 

Silence  pervaded.  No  one  could  even 
venture  a  guess.   Curiosity  was  rapidly 
getting  the  better  of  me  so  I  asked  — 
(I  was  playing  the  straight  man  at  the 
time)  "What  doesn't  a  mailman  have  to 
worry  about?" 

Answer  —  "Feeding  de  chicks  de  day 
after  they're  borned  'cause  you  don't 
have  to  feed  or  drink  'em,  jso  they  can  be 
mailed." 

Ah  me  I   Life  in  the  children's  room! 

Ursula  Von  Zarsk 
********** 


MY  DAYS  IN  COURT 

To  anyone  uninitiated  in  court  proce- 
dures the  opportunity  to  sit  as  an  observ- 
er at  the  trial  of  the  books  Serenade,  by 
James  Cain,  and  God's  little  acre,  by 
Erskine  Caldwell  was  more  than  welcomed. 
The  three  days  spent  in  the  Superior 
Court  listening  to  the  trials  proved  to 
be  both  a  broadening  and  an  entertaining 
experience. 

An  old  hand  at  that  game  would  probably 
never  have  been  shaken  from  his  equanimi- 
ty by  the  "S'elp  me  Gawds"  that  boomed 
out  as  each  witness  was  sworn  in;  by  the 
accumulated  dust  that  almost  obliterated 
the  design  of  the  American  flag;  or  by 
the  leisurely  atmosphere  that  pervaded 
the  entire  sessions.  But  to  a  novice, 
these  minor  details  seemed  to  have  dra- 
matic implications. 

The  judge,  the  Honorable  Charles  S. 
Fairhurst,  was  just  as  a  judge  is  always 
imagined— white-haired,  benign,  soft- 
spoken,  but  very  firm  and  with  a  mind  as 
keen  as  a  razor  blade,  never  missing  a 
point  no  matter  how  trivial. 

The  trial  was  of  special  significance 
in  that  it  was  only  the  second  case  to 
be  tried  under  the  new  Massachusetts'  law. 
wherein  the  book  and  not  the  person  dis- 
tributing the  book  is  on  trial.  Forever 
Amber  was  the  first  book  to  be  tried 
under  this  law. 

The  Attorney  General's  Office  was  rep- 
resented by  Assistant  Attorney  General 
Timothy  J.  Murphy.  The  case  for  Serenade 
was  defended  by  Arthur  E.  Farmer,  of  New 
York,  while  Robert  W.  Meserve,  former 
Assistant  United  States  Attorney  in 
Massachusetts,  was  counsel  for  God's 
little  acre.  The  two  books  were  tried 
separately,  each  trial  taking  approxi- 
mately a  day  and  a  half. 

The  state's  witnesses  in  the  case  of 
Serenade  were  Sergeants  Edward  I.  Blake 
and  John  E.  Howard,  of  the  Boston  Police 
Department,  Lieutenant  Michael  J. 
Cullinane,  of  the  Massachusetts  State 
Police,  and  tvo  English  High  School 
teachers,  Bernard  McCabe  and  Joseph  E. 
Kenney.   One  of  the  witnesses  for  the 
original  publisher,  A.  A.  Knopf  Company, 


was  Harold  Strauss,  while  the  reprint 
editions  were  championed  by  Victor  E. 
Teybright,  president  of  the  New  American 
Library  of  World  Literature >  Inc.   (The 

word  "Inc." pronounced  Ink,  was  used 

on  all  possible  occasions...  It  seems 
that  once  a  firm  reaches  the  status  of 
being  "Inc.-ed,"  "Inked"  it  must  ever  be, 
even  in  speech).  Other  witnesses  for 
Serenade  were  Theodore  Morrison,  director 
of  English  for  the  freshman  class  at 
Harvard  University;  Ralph  Thompson,  New 
York  literary  critic;  and  Robert  G. 
Davis,  associate  professor  of  English  at 
Smith  College.   In  each  case,  except  for 
the  publishers,  the  witness  was  requested 
to  give  an  evaluation  of  the  book  from  a 
literary  point  of  view.  After  the  wit- 
nesses had  concluded  their  testimonies, 
Mr.  Farmer  summed  up  the  case.  Assistant 
Attorney  General  Murphy's  refutation  fol- 
lowed. 

The  case  rested,  -  but  not  the  observ- 
ers „  They  were  plunged  at  once  into  the 
intricacies  of  court  procedure  for  God's 
little  acre^  Mr.  Meserve  opened  the 
casei   The  state  called  as  witnesses  the 
same  three  policemen  who  had  testified 
against  Serenade.   The  original  publisher 
of  God's  little  acre,  Viking  Press,  was 
represented  by  B.  W.  Huebsch,  president 
and  director  of  the  company.  Duell, 
Sloane  and  Pearce,  to  whom  the  rights 
were  sold,  was  represented  by  Charles  E. 
Duell,  president  of  that  company.  Again 
Mr.  TJeybright  appeared  for  the  reprint 
firm,  the  New  American  Library  of  World 
Literature,  Inc.   Others  who  testified 
in  behalf  of  God's  little  acre  were  John 
Chamberlain,  New  York  literary  critic; 
Erskine  Caldwell,  the  author;  Lewis 
Stiles  Gannett,  New  York  literary  critic; 
Dr.  Ira  Reid,  professor  of  sociology  at 
Haverford  College;  Dr.  Sydney  MacLean, 
professor  of  English  at  Mount  Holyoke 
College;  and  a  young  Carvel  Collins,  who 
teaches  English  at  Harvard  and  is  assist- 
ant dean  of  men,  in  charge  of  freshmen. 
Mr.  Meserve  gave  his  summary  and  the 
counsel  for  the  state  refuted.   The  case 
rested.  The  decision  is  now  in  the  hands 
of  Judge  Fairhurst, 

A  three  days'  steady  diet  of  such 
literary  highlights  left  one  rather 
groggy  mentally.  Such  a  series  of  cap- 
sule courses  in  literary  criticism  cannot 


-7- 


be  absorbed  in  three  days  without  a 
strain  on  the  average  mentality  -  but  it 
was  certainly  worth  the  strain. 

The  highlight  of  the  sessions  should 
have  been  the  appearance  of  the  author, 
Erskine  Caldwell,  who  was  flora  on  from 
his  home  in  Tuscon  to  be  present  at  the 
hearings.  The  morning  he  was  scheduled 
to  appear  tension  was  high.   Rumors  were 
afloat  that  the  publishers  produced  Mr. 
Caldwell  on  every  possible  occasion, 
since  his  cherubic  appearance  made  good 
advertising.  '"Vhen  he  appeared,  however, 
there  was  little  indication  of  the  cherub 
about  him.   He  was  tall,  sandy-complex- 
ioned,  well-groomed,  sophisticated.  He 
was  not  an  impressive  vri.tness.   He  was 
forthright  and  sincere  but  unspectacular. 
In  fact  Judge  Fairhurst  had  Mr.  Caldwell 
rather  at  a  disadvantage  several  times. 
To  me  the  outstanding  witness  vias  Dr.  Ira 
Reid,  the  Negro  sociologist.   His  keen 
mind,  his  critical  appraisal  of  the  book, 
his  fluent  flow  of  language,  and  his  en- 
gaging manner  made  him  stand  out  in  this 
array  of  brilliant  minds.  Even  Mr. 
Caldwell,  who  maintained  a  rather  suave 
and  nonchalant  appearance  during  the 
testimony  of  the  preceding  witnesses, 
Mr.  Chamberlain  and  Mr.  Gannett,  quite 
obviously  came  to  life  when  Dr.  Reid 
began  to  speak.  TJhen  Dr.  Reid  had  fin- 
ished one  was  tempted  to  suspect  that  Mr. 
Caldwell  had  been  surprised  to  discover 
how  good  an  author  he  really  was  when  he 
wrote  God's  little  acre. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  librar- 
ies were  mentioned  only  twice  during  the 
entire  proceedings,  once  when  a  reference 
was  made  to  the  Worcester  Public  Library 
and  once  when  the  Boston  Public  Library 
was  credited  with  supplying  witness  mate- 
rial in  the  form  of  bound  magazines  which 
were  used  in  citing  certain  advertising. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  such  a  perform- 
ance will  not  need  to  be  repeated  with 
other  books  on  trial,  but  as  a  premiere 
this  certainly  had  much  of  entertainment 
and  enlightenment  to  offer  to  those  in- 
terested in  modern  trends  in  the  world  of 
literature. 

E.  G.  Peck 
********** 


HEARING  ON  SENATE  366 

Mrs  Sarah  W.  Flannery  represented  the 
Association  at  the  hearing  on  Senate  366, 
held  on  April  6.   Her  report  follows: 

On  Wednesday  morning  April  6,  1949  the 
Legislative  Committee  on  Pensions  and  Old 
Age  Assistance  met  in  room  446  of  the 
State  House  to  consider  among  other  bills, 
Senate  366— "Petition  of  John  J.  Craffey 
for  legislation  relative  to  the  superan- 
nuation retirement  allowances  of  certain 
public  employees."  The  act  is  of  inter- 
est to  all  library  personnel  and  there- 
fore worth  our  serious  attention.  At  the 
present  time  under  the  new  State-Municipal 
retirement  system,  the  amount  of  pension 
a  person  receives  is  computed  on  the 
basis  of  what  he  would  get  if  he  retired 
at  65.   For  each  month  the  person  lacks 
of  the  age  65  at  retirement  the  pension 
is  reduced  1/4  of  1%   or  Z%   a  year  which 
means  that  a  person  retiring  at  the  age 
of  60  received  15%  less  pension  than  if 
he  retired  at  65,  end  at  55  gets  30-%  less. 
The  present  bill  would  make  the  reduction 
l/8  of  1%   a  month  or  1  l/Z%  a  year  (ex- 
cept in  the  case  of  veterans  whose  reduc- 
tion would  still  be  Z%   a  year)  so  that  a 
person  retiring  at  55  v/ould  receive  only 
15$  less  than  he  would  receive  if  he  re- 
tired at  65. 

Two  other  bills  discussed  at  the  same 
time  were  of  similar  nature.  These  were 
House  357,  introduced  by  William  V.  'Tard 
and  Frank  D.  McCarthy  and  House  982,  in- 
troduced by  the  Massachusetts  Associated 
Retirement  Boards.   These  two  advocated 
cutting  the  loss  of  pension  by  as  much  as 
2%   a  year.   Many  persons,  among  them  some 
library  staff  members,  went  on  record  as 
favoring  the  bills  under  discussion.   No 
one  except  the  Real  Estate  Association 
(which  opposed  several  other  proposals 
for  pension  legislation)  went  on  record 
as  opposed. 

It  was  noted,  however,  that  several 
members  of  the  Legislative  Committee  did 
not  seem  kindly  disposed  to  legislation 
that  would  lower  pension  ages  or  increase 
pension  benefits.   This  was  especially 
marked  in  the  discussion  of  several  bills 
introduced  whereby  the  length  of  service 
required  before  an  employee  be  permitted 
to  retire  for  disability  be  reduced  from 


-8- 


twenty  years  to  fifteen  years.  The  crit- 
icism was  mainly  on  two  counts--one  took 
the  form  of  a  rhetorical  question  as  to 
how  long  state  and  municipal  employees 
were  going  to  continue  their  demands  for 
more  and  more  benefits  at  the  taxpayers' 
expense,  and  how  far  did  they  think  the 
taxpayers  could  go  in  tolerating  such  re- 
quests. The  other  was  that  requests  of 
this  sort  continued  to  be  made  year  in 
and  year  out  by  the  same  few  people-- 
people  who  never  proposed  legislation  in 
the  common  interest  but  only  in  behalf  of 
their  own  limited  groups. 

********** 

Many  comments  have  been  heard  concern- 
ing the  attractive  centerpiece  on  the 
Abbey  Room  table  at  the  reception  on 
Friday  evening.   Although  the  flowers 
were  beautiful,  their  beauty  was  accentu- 
ated by  the  Daniel  TJebster  bowl  in  which 
they  were  arranged.   Special  thanks  goes 
to  those  who  so  graciously  made  this 
treasure  available  for  use  that  evening. 

$********* 
ADDITIONS  TO  THE  STAFF  LIBRARY 

American  Library  Association.   Board  on 
Personnel  Administration.  Descriptive 
list  of  professional  and  nonprofession- 
al duties  in  libraries.   1948. 

American  Library  Association.   Committee 
on  Postwar  Planning.  A  national  plan 
for  public  library  service.   1948. 

Chicago.   University.   Graduate  Library 
School.   Library  Institute.   Youth, 
communication  and  libraries.   1947. 

Immelman,  Rene  F.  M. 

The  foundations  of  library  management; 
organization  from  the  administrative 
angle.   1947. 

Institute  of  government,  University  of 
'"Tashington.   Section  on  public  library 
administration.  Proceedings.   9th  and 
10th  annual.   1946. 

Irwin,  Raymond.   The  national  library 
service.   1947. 

Kiefer,  Monica  Mary.  American  children 
through  their  books,  1700-1835.   1948. 

Merton,  Thomas.   The  seven  storey  moun- 
tain.  1948. 

Robertson,  John  George.  A  history  of 
German  literature.   1931. 

Rossell,  Beatrice  Sawyer,  "forking  with  a 
legislature.   1948. 


Savage,  Ernest  Albert.  A  librarian  looks 

at  readers.   1947. 
Special  Libraries  Association.  Employer's 

evaluation  of  training  desirable  for 

the  special  librarian.   1948. 
Stewart,  James  Douglas.  A  tabulation  of 

librarianship.   1947, 

********** 


SOAP  BOX 

Dear  "Soap  Box"  Editors 

There  seems  to  be  confusion  on  the  part 
of  some  staff  members  concerning  the  pro- 
cedure to  be  followed  in  receiving  visi- 
tors during  business  hours.   It  is  gener- 
ally understood  that  visitors  who  come 
fcr  purely  social  reasons  are  not  to  be 
entertained.  There  are,  however,  in- 
stances when  it  is  necessary  to  see,  for 
a  brief  period,  friends  or  business  ac- 
quaintances from  outside  the  library.   It 
has  been  generally  understood  also  that 
in  such  cases  the  staff  member,  if  he  or 
she  works  in  a  closed  department,  is  to 
be  summoned  to  the  front  hall  where  the 
reason  for  the  visit  can  be  taken  care  of 
in  comparative  privacy  and  without  dis- 
turbing other  members  of  the  department 
or  office.   Recently,  with  no  general 
notice  as  to  a  change  in  procedure, 
people  are  being  sent  to  the  offices  and 
closed  departments.  For  the  most  part 
these  quarters  are  designed  as  working 
units  and  as  such  afford  no  privacy. 

Since  visiting  for  visiting  only  is 
discouraged,  and  rightly  so,  the  people 
who  do  come  to  see  staff  members  come  for 
a  purpose.   Frequently  that  purpose  may 
be  one  which  the  staff  member  does  not 
wish  to  share  in  detail  with  the  other 
members  in  the  department  or  office. 

It  would  seem  also  that  the  same  might 
be  said  for  those  who  work-in  open  de- 
partments, for  there  the  public  as  well 
as  other  members  of  the  staff,  have  to  be 
protected  against  disturbance  or  inter- 
ruption which  is  often  unavoidable  when 
two  people  are  discussing  something,  ir- 
respective of  how  low  the  voice  is  kept. 

If  staff  members  cannot  be  summoned  to 
the  front  hall,  where  there  is  at  least 
seating  space  for  a  brief  conference, 


would  it  be  possible  to  make  some  other 
arrangement  whereby  staff  members  could 
see  a  person  from  outside  the  library 
without  disturbing  the  entire  department 
or  office?  Some  clarification  in  pro- 
cedure concerning  this  matter  would  be  ap- 
preciated. 


Dear  "Soap  Box"  Editor: 

Several  notes  have  appeared  in  The 
Soap  Box  from  time  to  time  in  favor  of 
four  weeks'  vacation  for  the  members  of 
the  Subprofessional  Library  Staff,  obvi- 
ously \vritten  by  members  of  that  group. 

As  members  of  the  Professional  Library 
Staff,  may  we  express  an  opinion  on  the 
subject?  T7e  too  believe  that  the  vaca- 
tion allowance  of  four  weeks  granted  mem- 
bers of  the  Professional  Library  Staff 
should  be  granted  also  to  members  of  the 
Subprofessional  Library  Staff.   Our 
reasoning  in  this  is  as  follows: 

1.  Vacations  should  not  be  based  on 
educational  background  or  responsi- 
bilities in  positions  held;  they 
should  be  recognized  as  equally 
necessary  for  the  physical  well- 
being  of  all  members  of  the  staff, 
regardless  of  the  types  of  work  they 
perform. 

a.  It  is  generally  understood  that 
vacations  are  granted  for  rea- 
sons of  health;  in  order  that 
energy  and  vitality  may  be  re- 
newed so  that  work  in  the  year 
ahead  may  be  performed  to  the 
best  of  one's  ability.   The 
need  for  this  period  of  rest 
and  relaxation  is  the  same  re- 
gardless of  the  type  of  work 
performed  during  working  days. 

b.  Persons  holding  professional 
positions  receive  pay  commen- 
surate with  their  responsibili- 
ties and  in  recognition  of  the 
educational  backgrounds  which 
they  possess, 

c.  Educational  background  and 
ability  to  pass  examinations 
has  never  been  proved,  as  far 
as  we  know,  to  be  a  measure  of 
one's  ability  to  turn  in  a  good 


day's  work.   It  is  possible 
that  there  are  many  Subprofes- 
sionals  who  are  giving  a  better 
return  on  the  taxpayers'  money 
than  are  some  Professionals. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  pres- 
sure under  which  Subprofession- 
al Assistants  are  frequently 
called  upon  to  work  is  as  great, 
if  not  greater,  than  that  under 
which  some  Professional  Assist- 
ants workg 

2.  In  the  matter  of  daily  relief  periods 
it  is  considered  that  Subprofessional 
Assistants  need  the  same  amount  of 
time  as  Professional  Assistants;  it 
would  seem  logical  to  apply  the  same 
principle  to  vacation  allowances. 

3.  The  present  practice  of  allowing  up 
to  two  weeks'  sick  leave  in  days  to 
Subprofessional  Assistants  means  that 
there  are  likely  to  be  more  absences 
during  the  busiest  winter  season, 
since  it  is  only  human  nature  to  take 
a  day  off  if  one  is  not  "feeling  up 
to  scratch"  if  one  knows  that  the 
time  is  not  coming  out  of  one's  vaca- 
tion. 

4.  A  uniform  treatment  of  bibliothecal 
workers  in  the  granting  of  vacation 
allowances  would  boost  morale  and 
make  for  a  happier,  more-contented 
personnel. 


SYMPATHETIC  PROFESSIONALS 
********** 


BOSTON  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  PROFESSIONAL  STAFF  ASSOCIATION 

Monthly  Memo  to  THE  QUESTION  MARK 

Department  or  ig4g 

Branch  Library Issue      J 


Note:   The  Publications  Committee  has  drawn  up  the  following  outline  to  aid  you 

in  gathering  material  for  The  Question  M^.rk.   Please  feel  free  to  list  any 
events  which  you  feel  would  be  of  interest  in  addition  to  the  items  sug- 
gested.  If  you  prefer  also  to  write  original  articles  on  any  of  the  sub- 
jects or  events,  please  attach  each  write-up  on  a  separate  sheet  of  paper. 
Clippings  or  carbon  copies  of  articles  will  be  accepted,  if  that  will  be 
of  greater  convenience* 

Attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  items  for  the  Soap  Box  must  be  signed 
when  submitted  to  the  Editor.  However...  names  will  not  appear  on  these 
articles  when  they  are  printed  in  The  Question  Mark  unless  specifically 
requested  by  the  writers,  and  their  soarcS  will  be~held  in  confidence. 

You  are  reminded  that  the  Publications  Committee  may  have  to  exercise  some 
selection  because  of  limitations  of  space, 

THE  PUBLICATIONS  COMMITTEE 


News  of  Present  Personnel  (engagements,  marriages,  births,  extended  illnesses, 

academic  achievements ,  publications,  travel,  etc.) 


Alumnae  Notes  (engagements,  marriages,  births,  academic  achievements,  publica- 
tions, etc.) 


Branch  Activities  (Open  House,  community  meetings,  Friends  of  the  Library,  etc.) 


Staff  Activities  (parties,  teas,  etc.) 


Exhibits 


Films 


Story  Hours 


Notable  Visitors 


Clubs 


Discussion  Groups 


Interesting  Community  Items  of  Cultural  Mature 


Staff  Problems  —  AIR  YOUR  VIE^TS 


Staff  Suggestions  —  SHARE  YOUR  IDEAS 


Short  Cuts  and  Bright  Ideas 


$  ^M^vf 


RfKTflM 


Pi! 

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1     V 

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ASSOCIATION 


THE   QUESTION   MARK 

Published  by  the  Boston  Public  Library  Professional  Staff  Association 
Volume  IV,  Number  4 May  1949 


Publications  Committees 


Mildred  R.  Adelson,  M.  Dorothy  Brackett,  John  M.  Carroll, 
Eleanor  DiGiannantonio,  Sarah  M.  Usher,  Chairman 


Publication  date; 
The  fifteenth  of  each  month 


Deadline  for  submitting  material i 
The  tenth  of  each  month 


MOTHER  SCOREBOARD 


PERSONAL  NOTES 


The  following  art 
member  of  the  assoc 
local  paper,  which 
a  non-existent  pape 
"Jhatever  its  purpos 
is  something  about 
thinking.   If  your 
high  last  month,  pe 
you,  or  vice  versa. 


icle  came  to  us  via  a 
iation,  clipped  from  a 
in  turn  quoted  it  from 
r,  the  "Norwood  Press", 
e  may  be,  we  think  it 
which  we  all  should  be 
score  was  flatteringly 
rhaps  this  will  deflate 


New  Staff  Members 


1.  Don't  go  to  any  of  the  meetings. 
But  if  you  do,  go  late. 

2 .  Always  find  fault  with  the  work  of 
the  officers  and  members. 

3.  Never  accept  an  office — it  is  much 
easier  to  criticize  than  to  do  things. 

4.  Get  sore  if  you  are  not  appointed 
on  a  committee.   Should  you  be  appointed, 
don't  attend  any  of  the  committee  meetings. 

5.  If  asked  to  give  your  opinion  on 
some  matter,  tell  the  chairman  you  have 
nothing  to  say.  After  the  meeting,  tell 
everyone  how  it  should  be  done. 

6.  Do  nothing  more  than  is  absolutely 
necessary.  "Then  others  roll  up  their 
sleeves  and  willingly  and  unselfishly  use 
their  ability  to  help  matters  along,  howl 
that  the  organization  is  run  by  a  clique. 

7.  Hold  back  your  dues  as  long  as  pos- 
sible, or  don't  pay  them  at  all. 

8.  Make  no  effort  to  get  a  new  member. 

9.  Don't  be  sociable  either  within  or 
outside  the  organization. 

10.   If  you  should  get  a  good  idea 
smother  it  at  once. 

********** 


Miss  Rhoda  May  O'Donnell,  Circulation 
Division  Office. 

Mrs  Laura  V.  Nitchie,  General  Reference 
Department  (Mrs  Nitchie  has  been  working 
in  the  department  on  a  part-time  basis). 

Miss  Marie  L.  Crowley,  Registration 
Department . 

Engageme nt s  and  beddings 


Miss  Victoria  Venezia,  Book  Purchasing 
Department,  to  Francis  X.  Cronin. 

Miss  Helen  Sagoff,  Children's  Librarian 
at  the  Mattapan  Branch  Library,  has  an- 
nounced her  engagement  to  Mr  Bernard  W. 
Berkowitch. 

Miss  Florence  S.  Cooper,  South  End 
Branch  Library,  was  married  to  Mr  Peter 
MacNair  on  April  27,  1949. 

Miss  Dorothy  B.  Graham,  Statistical 
Department,  was  married  to  Mr  James  M. 
Mackey  on  April  14,  1949. 

Babies 


Twins,  John  Charles  and  Mary  Ann,  were 
born  to  Mr  and  Mrs  John  Hatzik  on  April 
22,  1949.  Mrs  Hatzik  (formerly  Gussene 
Guveyan)  is  a  member  of  the  Cataloging  and 
Classification  Department,  Reference 
Division. 


Roger  P.  Bristol  of  the  Cataloging  and 
Classification  Department,  Reference 
Division,  did  his  field  work  as  a  Simmons 
College  Library  School  student  in  the 
Order  Division  of  the  Library  of  Congress 
in  April. 

********** 


■2- 


VISITING  LIBRARIANS 

The  Association  welcomes  the  following 
visiting  Librarians  who  are  in  the  Boston 
area  this  week: 

Dr  Hanns  W.  Eppelsheimer 

Director  of  the  University  Library- 
University  of  Frankfurt,  and 
Chairman  of  the  Trizonal  Committee  on 
Libraries 

Mr  Werner  Mevissen 

Librarian  of  the  Volksbuecherei  of 

Bremen 

Miss  Marguerite  Schmeer 
Chief  Librarian  of  the 
Volksbuechereistelle,  Munich 

Miss  Gertrud  Baruch 

Chief  Librarian  of  the 
Volksbuechereistelle,  Bayreuth 

********** 
ROUND  THE  WORLD  TOWN  MEETING 

As  President-Elect  of  the  American  Li- 
brary Association,  Mr  Milton  E.  Lord  will 
represent  that  Association  as  a  member  of 
the  World  Town  Hall  Seminar,  from  June 
twenty-sixth  to  September  first.  Presi- 
dents and  high  representatives  of  some 
twenty  organizations  in  the  United  States 
will  visit  a  dozen  or  more  capital  cities, 
including  London,  Berlin,  Vienna,  Paris, 
Rome,  Cairo,  Tel-Aviv,  Karachi,  Delhi, 
Manila,  Tokyo.   The  group  will  stay  five 
days  in  each  place,  engaging  in  daily 
seminars  with  groups  of  leaders  in  each 
country  visited.   The  purpose  of  the  trip 
is  five-fold:   (l)  To  increase  American 
understanding  of  world  problems,  (2)  to 
increase  understanding  of  America  'round 
the  world,  (3)  to  show  our  genuine  inter- 
est in  other  peoples  and  their  problems, 
(4)  to  strengthen  and  spread  the  democrat- 
ic way  of  free  discussion,  and  (5)  to 
promote  peace,  freedom,  and  well-being. 
There  will  be  a  Town  Meeting  on  a  differ- 
ent subject  in  each  of  the  capitals  vis- 
ited, participated  in  by  two  Americans  and 
two  citizens  of  the  host  country.   These 
meetings  will  be  recorded  and  the  record- 
ings will  be  flown  back  to  this  country 
to  be  used  in  the  summer  on  the  regular 
Tuesday  evening  probram  America's  Town 
Meeting  of  the  Air. 


During  his  absence  Mr  Lord  will  also 
represent  the  American  Library  Association 
at  the  meeting  of  the  International  Feder- 
ation of  Library  Associations  in  Basel,  in 
connection  with  the  planning  of  the  Inter- 
national Library  Congress  in  the  United 
States  next  year. 

********** 

WOMAN  OF  THE  WEEK 

Late  in  August  of  last  year,  Miss  Anne 
Armstrong  of  the  Young  People's  Room  was 
nominated  Woman  of  the  Week  on  station 
WBMS,  by  Mrs  Rose  Schildkraut.   This  re- 
sulted from  Miss  Armstrong's  kindness  in 
corresponding  with  Mrs  Schildkraut 's 
daughter  over  a  long  illness  in  the 
Children's  Hospital,  and  while  she  was  a 
patient  in  a  convalescent  home.  The  little 
girl  had  been  a  Library  borrower  from  the 
Young  People's  Room,  and  her  mother  felt 
that  Miss  Armstrong's  interest  in  her  pub- 
lic was  something  to  be  commended. 

During  the  broadcast,  Miss  Armstrong 
stressed  Library  service  to  both  children 
and  parents. 


Miss  Fanny  Goldstein,  Branch  Librarian 
of  the  West  End  Branch  Library,  received 
the  signal  honor  of  being  chosen  as 
Boston's  "roman  of  the  Week  on  the  program, 
ABPOINTMENT  irfITH  EVELYN,  featured  over 
Station  WBMS  and  was  interviewed  on  Mondajj 
April  25th. 

Miss  Goldstein  was  introduced  by  Evelyn 
and  heartily  congratulated  for  her  out- 
standing work  as  a  humanitarian  in  the 
community. •• 

During  the  interview  Miss  Goldstein 
pointed  out  that  a  knowledge  of  the  tradi- 
tions, customs  and  literature  of  other 
races  is  a  great  integrator  of  good  will 
and  understanding... 

F.F.R. 
********** 

The  suggestion  has  been  made  that  The 
Question  Mark  be  given  another  name.   One 
specific  recommendation  has  already  been 
made.  The  Publications  Committee  would  be 
interested  in  expressions  of  opinion  from 
members  of  the  Association  on  a  change  of 
name. 

********** 


■3- 


CONGRATULATIONS  ARE  IN  ORDER'. 

Arnavets  have  announced  the  following 
officers: 

Commander 

Leonard  J.  Macmillan 
Vice  Commander 

Thomas  J.  Manning 
Adjutant  &  Quartermaster 

James  P.  J.  Gannon 
Chaplain 

Russell  A.  Scully- 
Officer  of  the  day- 
Patrick  0.  Murtagh 
Trustees 

Charles  J.  Gillis 

Louis  N.  Rains 

Samuel  Green 
Historian 

Henry  F.  Barry 
Sargeant  Major 

James  W«  Kinsella 
Patriotic  Instructor 

Sarah  W.  Flannery 
Bugler 

Charles  L.  Higgins 
Guards 

Thomas  J.  Daly 

William  Di  Rosario 

Martin  F.  Waters 

Louis  Polishook 
Sentinel 

John  T.  Kyle 
Color  Bearers 

Charles  F.  Weider 

"filliam  A.  Reynolds 

Stephen  L.  Baxter 

Francis  H.  Boudreau 
Color  Guards 

George  E.  Earley 

Bernard  F.  Doherty 

Joseph  Fallon 

Edward  F.  Maynard 
Guard  Commander 

B.  Joseph  O'Neil 


The  Boston  Public  Library  Employees 
Benefit  Association,  Inc.,  has  elected 
the  following  officers: 

President 

Fanny  Goldstein 
Vice  President 

Albert  J.  Carpenter 
Secretary 

Mary  D.  Farrell 


Treasurer 

Francis  Fichter 
Financial  Secretary 

John  W.  Tuley 
Board  of  Directors 

Margaret  A.  Calnan 

********** 

The  four  scholarships  of  $100  each  ftor 
study  at  library  schools  during  the  twelve 
months  period  dating  from  June  15 ,    1949 
have  been  aivarded  to  the  following  members 
of  the  staff? 

Miss  Vanda  Bertazzoni 

Assistant;,  Science  and  Technology 
Department 

Joseph  H.  Center  Scholarship 
Miss  Elizabeth  M.  Kaufmann 
Assistant,  Print  Department 
Daniel  Sharp  Ford  Scholarship 
Miss  Helen  G.  Pappas 

Probationary  Assistant,  Information 
Office 

Francis  Skinner  Scholarship 
Miss  Elizabeth  G.  Todd 

Probationary  Assistant,  Teachers' 
Department 

Daniel  Treadwell  Scholarship 

********** 
PRESIDENT'S  NOTES 

The  visit  to  the  Lamont  Library  on 
Saturday  evening,  April  30th,proved  to  be 
an  exceptionally  pleasant  and  inspiring 
occasion.,   In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
event  took  place  on  a  Saturday  evening  and 
that  it  was  a  beautiful  evening  when  the 
out-of-town  allure  was  very  strong  for 
habitual  country  week  enders,  almost  a 
hundred  staff  members  and  their  friends 
enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  Mr  Philip 
McNiff,  Librarian  of  Lamont,  and  two  of 
his  staff  members „   These  three  gentlemen 
constituted  themselves  as  guides  through 
the  library.   Their  obvious  pride  in  the 
building  was  certainly  understandable,. 
Many  laudatory  accounts  of  Lamont  have 
been  written  elsewhere.  Nothing  can  be 
added  to  what  has  already  been  said.  ""Te 
can  only  say  that  those  members  of  the 
B.P.L.P.S.A.  -who  had  the  privilege  of 
seeing  the  library  were  quite  carried 
away  by  its  comfort,  modernity,  and 
practical  aspects. 


-4- 


Our  sincere  thanks  go  to  Mr  McNiff  and 
those  of  his  staff  members  who  gave  so  «. 
freely  of  their  time  to  make  our  visit  the 
unqualified  success  it  so  obviously  was. 


Miss  Calnan,  Chairman  of  the  Entertain- 
ment Committee,  calls  to  your  attention 
the  fact  that  plans  for  the  POPS  program 
on  Friday  evening,  June  24th;  are  shaping 
up  nicely*   On  May  23rd  she  will  be  given 
the  floor  plan  chart  and  the  tickets*   The 
plan  will  be  posted  on  the  Staff  Bulletin 
board  of  the  Central  Library*  and  Mrs 
'Tollent,  in  the  Staff  Hospital,  will  be 
available  to  allocate  seats  and  sell 
tickets.   Those  who  wish  to  make  reserva- 
tions prior  to  May  23,  may  get  in  touch 
with  Miss  Calnan  at  Connolly  Branch  and 
indicate  how  many  and  the  general  loca- 
tion.  The  price  range  is  as  follows: 

Table  seats  $2.25 

First  balcony  (first  row)  $1.75 

First  balcony  (other  than  $1.25 
first  row) 

Miss  Calnan  reports  that  she  already 
has  a  considerable  number  of  reservations. 
Don't  put  it  off  too  long.  We  only  have 
two  hundred  reservations.   Indicate  your 
preference  now  and  pay  later.   The  money 
does  not  have  to  be  in  Miss  Calnan' s  hands 
until  June  14th.   That  is  the  dead  line 
for  both  reservations  and  payments. 


We  are  pleased  to  announce  the  formation 
of  an  In -Service-Training  Committee.   This 
committee  is  busy  drawing  up  plans  for  a 
staff  in-service-training  project  for  the 
fall.   This  is  a  committee  which  is  very 
important  to  the  vitality  of  our  organi- 
zation. As  you  will  see  it  is  made  up  of 
members  who  are  not  only  filled  with  con- 
structive ideas  but  they  are  people  who 
are  not  afraid  of  good,  old-fashioned 
hard  work.   However,  no  committee,  no 
matter  how  strongly  guided  or  how  effi- 
ciently organized  or  how  willing  to  make 
self-sacrifices  for  the  good  of  the  or- 
ganization they  serve,  can  really  accom- 
plish very  much  without  the  whole-hearted 
support  of  every  member  of  the  organiza- 
tion.  That  means  you.   The  Committee  has 
high  hopes  of  active  staff  participation 


in  their  fall  activity.  T"hen  they  ap- 
proach you  for  aid,  please  remember  there 
are  two  words  you  never  knew  and  which  you 
will  never  use  as  far  as  participation  in 
activities  of  the  B.P.L.P.3.A.  are  con- 
cerned.  The  simple  words,  "I  can't",  are 
so  small  yet  so  powerful  to  cripple  the 
progressive,  forward  march  of  any  activity 
to  which  they  are  applied.  Be  a  bulwark 
to  this  committee  by  the  encouraging  words,, 
"I'd  be  glad  to  try-"  The  calibre  of  the 
B*P.L.  staff  is  such  that  few  of  those  who 
really  try  ever  fail* 

The  In-Service-Training  Committee  for 
the  current  year  is  as  follows  t 
Sarah  vr.  Flannery,  Chairman 

History  Department 
Ruth  S.  Cannell 

Circulation  Division  Office 
Charles  L<.  Higgins 

■  General  Reference  Department 
Evelyn  Levy 

Brighton  Branch  Library 
Pauline  A*  "Talker 

'Test  Roxbury  Branch  Library 


Friday,  May  20th  at  9  A.  M.  the  spring 
Business  Meeting  of  the  B.P.L.FaS.A.  will 
be  held  in  the  Lecture  Hall.  This  is  an 
activity  in  which  all  members,  who  can  be 
spared  from  their  regular  duties,  are  in- 
vited to  participate,  VTe  hope  to  accom- 
plish much  without  an  undue  strain  on  time 
away  from  our  assigned  duties  for  that 
morning.  After  the  business  meeting,  the 
president  would  like  to  meet  for  a  few 
minutes  with  the  field  representatives. 
This  too,  we  hope,  will  be  a  brief  but 
important  meeting. 

********** 

BRANCH  LIBRARY  NOTES 

The  Jamaica  Plain  Branch  Library  had  on 
display  for  the  month  of  April  an  inter- 
esting exhibit  on  South  America,  titled 
NEIGHBORS  TO  THE  SOUTH.  Books  and  pam- 
phlets on  the  various  parts  of  South 
America  were  advertised.   Some  of  the 
dolls  on  exhibition  were  lent  through  the 
courtesy  of  the  Childrens'  Museum.   Such 
articles  as  a  hand  woven  basket,  an  onyx 
figure,  an  inlaid  mahogany  box,  a  poncho 
doll,  an  embroidered  piece  from  Chiapas, 


-5- 


a  gourd  and  bombilla  for  drinking  mate, 
the  national  beverage  gf  Argentina,  a  pair 
of  sisal  sandals  made  '  ±tr   Ecuador,  a  cap 
or  chupa  worn  by  Indiana  of  Peru,  and  a 
mat  from  Ecuador  were  on  display.   Mrs 
barren  Lothrop  of  18  Traill  Street, 
Cambridge,  lent  some  of  the  pieces  men- 
tioned as  well  as  several  large-sized 
posters  with  South  American  background. 
TRADE  ROUTES,  a  poster  with  a  map  of 
South  America,  attracted  attention.  About 
two  dozen  pamphlets  arranged  in  fan  form 
on  two  separate  tables  were  secured  from 
the  Pan  American  "rorld  Airways.   The 
Mexican  Tourist  Association  and  the 
Commerce  Department  Buildings,  Washington, 
D.  C.  furnished  material. 

So  much  has  been  written  about  the  Holy 
Land,  and  the  subject  is  so  controversial, 
that  the  Jamaica  Plain  Branch  Library  has 
as  its  display  for  the  next  two  months  an 
exhibit  which  reads:  A  LAND  IS  BORN. 
Because  of  the  ancient  traditions  and  the 
beliefs  of  many  people  in  many  lands  who 
claim  the  Holy  Land  as  their  own  we  have 
collected  books  on  both  sides  of  the 
question.   One  of  the  patrons  of  the 
Jamaica  Plain  Branch  Library,  Mrs  Fiorina 
C.  Adams,  a  Registered  Nurse,  ivas  sta- 
tioned in  Palestine,  Egypt,  and  Syria  dur- 
ing the  World  War  II.  During  her  stay  in 
the  various  countries  Mrs  Adams  found 
time  to  study  and  write  about  Palestine. 
She  has  kindly  lent  a  few  of  the  beautiful 
laces  from  Nazareth,  linens  from  Tel-Aviv 
and  Bethlehem,  dolls,  costumes,  and  reli- 
gious articles  gathered  by  her  while  on 
duty  in  the  Holy  Land.   One  of  the  patrons 
who  had  been  to  the  Holy  Land  as  far  back 
as  1914  enjoyed  the  display  so  much  that 
she  volunteered  to  lend  some  of  the 
special  laces  which  she  brought  from 
Nazareth.   Through  the  courtesy  of  the 
Zionist  House  and  the  United  Nations 
As-ociation  Information  Center  pamphlets 
and  a  large  poster  with  the  caption: 
THE  TOUTED  NATIONS  IN  A  TROUBLED  WORLD 
are  on  display.   This  exhibit  is  the 
third  one  in  a  series  on  the  peoples  of 
the  world.  We  are  pleased  to  find  that 
this  type  of  exhibit  has  been  very  popular 
and  that  the  public  are  eager  to  lend 
materials  for  the  various  displays. 

E.  G. 


The  following  letter  written  by  an 
eleven-year-old  child  was  received  at  the 
Mattapan  Branch  Library. 


April  24,  1949 


Dear  Sirs, 


I'm  registered  at  your  library, 
and  own  a  library  card.  .1  own  a  dog  and 
so  does  quite  a  few  other  card  holders. 

It's  hard  for  me  to  go  to  the 
library  without,  him  since  my  mother  is  so 
busy.  You  don't  allow  dogs  in  the  library 
and  so  you  see  my  perdikermant. 

It  is  hard  to  tie  him  outside 
without  him  howling  and  whining  for  me. 
I  usually  go  to  the  library  myself  and  I 
can't  trust  my  dog  with  somebody  outside. 
Could  I  suggest  you  to  slightly  change 
your  rules.   I  know  you'd  have  to  go 
through  quite  a  bit  of  trouble  but  could 
you  allow  dogs  only  on  leash  and  above  a 
certain  age.   I  know  I'm  practically  ask- 
ing the  impossible.   If  the  Dogs  couldn't 
be  allowed  in  the  library,  couldn't  you 
fence  in  a  section  in  the  back  of  the 
library  to  keep  the  dogs  in.   Please 
answer  me  quickly, 

Sincerely  yours, 

(Name  withheld) 

G  •  L.  B. 


More  than  a  hundred  people  attended  the 
Irish  program  at  Neponset  Branch  Library 
on  April  27  and  found  pleasure  in  the  ex- 
hibit of  photographs  of  Ireland  lent  by 
Miss  Catherine  C.  Kelly.   Books  about 
Ireland  were  displayed  with  the  pictures. 
Anne  Flaherty,  one  of  the  teen-agers,  en- 
tertained with  a  group  of  Irish  melodies 
and  Miss  Ruth  M.  Hayes,  Branch  Librarian, 
told  the  story  of  "Teig  Mulligan".   The 
program  closed  with  a  showing  of  the  film 
"'ings  to  Ireland.  The  audience  was  well 
pleased  and  left  expressing  the  desire 
that  "we  could  do  this  more  often". 


To  the  FRIENDS  OF  THE  PHILLIFS  BROOKS 
BRANCH  LIBRARY  organization,  in  Readville, 
a  new  YOUNG  FRIENDS  OF  THE  LIBRARY  group 


- 


,'■■ 


i  r.-T-i 


■    I 


-6- 


was  added  this  last  month.   On  April  15th 
parents,  teachers,  and  officers  of  the 
FRIENDS  OF  THE  LIBRARY  met  at  an  informal 
tea  to  discuss  the  formation  of  this  new 
group  and  to  consider  activities  for  the 
YOUNG  FRIENDS;  especially,  now,  their 
part  in  the  community  project  to  secure  a 
moving  picture  projector  for  their  li- 
brary. 

Recently  the  YOUNG  FRIENDS  OF  THE 
PHILLIPS  BROOKS  BRANCH  LIBRARY  have  been 
meeting  on  Tuesday  afternoons,  first  to 
organize,  then  to  work  on  projects  to 
benefit  the  projector  drive,  under  the 
guidance  of  Miss  Reva  Halperin,  who  is  in 
charge  of  the  neighboring  Hemenway  School. 
Both  girls  and  boys,  lower  schools  and 
high  school,  are  eagerly  working  together 
to  make  and  sell  handwork  for  the  further- 
ance of  this  project. 

In  connection  vath  the  post-war 
Treasure  Chest  Campaign,  an  unusual  young 
people's  program  was  held  at  the  Phillips 
Brooks  Branch  Library  on  Monday  evening, 
April  18.   Mrs  Herbert  Loeb,  a  native  of 
Holland  and  Chairman  of  the  New  England 
Treasure  Chest  Committee,  was  the  guest 
speaker.  Addressing  an  audience  con- 
sisting of  members  of  the  Saturday  li- 
brary reading  club,  their  parents  and 
friends,  Mrs  Loeb  related  many  interest- 
ing stories,  gathered  during  her  recent 
visits  to  Holland  and  other  European 
countries,  to  show  how  much  European 
children  enjoy  our  gifts  of  books. 

The  remainder  of  the  evening  was  filled 
with  the  reading  of  letters  from  a  girls' 
school  in  Bourdeaux,  France.   Having  been 
the  recipients  of  one  of  the  treasure 
chests  sent  by  the  Phillips  Brooks  Branch 
Library,  these  Frence  girls  recently 
expressed  a  desire  to  correspond  with  our 
children  in  Readville.  Their  first  let- 
ters, written  in  amazingly  accurate 
English,  contained  many  charming  proofs 
of  friendship  based  on  gratitude  for 
American  kindnesses.   For  example,  in  one 
of  the  letters  read  on  April  18,  one 
little  girl  declared,  "I  say  dear  sister 
(to  you)  because  I  think  that  the  nations 
United  States  and  France  are  sisters. 
Daddy  during  the  last  war  was  the  brother 
of  your  father.  And  it  was  thanks  to 
your  aid  we  have  had  the  victory." 


Through  their  letters  these  French 
children  are  trying  to  create  real  under- 
standing between  their  country  and  ours. 
We  hope  that  the  April  18th  library 
program  did  much  to  accomplish  the  same 
end. 


Lithuanian  Night  was  observed  on  April 
27  at  the  South  Boston  Branch  Library  as 
a  "get-acquainted"  night  for  the  people 
of  t he  district.   The  program  was  con- 
ducted in  Lithuanian  and  English  by  the 
Reverend  Albert  Contons  of  St.  Peter's 
Lithuanian  Church.   Mrs  Ona  Ivaska  led  a 
group  of  young  people  in  songs  and  dances 
with  Lithuanian  music  and  costume.  An 
accordion,  a  zither,  a  fiddle  and  a  flute 
provided  the  accompaniments. 

Over  150  people  of  all  ages,  including 
some  DPs  and  their  families,  filled  the 
main  floor  of  the  library,  and  thoroughly 
enjoyed  the  lively  dancing  and  singing. 
The  talk  in  Lithuanian  by  Father  Contons 
stressed  the  opportunities  of  a  democracy 
and  the  free  education  which  the  library 
offers  to  all.   Since  the  weather  was 
warm,  the  windows  were  open,  and  a  large 
audience  collected  outside  for  the  music. 

A  display  of  hand-woven  linen,  models 
of  wooden  roadside  crosses,  and  books 
published  by  Displaced  Persons  in  the 
American  Zone  of  Germany  showed  different 
phases  of  Lithuanian  culture. 

The  unexpectedly  large  crowd  and  the 
hearty  expressions  of  thanks  were  very 
gratifying  results  of  this  experiment  in 
public  relations. 


The  following  item  appeared,  unsolic- 
ited, in  the  May  10,  1949  issue  of  the 
Darbininkas,  the  Lithuanian  bi-weekly 
newspaper. 

A  free  translation: 

Lithuanian  night  was  held  two  weeks 
ago  in  South  Boston  Library  with  many 
newly  arrived  Lithuanians  in  attendance. 
These  people  have  started  a  drive  to  in- 
crease the  Lithuanian  book  section  at  the 
South  Boston  Library.   Mr  Gimbutas  do- 
nated new  books  to  be  taken  out  by  the 
public,  especially  the  newcomers,  and 


-  -  •      • r  -•■■-•  •-    .■        ,j,  • 
—  -      ■  ■  ■    ■      ' 


T.';l.  11 


1  '     t 


-7- 


wishes  to  organize  a  beautiful  Lithuanian 
book  collection  so  that  the  older  resi- 
dents in  America  can  borrow  the  latest 
books  brought  by  displaced  persons.   He 
asks  everyone  possessing  Lithuanian  books 
to  donate  at  least  a  few  of  them  so  that 
all  can  benefit  from  them  and  in  that  way 
raise  a  new  Lithuanian  cultural  feeling 
among  South  Boston  Lithuanians.  All 
Lithuanian  people  are  requested  to  take 
Gimbutas'  offer  and  promise  to  work  to- 
gether, •  •• 

Mr  Mosheh  Oved,  eminent  Yiddish  poet, 
author,  and  sculptor,  was  the  guest  of 
honor  at  a  meeting  held  at  the  rfest  End 
Branch  Library,  Saturday  April  ninth. 

Miss  Fanny  Goldstein,  Branch  Librarian 
at  the  West  End  Branch  Library,  opened  the 
formal  part  of  the  program  with  a  few 
words  of  welcome  and  sketched  briefly  the 
history  of  the  Branch  building,  formerly 
the  Old  West  Church.  Miss  Dorothea  Blue, 
a  member  of  the  West  End  Branch  Library 
Staff  sang  AMERICA.   Miss  Blue  and  Mrs 
Ernest  Roussos  sang  GOD  SAVE  THE  KING. 
Mrs  Roussos  sang  the  Jewish  National 
Anthem,  HATIKVOH.  After  the  musical  por- 
tion of  the  program,  Miss  Goldstein  in- 
troduced Mr  Oved,  who  spoke  on  the  topic, 
THE  THREE  GIFTS  OF  ISRAEL.   Mr  Oved*s  talk 
was  timely  and  gave  the  listeners  a  new 
awareness  of  Israel's  position  in  our 
hectic  world. 

A  reception  and  tea  followed  which  was 
thoroughly  enjoyed  by  all  of  the  guests. 


"May  I  hear  about  Thidwick?"   "Tell  us 
about  Madeline  today."   These  and  many 
other  requests  are  heard  by  the  library 
"teacher"  every  Wednesday  morning  at  the 
West  Roxbury  Branch  Library.   Stories  are 
told  and  picture  books  are  shown  to  the 
enthusiastic  pre-schoolers.  The  treat  of 
the  morning  is  Mother's  granting  permis- 
sion to  take  books  home.   The  stories  are 
told  by  Miss  Marion  E.  Flaherty  under  the 
direction  of  Miss  Marjorie  Maclntire, 
Children's  Librarian. 

M.  E.  F. 


On  Saturday,  April  sixteenth,  the  City 
Point  Branch  Library  Staff  entertained 


Mrs  Helen  O'Leary  at  the  Town  Line  House. 
Mrs  O'Leary,  until  her  recent  transfer  to 
Faneuil  Branch  Library,  had  been  Branch 
Librarian  at  City  Point  Branch  Library  for 
twenty  years. 

********** 

Mrs  Dorothy  Lovett,  Business  Branch 
Librarian,  is  serving  as  Chairman  of  the 
Nominating  Committee  of  the  Boston  Chf pter 
of  the  Special  Libraries  Association. 

W.  F.  R. 


********** 
DEPARTMENT  NOTES 

On  Thursday  evening,  May  5,  several  mem- 
bers of  the  Branch  Issue  Department,  and 
former  members  of  the  old  Branch' Depart- 
ment, made  up  part  of  the  enthusiastic 
audience  who  witnessed  the  second  success- 
ful performance  of  Bashful  Mr  Bobbs,  pre- 
sented by  the  Literary  Club  of  xhe  North 
End  Union.  Miss  Cclomba  Bartalini  of  the 
Branch  Issue  Department  gave  a  convincing 
performance  as  one  of  the  principal  char- 
acters.  Dinner  at  Freda's  was  enjoyed 
earlier  in  the  evening. 


Miss  Eloise  Lownsbury,  author  of  The  Boy 
Knight  of  Rheims,  Saints  and  Rebels,  and 
other  juvenile  books,  visited  the  Young 
People's  Room  recently,  after  a  round-the- 
world  cruise  during  which  she  spent  much 
time  in  India  and  China. 


With  the  opening  of  the  Baseball  season, 
the  readers  in  the  Young  People's  Room  are 
evincing  a  marked  interest  in  plans  for 
this  summer's  reading  club.   Memories  of 
the  autographed  baseballs  presented  to 
winners  of  last  summer's  ^orld  Series 
Reading  Club  have  probably  prompted  the 
enthusiasm  shown  thus  far. 


BOOKS  AND  BUNNIES 

A  very  frightened  rather  worse-f or-wear, 
rabbit,  Peter  by  name,  appeared  in  the 
Young  People's  Room  one  day  in  early  April. 
He  really  shouldn't  have  been  scared  in  a 
children's  room,  but  you  see  Mr  McGregor 


was  chasing  him  and  that  v/as  reason 
enough  for  a  very  small  rabbit  to  be  up- 
set.  He  came  to  us  from  the  Children's 
Museum,  and  through  the  artistry  of  Miss 
Mildred  Somes  of  the  Book  Preparation 
Department,  stayed  with  us  in  Mr 
McGregor's  tool  shed  for  about  a  month. 
I  think  he  quite  got  over  his  fright  for, 
lo  and  behold  and  true  to  form,  by  Easter 
our  case  blossomed  into  Bunny  Town  with 
rabbits  big  and  little  snuggled  under  an 
Easter  Egg  Tree.  The  rabbits  were  origi- 
nally from  a  collection  belonging  to  Ruth 
Sawyer.  Maybe  Peter  sent  a  message  to 
his  Museum  pals  that  the  glass  case  in 
the  Young  People's  Room  was  a  pleasant 
place  in  which  to  be  and  so  they  followed 
him.  At  any  rate,  we  and  our  young  li- 
brary users  welcomed  them  with  low  cries 
of  joy.   Grown-ups  too  paused  to  enjoy 
our  Easter  Egg  Tree,  an  old  German  custom, 
we  learned,  and  to  admire  the  rabbits, 
some  of  which  had  travelled  long  dis- 
tances —  even  from  China  and  England  and 
other  foreign  countries. 

Since  the  bunnies  have  returned  home, 
we  are  playing  host  to  "Little  Women" 
dolls.  Miss  Elizabeth  Boudreau  borrowed 
them  for  us  from  Jordan  Marsh  Company, 
From  the  pleased  expressions  on  the  dolls' 
faces,  we  feel  sure  they  like  the  visi- 
tors who  stop  to  renew  their  friendship 
with  Jo,  Beth,  Amy  and  Meg,  and  to  wel- 
come new  readers  who  have  just  been  in- 
troduced to  them. 

M.  U.  P. 

********** 

RECENT  MATERIAL 
OF  PROFESSIONAL  INTEREST 

In  the  April  1949  number  of  COLLEGE  AND 
RESEARCH  LIBRARIES  there  appears  an  arti- 
cle by  Rudolf  Hirsch  on  The  In-Service 
Training  Program  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania  Library.   In  marked  contrast 
to  the  conception  of  in-service  training 
held  by  this  Association,  the  Pennsylvania 
idea  seems  to  consist  of  general  library 
training  for  a  selected  few,  and  incor- 
porates some  of  the  features  of  an  in- 
ternship program.   One  wonders  if  such  a 
program  does  not  go  far  toward  dupli- 
cating facilities  already  in  existence  in 
library  schools. 


If  there  is  anyone  who  has  not  yet  read 
the  editorial  in  the  SRL  of  March  26, 
1949  titled  Bogus  Best  Sellers  it  will  be 
to  their  advantage  to  do  so.   The  article 
was  deemed  of  sufficient  importance  to 
receive  coverage  on  at  least  one  national 
radio  news  program.  On  the  same  subject, 
but  with  a  different  approach  is  H.  A. 
Pulling* s  Our  Best  Sellers;  Better?  -  Or 
Worse?   ( Library  Journal,  Feb.  T,~  19*49~] 
This  latter  is  not  concerned  with  the 
method  of  selecting  best  sellers  as  is 
the  former.   It  simply  tries  to  evaluate 
those  titles  reported  as  best  sellers 
from  the  viewpoints  of  literary  excel- 
lence and  moral  standards. 


The  "situation"  which  arose  at  the  ALA 
Mid-Winter  Meeting  receives  good  report- 
ing at  the  hands  of  L.  I.  Poste  in  his 
No  Top  Brass  in  the  ALA  (Library  Journal, 
Mar.  1,  1949~T.      This  article  presents  a 
full  account  of  the  controversy  which 
arose  over  the  method  of  nomination,  the 
debate  thereon,  the  personalities  in- 
volved, and  the  final  resolution. 


An  eminently  sane  approach  to  the  prob- 
lem of  the  correct  place  for  technical 
training  in  library  education  is  seen  in 
Need  We  Be  Ashamed?  by  Wharton  Miller 
and  Carl  Melinat  (Library  Journal,  Feb. 
1,  1949).  Written  jointly  by  two  veil- 
qualified  librarians,  its  central  theme 
is  that  library  schools  need  not  hang 
their  heads  in  shame  because  they  teach 
the  basic  techniques  of  library  service. 


It  is  pleasant  to  note  here  the  publi- 
cation of  Francis  X.  Doherty's  survey  of 
the  New  England  Deposit  Library  (Library 
Quarterly,  Oct.,  1948  and  Jan.,  1949). 
Mr  Doherty  was  a  member  of  the  staff  of 
this  Library  for  several  years.  Follow- 
ing war  service  he  left  here  to  do  grad- 
uate work  at  the  University  of  Chicago 
prior  to  accepting  his  present  position 
as  Branch  Librarian  with  the  District  of 
Columbia  Public  Library.  His  two  arti- 
cles on  the  Deposit  Library  sum  up  in 
admirable  fashion  the  purposes  of  that 
institution  and  present  a  careful  out- 
line of  its  problems  and  activities. 

C.  L.  H. 


±±2t*e!k-i*-4**'kii? 


-9- 


A  RARE  BOOK  CONNOISSEUR 

Asked  by  a  young  colored  boy  in  the 
Treasure  Room: 

"Have  you  got  any  Bibles  with  gold 
trimmings?" 

"Haven't  you  got  Bibles  with  gold 
trimmings?" 

********** 

The  showing  of  the  film  Little  Tomen 
in  Boston  recently  stimulated  anew  the 
demand  for  Louisa  May  Alcott's  books.   In 
this  connection,  the  following  article  is 
of  particular  interest. 

A  MEMORY  OF  LOUISA  M.  ALCOTT 

At  the  outset  let  me  confess  that  I 
never  met  Miss  Alcott  but  once  and  then 
for  a  few  moments  only. 

On  an  afternoon  almost  seventy  years 
ago  my  aunt  was  on  her  way  along  the 
streets  of  Concord  to  call  on  her  friend, 
Louisa  Alcott,  when  somewhere  near  the 
library  I  met  her.   Of  course,  she  could 
not  resist  the  temptation  of  giving  her 
little  niece  the  opportunity  to  meet  the 
beloved  author  of  Little  'Tomen,  so  she 
took  me  along  with  her. 

When  we  arrived  at  the  Alcott  home  my 
aunt  discovered  that  my  hands  were  very 
dirty.   In  spite  of  that  disgraceful 
fact,  however,  Louisa,  who  came  to  the 
door  herself,  looked  at  me  kindly  and 
seemed  to  think  it  was  a  most  natural 
thing  for  a  little  girl  to  have  dirty 
hands. 

I  remember  being  taken  to  "May's  room" 
where  Miss  Alcott  very  graciously  helped 
me  to  clean  up.  I  also  remember  wonder- 
ing about  certain  pencil  drawings  "right 
on  the  wallpaper".  My  aunt  explained  to 
me  on  the  way  home  that  they  had  been 
drawn  by  May  (I  knew  her  as  Amy),  who 
was  no  longer  living. 

Miss  Alcott  frequently  sent  little 
gifts  to  my  aunt.  These  offerings  were 
always  accompanied  by  rhymes,  scribbled 
in  her  readable  handwriting. 


With  a  pair  of  bellows  she  sent  the 
following: 

"To  Anna 


"A  little  pair  of  'bellus' 
Your  cosy  fire  to  blow, 
"Ihen  winter  winds  are  howling, 
And  softly  falls  the  snow. 

"I  wish  some  gentle  fairy 
The  magic  would  bestow, 
Whereby  all  care  and  worry 
Up  the  chimney  would  go. 

"But  the  best  kind  of  angels 
For  a  world  of  want  and  woe, 
Are  the  cheerful  heart  and  spirit 
That  in  your  bosom  glow. 

"So  with  many  happy  wishes 
That  time  be  very  kind, 
A  useful  friend  I  offer 
To  help  raise  the  wind." 

"Tith  a  calendar  she  wrote, 

"To  Anna 

"To  one  who  uses  life  so  well 
A  calendar  but  serves  to  tell 
The  sands  that  fall  from  old  Time's 

glass 
and  turn  to  gold  as  they  downward 

pass. 

LeM.A." 

One  of  my  favorites  came  with  a  box  of 
notepaper : 

"Anna,  my  dear, 
I  send  you  here, 
In  return  for  your  bread 
Note  paper  white 
That  your  appetite 
For  writing  may  be  fedc 
'Tis  the  only  way 
My  debt  I  can  pay, 
And  you  know  the  Scriptures  tell 
If  your  bread  you  cast, 
On  the  waters  vast, 
It  comes  back  buttered  well." 


On  a  visit  to  Orchard  House,  not  long 
ago,  I  was  surprised  to  see  among  the 
exhibits  a  faded  wax  doll  dressed  in  a 


■  IS 

>  - 


!      c 

TO 


:   ■  ■    .  - 


f^j;'j. 


*■■<; '.  '  > 


I  .". 


■ 


costume  of  the  Alcott  period*  I  recog- 
nized the  little  doll  as  one  I  had  given 
to  the  wife  of  one  of  "Meg's"  sons,  be- 
cause every  bit  of  her  costume  had  been 
designed  and  made  by  my  aunt,  who  was  a 
dear  friend  of  "Meg"  and  "Jo." 

Edith  Guerrier 
Supervisor  of 
Branch  Libraries, 
Emeritus 

********** 

MARY  U.  NICHOLS  BOOK  PRIZES  FUND 

Under  the  sponsorship  of  friends  of  the 
North  End  Branch  Library  contributions  to 
the  Mary  U.  Nichols  Book  Prizes  Fund  have 
been  received  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of 
Miss  Mary  U.  Nichols,  Branch  Librarian 
there  from  1941  -  1948.   Mrs  Thomas  Raia, 
Treasurer  of  the  Fund,  presented  a  check 
in  the  amount  of  five  hundred  sixty  dol- 
lars fifty  cents  ($560.50)  to  the  Library 
on  Monday,  the  ninth  of  May,  1949. 

The  Director  has  appointed  the  following 
committee  in  1949  to  select  the  books  to 
be  awarded:  the  Branch  Librarian  of  the 
North  End  Branch  Library  (Miss  Ellen  C. 
Peterson);  the  Deputy  Supervisor  in  Charge 
of  Work  with  Children  (Miss  Elizabeth  M. 
Gordon);  and  two  individuals  from  the 
faculty  of  the  local  high  school:  Father 
Thomas,  O.F.M. ,  Vice  Principal  and  Head  of 
the  English  Department  of  the  Christopher 
Columbus  Catholic  High  School,  and  a 
Sister  of  Notre  Dame  de  Namur. 

The  presentation  of  the  two  book  prizes 
for  1949  will  be  made  by  the  Director  of 
the  Library  on  Thursday  evening,  June  2, 
1949  at  8  o'clock  at  the  North  End  Branch 
Library.   The  other  speakers  will  be 
Bishop  John  J.  bright,  Father  Timothy 
O'Leary,  and  Mrs  Thomas  Raia  in  represen- 
tation of  those  contributing  to  the  Fund. 

All  members  of  the  staff  of  the  Boston 
Public  Library  who  are  interested  are 
cordially  invited  to  attend. 

********** 


SOAP  BOX 


PLAINT 


A  peasant  I,  you  must  agree 
My  years  "in  service"  are  but  three. 
But,  peasant-like,  I  take  my  stand 
And  shake  my  unknown  sister's  hand- 
Mother  of  the  incantation 
"Give  us  two  more  weeks  vacation. 

For  most  of  us  will  never  know 

The  joy  of  being  called  a  "Pro"- 

And  we  must  answer  to  a  dub 

As  insignificant  as  "Sub" I 

To  complete  the  degradation 

1rfe  have  just  two  weeks  vacation. 

^'e,  sore  of  backs  and  weak  of  bones, 
Are  violets  by  mossy  stones 
We  must,  perforce,  remain  anon 
As  carelessly  we're  trod  upon 

Nor  wail  too  loud  our  lamentation 
"Give  us  two  more  weeks  vacation." 

But,  if  our  efforts  you  reward 
Then,  jubilant,  we'll  thank  the  Lord 
And  glare  no  more  at  Personnel 
Nor  joke  about  the  3.P.L. 

And  plague  no  more  this  publication 
Demanding  two  more  weeks  vacation. 

"The  Unendowed" 


EXCERPT  PROM  THE  REGISTER  INSIDE  THE 
GATES  OF  HEAVEN 


Name:   Jane  Doe 

Occupation:   Late  employee  of  the  B.P.L< 
Professional  assistant 

Duration  of  stay:   Eternity 


Name:  Jane  Schmoe 

Occupation:   Late  employee  of  the  B.P.L. 
Sub-professional  assistant 

Duration  of  stay:   One -ha If  eternity 

"Bewildered" 
* 


■'■■■  :  .':■.  xjfct&<riii    ,  :\"irv.     •■'  : 


itpi; 


....        V.    ' 


",i.--; 


• 


i':c.xi.'.i 


•i  ►fUt.T'j       :  lonrf  r>s     '•>:::l    l      m"i.:     s:;J    '"" 


,  i      ,  .  ,  .    t-, 


;.    ■    J        X  - 


t     *  •       *   R   ■ 

■■     :  - 


'.• 


-11- 


Sub.  -  You'd  better  go  lie  down. 

Pro.  -  Lie  down?  ^Thy? 

Sub.  -  Because  I'm  only  supposed  to  get 
half  as  tired  as  you  and  I'm 
exhausted. 

"The  Ha If -baked" 


Editor's  Note;  At  the  meeting  of  the 
officers  of  the  Library  held  on  May  tenth 
the  Director  reported  that  a  study  of 
vacation  policies  in  certain  other  li- 
braries is  being  made  for  the  benefit  of 
the  Trustees. 

LATE  FLASHES 

Dolores  J.  Masoay,  Book  Stack  Service, 
has  announced  her  engagement  to  Paul 
Dobay  of  the  United  Stares  Coast  Guard. 
She  is  planning  to  be  married  June  5. 

Veronica  M.  Flattich,  Book  Stack 
Service,  is  planning  to  be  married  on  May 
28,  to  Paul  Tibbets  of  the  New  England 
Telephone  Company. 

Sarah  Kushner,  also  of  Book  Stack 
Service,  has  announced  her  engagement  to 
George  Marshall. 


Mr  Kenneth  C.  Barnes,  Assistant  in  the 
Periodical  and  Newspaper  Department,  has 
had  two  prints  chosen  for  exhibition  in 
the  Eighteenth  Boston  International  Salon 
of  Photography,  at  the  Boston  Camera  Club, 
351a  Newbury  Street,  from  May  22  through 
May  29.   The  public  is  invited  to  attend 
this  exhibition,  which  is  open  from  2  to 
9  p.m.  daily. 


Prints  of  Mr  Arthur  W.  Heintzelman, 
Keeper  of  Prints,  and  Miss  Muriel  C. 
Figenbaum,  also  of  the  Print  Department, 
are  shown  in  the  Boston  Printmakers' 
second  exhibition  at  Paines  of  Boston, 
May  11  through  May  28. 


The  Boston  Printmakers  are  a  group  of 
graphic  artists  and  print  collectors 
devoted  to  developing  a  more  widespread 
interest  in  the  print  field.   Founded  in 
1947,  the  membership  lists  have  grown  to 
include  a  great  many  internationally  known 
artists  and  prominent  print  collectors. 


Mr  Arthur  ,rr.  Heintzelman,  Keeper  of 
Prints  in  the  Boston  Public  Library  was  a 
participating  artist  in  a  group  demonstra- 
tions given  at  the  National  Academy  Gal- 
leries, New  York  on  April  7,  1949. 

Mr  Heintzelman  demonstrated  the  drypoint 
medium,  and  his  model  was  the  Honorable 
Judge  Harold  R.  Medina  of  New  York. 

E.  K. 


The  officers  of  the  Library  are  invited 
to  attend  a  tea  which  is  being  given  in 
honor  of  the  Librarians  from  Germany  who 
are  visiting  libraries  in  the  Boston  area 
at  this  time* 

The  tea  will  be  held  in  the  Somen's 
Lounge  on  Monday,  May  16,  1949  from  4  - 
5  P.  M. 

********** 


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BOSTON 


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LIBRARY 


PROFESSIONAL  STAFF  ASSOCIATION 


!t£ 


THE   QUESTION   MARK 

Published  by  the  Boston  Public  Library  Professional  Staff  Association 
Volume  IV,  Number  5 June  1949 


Publications  Committees  Mildred  R.  Adelson,  M.  Dorothy  Brackett,  John  M.  Carroll, 

Eleanor  DiGiannantonio,  Sarah  M.  Usher ,  Chairman 


Publication  datei 
The  fifteenth  of  each  month 


Deadline  for  submitting  material; 
The  tenth  of  each  month 


TWO  LIBRARIANS 

In  the  columns  of  this  issue  are  to  be 
found  notes  on  the  death  of  two  members 
of  the  Library  profession,  Mr  T.  Francis 
Brennan,  who  at  the  time  of  his  retire- 
ment was  Chief  of  the  Issue  Department 
and  Deputy  Supervisor  in  the  Reference 
Division,  and  Miss  Nina  G.  Brotherton, 
Professor  of  Library  Science  at  Simmons 
College, 

Mr  Brennan  had  worked  in  the  Boston 
Public  Library  from  July  1890  until  his 
retirement  in  December  1943.  He  was  fa- 
miliar with  the  growth  of  the  Library 
from  the  days  when  it  occupied  the  "old" 
building  on  Boylston  Street.  His  consci- 
entious, careful  work  on  the  card  cata- 
logs of  the  Library,  the  Classics,  the 
Bible,  the  city,  state,  and  federal  docu- 
ments is  still  of  major  value  to  people 
utilising  the  reference  material  in  the 
Library.   In  his  capacity  as  Chief  of 
what  is  now  Book  Stack  Service  from  1930 
on,  he  kept  a  growing  city  of  books  or- 
ganized into  a  smoothly  operating  system, 
free  of  traffic  snarls.  He  liked  people 
and  enjoyed  serving  the  public. 

Miss  Brotherton  had  been  in  library 
work  since  1907,  Her  career  embraced  a 
wide  variety  of  experiences  in  many 
places  throughout  the  eastern  section  of 
the  country.  She  came  to  Simmons  College 
in  1927  to  give  courses  in  Yfork  with 
Children  and  The  Library  as  an  Institu- 
tion, Her's  was  a  ranging  mind,  always 
enquiring  and  exploring.   It  was  obvious 
to  all  that  her  heart  was  in  her  work. 

Some  of  us  had  the  opportunity  to  know 
both  of  these  people.  Their  passing  over 
within  a  relatively  short  time  makes  a 
comparison  of  their  careers  rather  inter- 
esting to  speculate  about.  Each  in  his 
way  had  much  to  contribute  toward  librar- 
ianship.  Each  did.  Their  careers  span  a 
whole  phase  of  the  growth  of  Librarian- 
ship.  In  each  career  there  is  much  to  be 


found  that  was  truly  inspiring  as  well 
as  instructive, 
Ave, 


***  *  *  ****  * 


PERSONAL  NOTES 


New  Staff  Members 

Frank  J,  Donovan,  Book  Staok  Service, 

Helen  R,  DeSimone,  Book  Stack  Service 
(formerly  part-time), 

Mary  A,  Gelsomini,  Cataloging  and 
Classification  Department,  Reference 
Division  (formerly  part-time), 

Adrienne  I,  Murray,  Roslindale  Branch 
Library, 

Jean  Richardson,  Personnel  Office, 

Resignations 

Martha  A.  McGee,  Dorchester  Branch 
Library,  to  be  married,, 

Jean  M»  Canavan,  Book  Sta*k  Service. 

John  H,  Kelly,  Book  Stack  Service, 

Mary  C,  O'Brien,  Book  Staak  Service, 

Mrs  Mary  T.  Miller,  Roslindale  Branch 
Library,  to  live  in  Chicago. 

Mrs  Mary  W.  Waters,  Cataloging  and 
Classification  Department,  Reference 
Division,  to  remain  at  home. 

Louis  N,  Rains,  General  Reference  De- 
partment, to  go  into  business  for  him- 
self. 

Helen  Sagoff ,  Mattapan  Branch  Library, 
to  be  married, 

Mrs  Myrene  L,  Steele,  Codman  Square 
Branch  Library. 

Mrs  Suzanne  Turner,  East  Boston  Branch 
Library. 

Annie  J,  Daley,  Branch  Issue  Depart- 
ment, 


-2- 


Weddings 

Veronica  M.  Flattich,  Book  Stack  Serv- 
ice, -was  married  to  Mr  Harold  Tibets  on 
May  28,  1949. 

Dolores  J.  Masaoy,  Book  Stack  Service, 
was  married  to  Mr  Paul  Dobay  on  June  5, 
1949. 

Thomas  O'Connor,  Statistical  Department, 
was  married  to  Maury  Catherine  MacDonald 
on  June  11,  1949. 

Deborah  Blossom,  General  Reference  De- 
partment, was  married  to  Mr  Paul  E. 
Est over  on  June  11,  1949, 

Babies 

Mr  and  Mrs  Timothy  F.  Desmond,  31 
Paulina  Street,  Somerville,  are  receiving 
congratulations  on  the  birth  of  a  son, 
TTilliam  J.  on  May  21.  Mrs  Desmond  is  the 
former  Dorothy  Ployer  of  the  Supply  Room. 


Since  so  many  friends  have  enquired  for 
Miss  Editha  Ewing,  we  are  happy  to  print 
the  address  to  which  cards  and  greetings 
may  be  sent:  Channing  Home,  198  Pilgrim 
Road,  Boston  15. 


WE  WELCOME  BACK 

Mrs  Cecilia  Nazzaro  McCarthy,  Charles- 
town  Branch  Library,  after  a  long  siege 
of  illness. 

Earl  Quadros,  Buildings  Department, 
after  several  weeks'  illness. 

********** 
CONGRATULATIONS  ARE  IN  ORDER*. 

Miss  Theresa  Durante,  Information  Of- 
fice, was  awarded  a  two-year  scholarship 
for  Emmanuel  College  at  the  graduation 
exercises  of  Fitton  High  School  in  East 
Boston. 

Miss  Mary  Hennessey,  Information  Office, 
is  working  on  a  personnel  survey  at 
Jordan  Marsh  Co.  for  the  summer. 

Miss  Ruth  Marshall,  Information  Office, 
is  graduating  from  Radcliffe  College  with 
high  honors,   (incidentally,  as  a  gradua- 
tion gift,  she  is  taking  an  extended 
motor  tour  with  Virginia  as  her  goal.) 


Miss  Isabella  Pennampede,  Information 
Office,  was  the  main  speaker  at  the  grad- 
uation exercises  of  the  High  School  of 
Practical  Arts  in  Roxbury  on  June  1.  A 
graduate  of  the  school,  she  received 
three  scholarships  from  there  in  1943. 
The  subject  of  her  talk  was  Experiences 
of  a  Graduate. 

Miss  Helen  Savakian,  Information  Office, 
who  has  a  B.S.  degree  in  Commercial 
Science  from  Boston  University,  will  re- 
ceive a  B.S.  degree  in  Library  Science 
from  Simmons  College  on  June  13. 

Miss  Ursula  Von  Zarsk,  East  Boston 
Branch  Library,  is  graduating  from  the 
Leland  Powers  School  of  the  Theater  and 
Radio* 

Miss  Mary  Brady,  Cataloging  and  Classi- 
fication Department,  Reference  Division, 
received  her  A.B.  degree  from  Boston 
College  on  June  8, 

Miss  Mary  Ann  Gelsomini,  Cataloging  and 
Classification  Department,  Reference 
Division,  graduated  from  Girls'  High 
School  on  June  1. 

Miss  Sally  Trentini,  Cataloging  and 
Classification  Department,  Reference 
Division,  received  her  diploma  from 
Everett  High  Schoon  on  June  7.  . 

Miss  Mildred  R.  Adelson,  Jamaica  Plain 
Branch  Library,  has  recently  completed 
the  course  at  the  Simmons  Library  School. 

Mr  William  J.  Mclntire,  Mattapan  Branch 
Library,  a  member  of  the  class  of  1949  at 
Boston  Latin  School,  was  axvarded  the 
"Freshman  Scholarship"  which  will  extend 
throughout  the  four  years  at  Harvard 
College.  He  was  president  of  the  Modern 
History  Club,  a  member  of  the  literary 
staff  of  the  "Register",  the  school  maga- 
zine and  the  Honor  Society.  He  also  was 
active  in  the  Debating  Club,  the  French 
Club  and  the  Music  Appreciation  Club. 

Mr  Paul  X.  Shea,  Mattapan  Branch  Li- 
brary, a  member  of  the  class  of  1949  at 
the  High  School  of  Commerce,  won  two 
scholarships.  In  addition  to  one  of  the 
Silver  Anniversary  scholarships  awarded 
by  the  Class  of  1924,  he  also  received  a 
$100  award  from  the  Alumni  Educational 
Fund.  While  in  school,  Paul  ivas  a  member 
of  the  Key,  Forum  and  Booster  Clubs,  was 
a  delegate  to  the  Washington  national 
convention  of  the  Key  Club,  assistant 
editor  of  the  Tradesman,  and  represented 
the  school  at  the  Boston  Rotary  Club. 


-3- 


Mr  Bradford  M.  Hill  has  recently  been 
elected  President  of  the  Boston  Chapter, 
Special  Libraries  Association,  for  the 
year  1949-1950. 

Mr  Charles  L.  Higgins,  General  Refer- 
ence Department,  has  been  asked  to  give 
the  course  "Introduction  to  Librarians- 
ship"  at  the  Simmons  College  summer  ses- 
sion. 

Editor's  Note;  We  are  sure  that  many 
other  members  of  the  staff  are  receiv- 
ing academic  honors  of  various  sorts 
but  these  are  all  that  have  been  sent 
to  us.  Congratulations  to  all  the 
others  I J 

********** 

ALUMNAE  NOTES 

Mr  and  Mrs  Joseph  Lynch  are  receiving 
congratulations  on  the  birth  of  a  daugh- 
ter, Rita  Patricia,  on  May  19.  Mrs 
Lynch  is  the  former  Rita  Carr  of  the 
Director's  Office. 

********** 
ARTICLE  BY  THE  DIRECTOR 

The  A.L.A.  Bulletin  for  May,  1949  car- 
ries a  biographical  sketch  of  Dr.  Jaime 
Torres  Bodet  of  Mexico,  the  new  director- 
general  of  UNESCO,  -written  by  Mr  Lord. 
Dr.  Bodet  was  at  one  time  head  of  the 
Department  of  Libraries  in  the  Ministry 
of  Education. 

********** 
RECENT  VISITORS 

Mr  Palle  Birkelund  of  the  Royal 
Library,  Copenhagen,  visited  the  Boston 
Public  Library  recently.  He  is  holder  of 
a  UNESCO  Fellowship.  He  is  interested  in 
Personnel,  Cataloging  and  Classification 
in  the  Reference  Division,  and  in  Book 
Purchasing. 

Mrs  Bland  of  the  Ordering  Department  of 
the  Vancouver  Public  Library  paid  an  in- 
formal call  on  the  Book  Selection  Depart- 
ment recently.  Young,  charming,  and  very 
much  interested  in  book  selection  and 
book  purchasing  procedures,  Mrs  Bland  was 
able  to  tell  us  many  interesting  things 
about  the  ways  in  which  these  processes 


are  carried  on  in  the  Vancouver  Public 
Library.  The  exchange  of  ideas  with 
workers  from  other  libraries  is  always 
stimulating.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  have 
out-of-town  visitors  take  a  business 
holiday  and  visit  our  library.  Mrs  Bland, 
who  is  visiting  friends  in  Melrose,  said 
that  she  "simply  could  not  resist  coming 
to  see  the  Boston  Public  Library." 

Miss  Mary  Reynolds,  formerly  of  the 
Book  Stack  Service, visited  the  Library 
last  week.  Miss  Reynolds  commented  on 
the  many  changes,  especially  in  the  staff 
quarters. 

Corporal  Doris  Quigley  of  the  United 
States  Marine  Corps,  formerly  of  the 
Trustees'  Office,  visited  the  Library  on 
Thursday,  June  9.  She  is  on  a  twelve-day 
leave  from  her  duties  in  Tfashington,  D.C. 

Miss  Dorothy  Joan  Tierney,  a  former 
member  of  the  staff,  visited  Charlestown 
Branch  Library  while  vacationing  in 
Boston  from  her  duties  as  Librarian  of 
the  Navy  Line  School  in  Newport,  Rhode 
Island, 

********** 

After  many  years  of  service  in  the 
Branch  Issue  Department,  Miss  Annie  J. 
Daley  resigned  from  her  position  on  May 
9,  1949. 

During  her  long  service  in  the  Library, 
Miss  Daley  has  made  many  friends  who  were 
all  very  sorry  to  see  her  leave,  and  who 
now  wish  her  every  joy  and  happiness  in 
her  much-deserved  rest. 

********** 

One  protest  against  changing  the  name 
of  our  publication  was   registered.  Since 
that  was  the  only  response  to  the  request 
for  comments  on  the  suggestion  that  the 
name  be  changed,  we  assume  that  the  pres- 
ent name,  The  Question  Mark,  is  satis- 
factory. 

********** 
XMAS  IN  JUNE 

The  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Boston 
Public  Library  Employees*  Benefit  Asso- 
ciation, Incorporated,  wishes  to  remind 
the  staff,  through  the  courtesy  of  the 
B.P.L.P.S.A.,  that  there  are  only  193 
days  before  Xmas.  For  your  Xmas  cards 
and  gifts  this  year,  don't  forget  the 
Post  Card  Counter. 


PRESIDENT'S  NOTES 

Instead  of  having  our  theme  song  for 
this  month  June  is  bust in*  out  all  over, 
we  might  paraphrase  it  to  say  June  is 
poppin1  out  all  over,  since  we  are  all  so 
vitally  concerned  with  our  Pops  evening. 
All  the  seats  have  been  spoken  for  (and 
paid  for  by  now,  no  doubt)  with  a  very 
few  exceptions*  If  Aunt  Susie.  Uncle 
Henry,  or  Cousin  Liz  should  arrive  unex- 
pectedly, no  doubt  Miss  Calnan  would  be 
able  to  produce  another  ticket  from  that 
magic  hat  which  she  uses  so  effectively. 
According  to  the  enthisiasm  evidenced, 
this  should  be  a  very  happy  occasion. 


Mrs  Sarah  W.  Flannery,  as  past  editor 
of  The  Question  Mark,  and  the  President 
have  been  invited  to  meet  with  the  Pub- 
lications Committee  on  Monday,  June  13th, 
in  order  to  crystallize,  if  possible,  an 
editorial  policy  for  The  Question  Mark 
which  should  serve  as  a  guide  for  present 
and  future  editors  and  their  committee 
members.  It  is  hoped  that  there  will  be 
a  definite  policy  evolved  which  can  be 
reported  in  detail  at  a  later  date» 


Congratulations  are  in  order  to  the 
members  of  the  staff  of  the  North  End 
Branch  Library  for  the  exceptionally 
well-planned  and  efficiently  carried  out 
program  on  June  2nd,  at  the  first  award- 
ing of  the  Mary  u",  Nichols  Book  Prizes. 
The  laudatory  comments  about  Miss 
Nichols,  her  fine  %vork  in  the  library, 
and  her  outstanding  contribution  to  the 
community  brought  home  to  us  all  very 
forcefully  the  need  for  a  kind  word  of 
encouragement  and  an  occasional  crumb  of 
appreciation  while  we  are  here  to  enjoy 
it.  It  seems  to  be  a  universal  human 
failing  to  expect  from  our  fellow  work- 
ers a  good  job,  well-done,  with  no  com- 
monts,  whereas  an  unexpected  bit  of  ap- 
preciation from  our  superiors  and  co- 
workers can  do  much  to  help  us  over  some 
of  the  hard  spots.  It  might  be  worth 
trying  sometime. 


As  the  report  of  the  Membership  Commit' 
tee  brought  out  at  the  May  business 


meeting,  our  paid-up  membership  is  very 
gratifying.  There  must,  however,  be  a 
few  hardy  souls  who  are  still  resisting 
our  manifold  temptations  of  membership. 
The  Piold  Representatives  still  have  a 
little  missionary  work  to  do  along  that 
line.  Let's  aim  at  10C$  and  achieve  that 
aim. 


Please  notify  your  social  secretary  to 
set  aside  for  you  the  following  dates  — 
November  17  and  18,  and  December  2,  1949. 
Exciting  events  are  in  the  making  and  it 
would  be  sad  if  a  previous  engagement 
made  it  impossible  for  you  to  participate. 
Details  later.  Save  the  dates. 


As  first  president  of  the  Boston  Public 
Library  Professional  Staff  Association, 
Mr  Bradford  M.  Hill's  name  has  been  sub- 
mitted for  possible  inclusion  on  the 
slate  of  the  Steering  Committee  of  the 
national  SORT  (Staff  Organization  Round 
Table),  TTe  are  hoping  that  the  Executive 
Committee  of  that  organization  will  con- 
sider favorably  the  candidate  from  our 
Association. 


Our  CARE  representatives  are  doing  a 
grand  job.  Don't  forget  that  they  can't  " 
keep  it  up  without  your  pennies,  dimes, 
and  nickels  -•-  and,  of  course,  hundred 
dollar  bills  are  always  acceptable. 

********** 
MARY  U.  NICHOLS  BOOK  PRIZES 

The  First  Annual  Award  of  the  Mary  U. 
Nichols  Book  Prizes  was  made  by  the 
Director,  Milton  E.  Lord,  at  the  North 
End  Branch  Library  on  Thursday  evening 
June  2,  1949  at  8  o'clook.  On  that 
beautiful  June  evening  over  three  hundred 
persons  gathered  in  the  adult  room  of  the 
Library  before  the  model  of  the  Doges 
Palace,  Miss  Ellen  C.  Peterson,  Branch 
Librarian,  made  the  address  of  welcome 
and  introduced  as  Chairman,  "•■  John  A. 
Scanga,  the  popular  manager  of  the 
Michelangelo  Evening  School  Center 0  Mrs 
Thomas  Raia,  Treasurer,  ingratiated  her- 
self with  the  audience  by  her  aclmowledged 


-5- 


inexperience  as  a  public  speaker,  as  she 
presented  the  Book  Fund,  which  has  now 
reached  $591.50,  to  the  Director.  In 
presenting  the  Book  Prizes,  Mr  Lord 
stressed  the  unusualness  of  Miss  Nichols' 
having  made  so  deep  an  impression  on  the 
community  in  so  relatively  short  a  time. 

Award  winners  were  Joan  Marie  Sandrelli, 
who  received  "Poems  of  Francis  Thompson" 
with  notes  and  biographical  sketch  by 
Terence  L.  Connolly,  S.J.,  and  Vincent  A. 
Maglia,  who  received  the  Kittredge  edi- 
tion of  "Shakespeare".  Both  books  had  a 
bookplate  designed  by  Mr  Arthur  W. 
Heintzelman,  Curator  of  Prints.  The  dark 
green  full  leather  binding  with  gold 
tooling  v/as  done  under  the  personal  super- 
vision of  Mr  James  P.  Mooers,  Chief  of  the 
Binding  Department. 

Reverend  Timothy  F.  0TLeary,  Ph.D., 
Assistant  Superintendent  of  Diocesan 
Schools,  spoke  of  the  fine  cooperation 
between  the  Boston  Public  Library  and  the 
Parochial  Schools.  He  paid  a  personal 
tribute  to  Miss  Nichols  for  her  inspira- 
tion and  help  when  he  was  faced  with  the 
task  of  transforming  an  army  barrack  into 
a  modern  city  high  school  in  the  dis- 
hearteningly  short  space  of  two  months. 

Bishop  John  J.  Wright  spoke  on  the  cul- 
tural heritage  of  Italo-Americans,  and 
urged  the  boys  and  girls  to  learn  Italian, 
not  the  local  North  End  dialect  but  pure 
Tuscan. 

The  Girls'  Glee  Club  from  Christopher 
Columbus  High  School  sang  three  selec- 
tions. 

An  informal  reception  and  refreshments 
brought  the  program  to  a  close. 

Trustees,  Library  staff  members, 
Pastors  of  St.  Mary's  and  St.  Leonard's 
Churches  and  many  of  their  assistants,  as 
well  as  the  entire  faculty  of  the  boys' 
division  at  Christopher  Columbus  High 
School,  representatives  from  the  Social 
Houses,  Schools,  Italian  Consulate,  local 
organizations,  and  neighborhood  friends 
made  up  the  audience. 

The  day  after  the  presentation,  the 
principal  at  Christopher  Columbus  High 
School  was  besieged  by  members  of  the 
Junior  Class  from  the  North  End  wishing 
to  know  what  they  had  to  do  to  qualify 
for  the  Mary  TJ.  Nichols  Book  Prizes  next 
year. 

One  Christopher  Columbus  Senior,  in- 
spired by  Mr  Heintzelman1 s  bookplate, 
spent  the  week-end  designing  his  personal 


bookplate,  and  on  Monday  took  his  sketch 
to  an  artist  to  find  out  how  much  it 
would  cost  to  have  the  bookplate  made 
ready  for  engraving.  The  price  over- 
whelmed him.  He  wishes  he  had  won  the 
Mary  U.  Nichols  Book  Prize  just  to  have  a 
copy  of  the  Bookplate. 

Miss  Mildred  Kaufman  of  Mount  Bowdoin 
Branch  Library  lent  a  group  of  Italian 
dolls  dressed  in  the  costumes  of  the 
various  Provinces  of  Italy.  These  dolls 
made  a  very  interesting  exhibit  and  were 
much  admired  by  the  Award  guests. 

Requests  continue  to  come  tothe  Library 
for  the  attractively  printed  programs 
which  were  distributed  to  our  guests  by 
members  of  the  North  End  Branch  Reading 
Teensters  Club, 

The  beauty  of  the  Prizes  volumes  and 
the  spirit  in  which  they  were  received  is 
an  outstanding  tribute  to  the  Boston 
Public  Library,  to  the  people  of  the 
North  End,  and  to  the  memory  of  Mary  U. 
Nichols. 

**** ****** 
M.L.A.  ANNUAL  MEETING 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  M.L.A.  was 
held  in  the  Memorial  Hall  at  Plymouth  on 
Wednesday,  May  25.  More  than  three  hun- 
dred members  attended,  many  of  them  from 
Boston.  A  special  chartered  bus  carried 
forty-one  B.P.L.  members  and  additional 
members  went  in  private  automobiles. 

The  morning  program  opened  with  a  panel 
discussion  on  "Inter library  loans:  their 
use  and  abuse,"  Mrs  Ethel  Chandler, 
Librarian  of  the  East  Bridgewater  Public 
Library. (and  a  past  President  of  the 
Association)  expressed  the  views  of  the 
small  library;  Miss  Lucile  Wickersham  of 
the  Springfield  City  Library  Association 
gave  the  viewpoint  of  the  medium-sized 
library;  Irs  Grace  B.  Loughlin,  Chief  of 
the  Branch  Issue  Department  of  the  Boston 
Public  Library,  upheld  the  policies  and 
views  of  the  large  library;  while  Miss 
Elsie  M.  McCabe»  Reference  Librarian  of 
the  Division  of  Public  Libraries,  ex- 
plained how  the  Division  functions  in 
this  field.  A  summary  of  the  statements 
made  by  this  panel  of  experts  cannot  do 
justice  to  the  many  points  brought  out 
for  the  improvement  of  loan  procedures. 
However,  this  discussion  revealed  so  many 
inadequacies  in  the  present  system  that  a 


I    -:  (1 


-6- 


special  committee  was  suggested  to  draw 
up  a  statewide  system  of  rules  and  han- 
dling procedures.  If  this  suggested  com- 
mittee is  formed  the  resulting  rules  and 
regulations  should  prove  beneficial  to 
both  libraries  and  borrowers. 

The  Honorable  Timothy  Murphy,  Assistant 
Attorney  General  (and  the  attorney  in 
charge  of  the  prosecution  in  the  recent 
case  of  Caldwell's  "God's  Little  Acre" 
and  Cain's  "Serenade"  versus  the  state) 
presented  the  inside  story  of  the  official 
position  now  taken  by  the  state  in  regard 
to  books  accounted  obscene  or  injurious 
to  the  morals  of  youth.  Mr  Murphy's 
speech  will  be  printed  in  full  in  the  Fall 
issue  of  the  M.L.A.  Bulletin  so  that 
everyone  interested  will  be  able  to  judge 
for  himself  as  to  the  merits  of  the  case. 
Also,  the  function  of  the  Massachusetts 
Advisory  Committee  for  Juvenile  Reading 
was  explained.  This  committee  was  formed 
mainly  to  advise  the  Attorney  General 
when  cases  of  comic  books  and  other  juve- 
nile "literature"  considered  injurious  to 
the  morals  of  youth  were  discovered  by 
the  committee  members.  The  committee  is 
to  inform  the  state  authorities  in  such 
cases  and  then  the  Attorney  General's 
office  is  to  persuade  the  dealers  to  re- 
move such  items  from  their  stock.  Miss 
Elizabeth  M.  Gordon,  Deputy' Supervisor 
In  Charge  of  YTork  with  Children,  is  a 
member  of  this  committee. 

No  official  luncheon  was  scheduled,  so 
when  the  morning  session  was  adjourned  by 
President  Rich,  the  meeting  broke  up  into 
small  groups  of  members,  who  repaired  to 
the  many  restaurants  and  tea-rooms  spe- 
cializing in  sea-food. 

The  afternoon  session  was  opened  by  the 
introduction  of  Mr  Fred  H.  Garrigus, 
Director  of  Public  Affairs  for  Station 
WEEI.   His  topic  was  "Radio  —  education 
or  recreation?"  A  very  facile  speaker  of 
great  experience  in  radio  programming  and 
publicity,  Mr  Garrigus  kept  his  audience 
at  attention  by  explaining  just  hox7  the 
radio  station  can  help  the  library  and 
hew  the  library  should  arrange  programs 
capable  of  "holding"  the  listener.  The 
old  standby  of  the  past  —  a  fifteen- 
minute  speech  read  by  a  librarian  —  Mr 
Garrigus  stated  really  cost  the  station 
ore  hour  and  fifteen  minutes.  He  ex- 
plained that  this  type  of  program  caused 
the  listener  to  tune  out  the  station  and 
on  an  average  the  listener  did  not  tune 


in  again  for  one  hour  after  the  program. 
The  best  type  of  program  for  libraries, 
in  his  opinion,  is  the  group  discussion 
program,  consisting  of  three  or  four 
speakers  and  a  coordinator.  His  sugges* 
tions  and  explanations  were  considered 
very  helpful  by  a  great  many  of  the  mem- 
bers, especially  those  from  small  librar- 
ies. 

The  annual  business  meeting  was  held 
next  and  Mr  Rich  installed  the  new 
President,  Mr  John  D.  Kelley,  Librarian 
of  the  Somerville  Public  Library.  Miss 
Louise  B.  Day,  of  the  Lynn  Public  Library 
is  the  new  Vice  President. 

Mr  Harold  A.  Tfooster  of  the  Newton  Free 
Public  Library  was  called  upon  and  he 
presented  the  tentative  program  of  the 
A.L.A.  Regional  Meeting  to  be  held  at 
Swampscott,  October  12-15,  1949. 

C .J.G. 
********** 

RECENT  MATERIAL 
OF  PROFESSIONAL  INTEREST 

Those  working  in  subject  departments 
will  be  interested  in  R,  H.  Whitford's 
thoughts  on  the  educational  requisites 
for  successful  special  librarianship. 
Although  particularly  concerned  with 
training  for  the  technical  librarian,  his 
remarks  have  a  bearing  upon  the  entire 
field  of  special  librarianship. 
(iThitford,  R.  H.,  Triangular  training  for 
the  technical  librarian.  Special 
Libraries,  May- June,  1949,  p.  178-182). 


An  interesting  item  of  information  is 
the  note  that  beginning  July  1  of  this 
year,  the  magazine  Newsweek  will  be 
available  on  micro-card,  as  well  as  micro- 
film. 


The  May  14, 
devoted  almost 
ing  and  output 
presses.  This 
which  SRL  has 
the  topic.   It 
formative  read 
rial  having  be 
coming  Report 
presses. 


1949  issue  of  the  SRL  is 
entirely  to  the  function- 
of  American  university 
marks  the  seventh  year 
given  over  one  number  to 
makes  interesting  and  in- 
ing  with  much  of  the  mate- 
en  digested  from  the  forth- 
on  American  university 


-7- 


Oftentimes  one  hears  comment  on  the 
personnel  policy  and  salary  schedules  in 
college  and  university  libraries  without 
being  presented  with  sufficient  facts  to 
warrant  conclusions.  For  the  most  part 
information  on  such  subjects  has  been 
piecemeal  and  quite  unsatsifactory  par- 
ticularly when  comparisons  with  the  pub- 
lic library  field  are  sought,  M.  P.  Seay 
in  his  Key  to  college  salaries  (Library 
Journal,  June  1,  1949,  p.  860-861)  has 
done  a  service  in  presenting  the  results 
of  a  survey  of  some  72  land-grant  col- 
leges and  universities  with  respect  to 
their  policy  in  such  matters  as  tenure, 
educational  attainments  and  salaries. 
The  presentation  is  incomplete  from  sev- 
eral viewpoints,  but  it  is  at  least  a 
beginning. 


C  •L.Ha 


*$;|e  *$$$*$$ 


IN  MEMORIAM 


On  Kay  30th  Mr  T.  Francis  Brennan, 
formerly  Chief  of  the  Issue  Department 
and  Deputy  Supervisor  in  the  Reference 
Division,  passed  away.  Mr  Brennan  had 
retired  from  the  service  of  the  Library 
in  December  1943,  after  more  than  fifty 
years  of  faithful  service.  Until  a  year 
ago  he  had  been  in  good  health. 

Frank,  as  he  was  known  to  all  his  asso- 
ciates, was  a  man  who  had  a  large  heart 
and  a  generous  nature  under  a  seemingly 
gruff  exterior.  Most  of  his  many  acts  of 
kindness  will  never  be  known;  as  he  truly 
believed,  and  practiced  his  belief,  in 
doing  all  his  good  deeds  in  such  a  manner 
that  his  left  hand  should  not  know  what 
his  right  hand  had  done. 

Always  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
those  who  came  under  his  supervision,  he 
was  constantly  on  the  alert  to  be  of  as- 
sistance to  them  by  counsel  or  in  other 
ways.  Any  member  of  the  staff  who  had 
troubles  of  any  kind  always  found  a 
friend  in  Frank  Brennan.  It  was  his  in- 
terest in  his  fellov/  worker  that  caused 
him  in  1902  to  be  one  of  the  founders  of 
t.ie  Boston  Public  Library  Employees 
Benefit  Association. 

Funeral  services  for  Mr  Brennan  were 
held  on  Thursday,  June  2,  1949,  at  St. 
Cilumbkille's  Church,  Brighton,  with  a 
E'.ah  Mass  of  Requiem  and  interment  was  at 
Calvary  Cemetery,  Mattapan.  The  services 


were  attended  by  a  large  delegation  from 
the  Library,  headed  by  the  Director, 
Milton  E.  Lord. 

J  .o  .K« 


Members  of  the  Boston  Public  Library 
Staff,  who  were  former  students  of  the 
late  Miss  Nina  C.  Brotherton,  professor 
of  Library  Science  at  Simmons  College, 
were  shocked  and  saddened  at  the  news  of 
her  sudden  passing  on  May  25, 

She  had  been  a  member  of  the  library 
profession  since  1907  when  she  graduated 
from  the  School  of  Library  Science  at 
Western  Reserve.  She  served  as  children's 
librarian  at  the  Cleveland  Public  Library 
from  1907  to  1917.  She  often  fondly  re- 
called her  work  there.  From  1920  to  1927 
she  was  principal  at  the  Carnegie  Library 
School.  Coming  to  Simmons  College  in 
1927,  she  had  been  on  the  faculty  twenty- 
two  years.  Her  special  field  was  chil- 
dren's work,  but  yearly  she  gave  an  in- 
troductory course  in  Library  Science, 

It  was  a  privilege  to  have  had  Miss 
Brotherton  for  an  instructor.  Her  stu- 
dents felt  that  they  had  received  the 
best  possible  introduction  to  library 
work  coming  as  it  did  from  one  who  had 
such  a  vast  fund  of  library  knowledge  and 
experience.  To  have  known  such  a  person 
as  Miss  Brotherton  was  an  added  privilege. 
Her  valued  advice,  which  was  frequently 
sought,  was  cheerfully  and  graciously 
given.  Her  perspective  vms  hard  to 
duplicate.  She  had  a  delightful  sense  of 
humor  in  the  classroom  as  well  as  outside. 
Imbued  with  a  great  love  of  Boston  and  a 
tremendous  interest  in  the  Simmons  Col- 
lege Library  School,  it  vias  fitting  that 
Miss  Brotherton  passed  on  while  still  an 
active  teacher. 


E. J.L, 


■T*T't'-T''?-f"f»'t"'f*-t- 


BRANCH  LIBRARY  NOTES 


Codman  Square 

The  staff  entertained  Mrs  Myrene  L, 
Steele  at  luncheon  on  May  20,  Mrs  Steele 
has  resigned  to  return  to  her  home  city, 
Indianapolis,  where  her  husband  has  been 
appointed  Minister  of  the  Bethel 
Methodist  Church. 


-8- 


Dorchester 

A  luncheon  party  -was  given  by  the  staff 
of  the  Dorchester  Branch  Library  at  the 
Toll  House  on  Saturday,  April  30th,  in 
honor  of  Miss  Martha  McGee.  The  tables 
rere  attractively  decorated  with  spring 
f lowers  and  gay  colored  May-baskets.  A 
sterling  silver  sugar  bowl,  creamer,  and 
tray  were  presented  to  Miss  McGee.  Mrs 
Geraldine  Altman  and  Miss  Marguerite 
McCauley,  former  members  of  the  staff, 
were  guests  at  the  luncheon. 

Miss  McGee  was  married  to  Mr  David 
McDonnell  on  May  14th.  Many  members  of 
the  Dorchester  staff  attended  her  wedding 
and  reception  in  Hyde  Park. 


East  Boston 

Mrs  Suzanne  Turner  and  Miss  Ursula 
Von  Zarsk  of  the  Children's  Room  staff, 
were  guests  of  honor  at  a  staff  party 
held  at  the  home  of  Miss  Dorothy  Nourse, 
Branch  Librarian.  Both  present  and  form- 
er members  of  the  staff  who  had  worked 
with  the  guests  of  honor  gathered  to  ex- 
tend good  wishes  to  Mrs  Turner,  leaving 
the  library  service,  to  return  to  her 
home  in  Louisiana,  and  to  Miss  Von  Zarsk, 
graduating  from  the  Leland  Powers  School 
of  the  Theater  and  Radio.  A  delicious 
dinner  was  served  by  the  hostess. 


Lower  Mills  and  Neponset 

On  Saturday,  May  14th,  about  fifty  boys 
and  girls  who  are  members  of  reading 
clubs  at  the  Neponset  and  Lower  Mills 
Branch  Libraries,  got  together  for  a  trip 
to  Orchard  House  and  other  points  of  in- 
terest at  Concord.  Naturally,  the  first 
stop  was  made  at  Orchard  House,  where 
they  were  received  very  graciously  and 
conducted  on  a  tour  of  the  house.  After- 
wards they  were  permitted  to  roam  about 
and  examine  whatever  interested  them 
especially.  The  boys  and  girls  had  a 
wonderful  time  both  inside  and  outside 
the  house.  Another  stop  v/as  made  at 
Concord  Bridge,  and  other  places  of  in- 
terest were  pointed  out  to  the  children. 

The  trip  was  under  the  direction  of 
Miss  Mildred  Presente  of  Neponset  Branch 
Library  and  Miss  Mary  Gilman  of  Lower 
Mills  Branch  Library.  Miss  Ruth  Hayes, 
Branch  Librarian  at  Neponset  and  other 


staff  members  accompanied  the  group  and 
helped  conduct  the  tour. 


Phillips  Brooks 

The  third  week  in  May  proved  to  be  an 
exceptionally  memorable  one  at  the 
Phillips  Brooks  Branch  Library.  On  May 
16,  the  newly  organized  FRIENDS  OF  THE 
PHILLIPS  BROOKS  BRANCH  LIBRARY  combined 
their  first  program  meeting  with  the 
celebration  of  the  eighteenth  anniversary 
of  their  library  as  a  branch  of  the 
Boston  Public  Library.  After  a  few  words 
of  welcome  by  the  Branch  Librarian,  Miss 
Virginia  Haviland,  and  Mr  Milton  E. 
Lord's  recognition  of  the  significance  of 
"Friends  of  the  Library"  in  a  community 
such  as  Readville,  the  meeting  was  turned 
over  to  the  president  of  the  organization, 
Mr  Donald  Leavitt.  He  opened  the  program 
with  a  message  describing  the  aims  of  his 
group.  He  made  it  clear  that  the  organi- 
zation is  designed  "to  create  an  aware- 
ness among  the  people  (of  Readville)  of 
the  greater  uses  of  the  library  and  its 
importance  to  the  life  of  the  community"; 
he  concluded  with  a  statement  of  the 
group's  desire,  by  working  with  the  li- 
brary, "to  help  our  children  appreciate 
the  finer  things  in  life  (and)  teach 
them  to  understand  and  respect  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  others."  For  the  eve** 
ning  the  speaker  was  Mr  Tilliam  jj,  Harlow 
of  Hyde  Park,  a  member  of  the  Great  Books 
Discussion  Group  at  Phillips  Brooks 
Branch  Library  and  a  lecturer  on  local 
history.  He  presented  an  accurate  and 
fascinating  picture  of  the  growth  of  the' 
Readville-Hyde  Park  area  of  Boston  from 
1689  to  the  present. 

Both  the  evening's  entertainment  and 
the  delicious  cakes  and  punch  served  as 
refreshments  were  provided  by  THE  FRIENDS 
OF  THE  PHILLIPS  BROOKS  BRANCH  LIBRARY. 
Over  a  hundred  and  fifty  people  attended 
the  festivities,  including  as  special 
guests  Mr  Milton  E.  Lord,  Director,  Mr 
Francis  B.  Masterson,  Trustee,  Mrs  Ada  A. 
Andelman,  Supervisor  in  the  Circulation 
Division,  Miss  Edna  G.  Peck  and  Mrs  Edith 
H.  Bailey,  former  Branch  Librarians  at 
this  Branch  Library. 

During  the  same  week,  our  last  Great 
Books  Discussion  for  the  year  was  held  on 
Thursday  evening.  Members  of  this  1948- 
49  group  (who  will  continue  next  year  for 
the  second  course  of  reading),  led  by 


■'.    n  ■ 


-9- 


Mrs  Bailey  and  Miss  Havilandj  entered  in- 
to a  lively  appraisal  of  Karl  Marx' 
COICUNIST  MANIFESTO;  This  was  carried  on 
farther  by  Mr  Gordon  DuPee,  Regional 
Director  of  the  Great  Books  Foundation^ 
who  was  a  visitor  for  the  evening.  For 
the  social  period  which  followedj  a  com** 
mittee  of  women  from  the  group  served 
punch  and  cookies, 

B.G,W» 


Uphams  Corner 

".Talking  into  the  Uphams  Corner  Branch 
Library  between  May  31  and  June  9,  one 
would  have  seen  on  display  anything  from 
a  portable  radio  to  a  small  table  lamp 
complete  with  wiring.  The  occasion  for 
this  display  was  a  Hobby  Show,  held  dur- 
ing the  month  of  May  in  order  to  stimu- 
late and  encourage  the  neighborhood  chil- 
dren to  express  their  creative  abilities. 

Children  in  grades  four  to  eight  were 
asked  to  bring  in  specimens  of  their 
hobbies  for  exhibit  at  the  library,  Jhe 
response  to  the  invitation  was  quite  en- 
thusiastic. Thirty-eight  children 
brought  in  hobby  exhibits,  including 
stamp  collections ,  drawings,  clay  models, 
embroidery,  needlecraft,  wood  carvings, 
and  original  poems.  Of  particular  inter- 
est was  the  radio  constructed  by  an 
eighth-grade  boy  from  directions  given  in 
Popular  Mechanics  Magazine, 

On  June  9  two  prizes  were  awarded  to 
the  children  with  the  best  displays,  and 
four  other  boys  and  girls  received  honor- 
able mention. 

While  the  hobbies  were  on  exhibit,  the 
library  was  visited  by  both  teachers  and 
social  workers,  all  of  whom  showed  great 
interest  in  the  work  that  the  children 
had  done.  The  results  of  the  contest 
were  most  gratifying,  both  in  bringing  to 
light  latent  talent,  and  in  creating  a 
closer  contact  between  the  children  and 
the  Library t 

R.B. 
* 

The  Uphams  Corner  Branch  Library  is 
planning  a  varied  group  of  activities  for 
its  summer  program.   In  July  Mr  and  Mrs 
John  Cronan  will  give  a  Stcry  Hour  every 
Thursday  morning  at  ten  o; clock  for  the 
neighborhood  children.   Invited  to  these 


Story  Hours  will  be  the  boys  and  girls 
from  Denison  House  and  Little  House,  two 
Red  Feather  organizations,  and  from  the 
six  playgrounds  in  the  area.   In  addition, 
the  Library  is  supplying  these  groups 
with  books  to  help  their1  leaders  carry 
out  their  summer  activities* 

Spscial  Story  Hours  will  be  given  in 
August  for  the  children  in  the  Pilgrim 
Church  Vacation  School,  and  books  will  be 
fum5.sh.ed  to  the  School  to  afford  both 
recreation  fur  the  children  and  assist- 
ance to  the  teachers, 

R.B. 


The  Librarian  and  staff  of  the  Uphams 
Corner  Branch  Library  gave  a  ben  voyage 
party  in  honor  of  Miss  Marie  Pineo.,  the 
children's  librarian,  on  Wednesday,  June 
22.  . 

Miss  Pineo  is  sailing  from  Quebec  on 
June  25th  for  a  two  month  European  tour 
under  the  chape ronage  of  the  American 
You-ch  Hostels,  The  staff  presented  her 
with  several  small  but  .useful  gifts  to 
tuck  in  her  bicycle  bag  (30  pounds 
limits) ,  as  the  young  lady  in  question  is 
bicycling  through  France  over  the  Swiss 
Alps  into  Italy,  and  possibly  through 
Austria  ~  no  mean  feat  for  a  librarian 
who  has  only  recently  taken  up  the  fine 
art  of  bicyclingo 


M.E.O. 


DEPARTMENT  NOTES 


Cataloging  and  Classification, 
Reference  Livisi on 

This  department  kept  the  usual  June 
tradition  of  brides  and  sweet  girl 
graduates  this  year  of  1949, 

Our  bride,  Miss  Sally  Trentini,  was 
married  at  4:30  p*m9  on  Sunday,  June  12f 
in  St0  Anthony's  Church,  Everett, to  Mr 
Joseph  D.  I/Iiloe  The  department  sent 
their  very  best  wishes  with  a  silver 
cream  and  sugar  and  accompanying  tray. 
Miss  Trentini  aj.so  was  among  our  sweet 
girl  graduates,  as  on  the  Tuesday  previ- 
ous to  her  "/redding  day  she  received  her 
diploma  from  Everett  High  School, 


-10- 


General  Reference 

A  small  group  of  his  friends  fore- 
gathered recently  to  extend  best  wishes 
to  Mr  Louis  Rains  of  this  department  on 
the  occasion  of  his  resignation  from  the 
Library.  As  a  memento,  the  departmental 
staff  presented  him  with  a  desk  pen  set. 
Mr  Rains  leaves  on  June  15  after  more 
than  twelve  years  of  service  during  which 
time  he  worked  at  the  Kirstein  and  "West 
End  Branch  Libraries  and  the  General 
Reference  Department,  In  addition  he  has 
been  active  in  several  of  the  staff 
groups  and  has  held  office  in  the 
B.P.L.P.S.A.  During  TTorld  War  II  Mr 
Rains  was  with  the  U.  S.  Navy  and  saw 
service  in  the  Pacific, 

For  the  past  two  years  he  has  been  pre- 
paring for  entrance  into  the  real  estate 
field.  Upon  leaving  the  Library  he  Tall 
establish  offices  in  the  Copley  Square 
district.  Those  who  have  had  the  pleas- 
ure of  .rorking  vdth  him  or  knowing  him 
will  regret  his  departure  and  extend 
every  good  wish  for  success  in  his  new 
field. 


Print 

Mr  Arthur  W,  Heintzelman,  Keeper  of 
Prints,  was  Chairman  of  the  committee  for 
the  International  Exhibition  of  Contem- 
porary Graphic  Art  at  the  Petit  Palais 
Museum,  Paris,  France,  from  April  29 
through  May  30,  1949.  The  Exposition  was 
sponsored  by  the  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  The  Minister  of  Education,  and 
the  City  of  Paris, 

The  exposition  was  organized  in  recip- 
rocation of  the  invitations  which  have 
been  extended  since  1945  by  public  or 
private  foreign  organizations  to  the 
National  Committee  of  French  Graphic 
Artists,  the  Society  of  Comtemporary 
Young  Graphic  Artists,  and  the  Society 
of  French  Painters  and  Graphic  Artists, 

The  United  States  was  confined  to  send- 
ing only  forty  prints  to  this  exhibition, 
Mr  Heintzelman  is  also  an  exhibiting  mem- 
ber, 

E,K, 


After  many  months  of  waiting  and  keep- 
ing watch  from  the  Albert  H.  ITiggin 
Gallery,  the  Keeper  of  Prints,  Arthur  W. 
Heintzelman,  and  his  staff  were  pleased 


to  welcome  visitors  to  their  new  enlarged 
quarters  on  May  18  and  19,  1949. 

In  connection  with  our  recent  gift  of  a 
complete  collection  of  the  lithographs  of 
Henri  Fantin  Latour  from  Mr  TJTiggin,  then 
on  exhibition,  a  special  invitation  was 
sent  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Boston  Public 
Library,  Friends  of  the  Print  Department, 
and  to  persons  interested  in  French  art 
activities,  to  view  the  exhibition  and  to 
inaugurate  the  re-opening  of  the  Depart- 
ment. He   were  very  pleased  to  include 
among  those  who  poured  Mrs  John  Hall, 
Madame  Albert  Chambon,  wife  of  the  French 
Consul  of  New  England,  Madame  Montalembert, 
wife  of  the  French  Vice  Consul,  and  Mrs 
John  V,  Spaulding,  The  following  day  all 
members  of  the  staff  were  invited  to  vis- 
it the  Department, 

Those  who  frequented  the  third  floor 
during  the  alterations  know  something  of 
what  was  done,  and  many  must  have  seen 
the  steel  beams  coming  in  through  the 
courtyard.  The  former  location  of  the 
department  was  on  a  balcony  overlooking 
the  picture  files  of  the  Fine  Arts  De- 
partment. The  open  space  between  the 
balcony  and  the  windows  was  then  floored 
over,  giving  much  added  space,  as  well  as 
more  light  and  air.  Because  of  the  en- 
gineering problem  the  new  floor  level  had 
to  be  raised  several  feet  above  the  old, 
so  that  we  now  have  two  levels.  Our 
largest  area  is  the  Study  Room  which  now 
looks  down  upon  the  courtyard,  making  a 
most  pleasant  place  for  artists  and  col- 
lectors to  work.   It  is  also  large  enough 
to  take  care  of  small  lecture  groups. 
The  room  is  lined  with  print  cabinets 
stained  as  before,  and  the  walls  have 
been  painted  a  beautiful  light  and  cool 
grey  green.  Behind  the  Study  Room  is  the 
Office  of  the  Keeper  of  Prints,  The  main 
entrance  has  remained  the  same,  from  the 
balcony  of  the  Albert  H,  TTiggin  Gallery, 

ARNAVETS 

On  Tuesday  evening,  June  7,  the 
Arnavets  enjoyed  a  dinner  party  at  the 
Irving  Adams  Post,  A,L.  hall  in 
Roslindale,  A  sumptuous  boiled  dinner 
was  served  and  all  commented  favorably 
on  both  the  flavor  and  sufficiency  of 
the  meal. 


vd- 


1        /i  . .  «,;  r<\ 


-11- 


After  dinner,  one  minute  of  silence  was 
observed  in  honor  of  members  of  the  li- 
brary staff  who  did  not  return  from  the 
wars  and  also  for  deceased  members  of  the 
organization.  Mr  Louis  Rains  was  pre- 
sented with  a  gift,  as  he  is  leaving  the 
library  service.  Mr  James  Gannon,  the 
Quartermaster,  introduced  each  member  who 
was  present,  in  order  that  the  new  mem- 
bers couid  become  acquainted. 

Upon  conclusion  of  these  formalities, 
many  groups  formed  slightly  off-key 
barber-shop  quartets,  while  others  ex- 
changed reminiscences.  Forty-six  members 
attended  the  party.  Membership  in  the 
Arnavets  is  at  an  all-time  high  of  sixty- 
eight  members.'  Mr  John  McNally  deserves 
a  vote  of  thanks  for  his  untiring  efforts 
in  making  the  arrangements  for  a  very  en- 
joyable evening e 

L.J.M. 


SOAP  BOX 

In  the  May,  1949  issue  of  The  Question 
Mark  there  appeared  an  item  against  which 
I  wish  to  register  an  emphatic  protest. 
I  am  referring  to  the  article  on  the  top 
of  page  nine,  under  the  caption,  A  Rare 
Book  Connoisseur.  I  am  not  concerned 
with  the  fact  that  the  little  story  is 
rather  senseless,  but  I  am  surprised  at 
the  needless  mention  of  the  boy's  color. 
Cannot  we  be  more  adult  in  our  selection 
of  material;  especially  of  so-called 
humor,  and  thus  reject  inane  items  which 
are  bound  to  give  offense? 

Yours  truly, 

(signed)  GEORGE  E.  EARLEY 
General  Reference  Department 


Editor's  Notes 


Sorry.  We  accept  the 
reprimand. 


Hallelujah!  Praise  the  Lord  III 
The  pen  is  mightier  than  the  swordl 

Old  Ever sharp  it  was  you, 
Who  gave  the  B.P.L.  its  cue! 

Subpros  now  all  promise  to  wear 
Eversharps  in  their  hair! 

""■/hat's  the  cause  of  this  elation? 
We  have  won  three  weeks'  vacation! 

Ever  grateful  will  we  be, 
Yes,  until  Eternity! 

********** 


EARLE  QUADROS 


The  staff  at  Central  Library  was  sad- 
dened upon  arrival  at  work  this  morning, 
June  15,  to  learn  that  Earle  Quadros  of 
the  Buildings  Department  had  passed  away 
suddenly  last  evening. 

Earle,  who  had  only  recently  returned 
to  work  from  a  leave  of  absence  and  who 
was  looking  forward  to  a  vacation  in 
Maine,  was  well-known  by  the  staff  and 
was  appreciated  for  his  pleasant  smile, 
his  cheery  disposition,  and  his  obliging 
nature.  He  was  always  willing  to  under- 
take any  mission,  small  or  great,  to  help 
a  friend. 

Earle  entered  the  Library  in  February, 
1929,  in  the  Book  Purchasing  Department. 
Transferring  to  the  Buildings  Department 
in  January,  1936,  ho  was  made  Junior 
Building  Custodian  on  June  21,  1944. 

Earle 's  hobby  ;vas  stamp  collecting  and 
his  enthusiasm  was  so  contagious  that  his 
friends  were  always  on  the  lookout  for 
unusual  specimens  to  augment  his  collec- 
tion. 

He  is  survived  by  his  wife,  Maxine,  and 
his  ten-year-old  daughter,  Marjorie,  who 
only  last  Saturday  accompanied  her  daddy 
to  a  Sunday  School  picnic. 

We  will  all  miss  Earle. 

Requiescat  in  pace! 

H.F. 


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BOSTON  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


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DAT? 


IOFE55IONAL  STMT  ASSOCIATION 


THE   QUESTION   MARK 


Published  by  the  Boston  Public  Library  Professional  Staff  Association 
Volume  IV,  Number  6 July  1949 

Publications  Committee:  Mildred  R.  Adelson,  M.  Dorothy  Brackett,  John  M.  Carroll, 

Eleanor  DiGiannantonio,  Sarah  M.  Ushor,  Chairman 


Publication  date; 
The  fifteenth  of  each  month 


Deadline  for  submitting  material; 
The  tenth  of  each  month 


Shhhhhhl 

There  have  been  some  awfully  amusing 
cartoons  appearing  of  late  spoofing  li- 
braries on  their  "Silence"  traditions. 
That  certainly  is  a  joke  of  ancient  vin- 
tage. Mention  it  and  most  library  people 
grin  self-consciously,  almost  guiltily. 
But,  fundamentally,  what  is  wrong  in  pro- 
viding quiet  in  a  library  reading  room? 

It  seems  to  be  just  good  manners  and 
commonsense  not  to  interrupt  a  conversa- 
tion. Reading  is  certainly  a  form  conver- 
sation. If  the  books  on  library  shelves 
are  well  selected  the  "conversation"  of- 
fered users  of  libraries  should  be  worthy 
of  full  attention  and  some  concentration. 
Yet  libraries  at  times  don't  seem  to  take 
positive  steps  to  have  some  respect  the 
privileges  of  others  in  this  regard. 

At  a  library  meeting  a  while  ago,  a 
guest  speaker  was  figuratively  throwing 
bouquets  at  a  certain  library  because  its 
policy  permitted  him  to  go  there  and  talk 
to  its  staff  and  with  his  associates  with- 
out restraint.  As  he  spoke  in  that  vein, 
he  was  literally  throwing  a  fit  because  a 
banquet  was  being  set  up  in  an  adjacent 
area  and  the  hotel  employees  were  bustling 
in  and  out  with  linen,  silver,  chairs  and 
such.  The  speaker,  despite  his  praise  of 
those  licensing  him  to  disturb  others  in 
a  library  reading  room,  was  visibly  upset 
that  he  did  not  have  quiet  as  he  spoke. 
And  his  audience  (librarians)  applauded 
his  message  and  gave  out  with  little  gusts 
of  annoyance  at  the  source  of  the  disturb- 
ance. 

Has  anyone  made  that  study  of  the  number 
of  people  who  have  been  kept  from  using  a 
library  because  of  quiet  compared  with  the 
number  who  have  ceased  to  use  a  library 
because  of  lack  of  quiet? 


PERSONAL  NOTES 


New  Staff  Members 


Miss  Jean  W.  Brisoo,  Codman  Square 
Branch  Library. 

Miss  Harriet  J.  Stainback,  Rare  Book 
Department. 

Miss  Patience-Anne  C.  Williams,  East 
Boston  Branch  Library. 

Miss  Marion  J.  Manthorne,  Dorchester 
Branch  Library. 

Miss  Margaret  M.  Gallagher,  Dorchester 
Branch  Library  (formerly  part-time  at 
Phillips  Brooks  Branch  Library). 

Resignations 


Miss  Rose  E.  Baravella,  Book  Preparation 
Department.  She  will  soon  begin  to  work 
part-time  in  the  Branch  Issue  Department. 

Miss  Jean  D.  Lamb,  Rare  Book  Department, 
to  do  graduate  work. 

Mrs  Norma  D.  Eisengrein,  Codman  Square 
Branch  Library,  to  live  in  New  Mexico. 

Miss  Alice  M.  O'Donnell,  Book  Stack 
Service. 

Miss  Bertha  S.  Smith,  Kir stein  Business 
Branch,  to  resume  her  studies  at  North- 
eastern University. 

Mrs  Gussene  G.  Hatzik,  Cataloging  and 
Classification  Department,  Reference  Di- 
vision, to  remain  at  home. 

Transfers 


Mrs  Anna  L.  Shanor,  West  End  Branch 
Library  to  South  End  Branch  Library. 

Engagement  s 


Miss  Natalie  C.  Herman,  Book  Stack 
Service,  to  Alton  Y.  Snyder  of  Amesbury, 
Massachusetts. 


-2- 


Tfeddings 

Miss  Vanda  P.  Bertazzoni,  Science  and 
Technology  Department,  to  Mr  Anthony  R, 
Cariani. 

Mr  Paul  Sweeney,  Extra  Assistant  in  the 
Periodical  and  Newspaper  Department, 
was  married  on  May  28  to  Miss  Mary  Curry 
of  Quincy, 

Babies 

A  son,  Stephen,  Jr.,  was  born  June  8 
to  Mr  and  Mrs  Stephen  Roomian.  Mrs 
Roomian  is  on  leave  from  the  City  Point 
Branch  Library, 


Miss  Editha  Ewing  writes,  to  quote 
from  her  note  in  verse  to  the  Personnel 
Office  Staff: 

"Please  thank  my  friends 
For  notes  and  cards, 
Both  beautiful  and  funny, 
But  there's  a  distinct  lack  of  'dirt1 
Don't  say  there  isn't  any." 


Mr  Carl  Hoyer,  Periodical  and  Newspaper 
Department,  starts  six  weeks'  training 
duty  at  the  U.  S.  Navy  Reserve  Officer 
Candidate  School  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island, 
on  July  7,  1949. 

Mr  Charles  Murphy,  Book  Purchasing 
Department,  and  Mr  Paul  Smith,  Business 
Office,  are  with  the  National  Guard  at 
Camp  Edwards  for  two  weeks. 


Miss  M.  Dorothy  Brackett,  City  Point 
Branch  Library,  Miss  Rose  DiPasquale, 
North  End  Branch  Library,  and  Mrs  Bette 
Preer,  Mt.  Pleasant  Branch  Library,  are 
enrolled  in  the  summer  session  at  the 
School  of  Library  Science,  Simmons 
College. 


TEE  DIRECTOR  AMD  UNESCO 

Mr  Milton  E.  Lord  has  been  appointed 
by  the  Secretary  of  State  to  be  a  member 
of  the  United  States  National  Commission 


for  UNESCO,  in  representation  of  the 
American  Library  Association, 


m  WELCOME  BACK 

Mr  Paul  E.  Nagle,  after  an  extended 
absence  on  account  of  illness.  Mr  Nagle, 
formerly  of  the  Cataloging  and  Classifica- 
tion Department,  Reference  Division,  is 
now  working  in  the  Book  Preparation  De- 
partment. 

********** 

CONGRATULATIONS  ARE  IN  ORDER! 

Miss  Alice  M.  Mulhern,  extra  assistant 
at  Connolly  Branch  Library,  was  awarded 
the  Jamaica  Plain  Women's  Club  Scholarship 
at  the  graduation  exercises  of  Jamaica 
Plain  High  School  on  June  3.  Miss  Mulhern, 
who  has  been  at  Connolly  Branch  Library 
for  three  years,  was  also  awarded  the 
Mueller  Gold  Medal  for  holding  the  highest 
marks  in  her  class  since  her  sophomore 
year. 

BON  VOYAGE 

Miss  Rebecca  Millmeister,  Second  Assist- 
ant at  West  End  Branch  Library,  sailed 
from  New  York  on  Friday,  July  1,  on  a 
three-weeks'  cruise  to  Guatemala. 

Miss  Elizabeth  M.  Gordon,  Deputy 
Supervisor  in  Charge  of  Work  with  Children, 
Miss  Margaret  Morgan  and  Miss  Virginia 
Haviland,  Branch  Librarians  at  Dorchester 
and  Phillips  Brooks  Branch  Libraries  re- 
spectively, are  flying  to  Mexico  (includ- 
ing Yucatan)  and  Guatemala  on  July  30  for 
a  four-weeks'  vacation.  While  in  Mexico 
City  they  expect  to  see  Eva  Anttonnen, 
who  formerly  worked  at  East  Boston  Branch 
Library, 

Editor's  Note:  There  may  be  others  who 


should  be  included  in  this  list  of  travel- 
ers; if  so,  Bon  Voyage  to  them, tool  And, 
of  course,  Happy  Vacation  to  all  those  who 
are  planning  to  enjoy  vacations  in  New 
England,  and  nearer  home  —  or  even  at 
home! 

********** 


-3- 


ALUMNAE  NOTES 

Miss  Elena  Conlin,  formerly  on  the 
staff  of  the  Personnel  Office,  is  now  em- 
ployed in  the  public  library  at  Orlando, 
Florida. 


Hiss  Elizabeth  J.  Hodges,  a  member  of 
the  staff  of  the  Boston  Public  Library 
System  for  some  years,  has  been  appointed 
Librarian  at  the  Leominster  Public  Li- 
brary. Since  her  return  from  service 
overseas,  she  has  been  circulation  li- 
brarian at  the  Yfatertown  Public  Library. 


Miss  Kathleen  T.  Ryan,  former  assist- 
ant in  charge  of  children's  work  at  the 
Yfest  End  Branch  Library,  was  married  to 
Mr  T.'illiam  Dacey  of  Milton  on  Saturday, 
June  4. 


Mr  Frank  N.  Jones,  formerly  Chief  of 
the  Science  and  Technology  Department  and 
Deputy  Supervisor  of  the  Special  Refer- 
ence Departments  of  the  Boston  Public 
Library,  has  left  Harvard  College  Library 
to  become  librarian  at  Ohio  University, 
as  of  July  1,  1949.  Mr  Jones  was  active- 
ly associated  with  the  organization  of 
the  Lamont  Library. 


At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Thoreau 
Society  in  Concord,  Massachusetts,  on 
July  ninth,  Miss  Edith  Guerrier  (Super- 
visor of  Branch  Libraries,  Emeritus ) € 
granddaughter  of  Mr  Daniel  Ricketson'of 
New  Bedford,  spoke  on  Thoreau's  Friends, 
the  Rickets ons. 

Henry  David  Thoreau  and  Mr  Ricketson 
corresponded  for  many  years  and  Thoreau 
visited  at  the  "Brooklawn"  home  of  the 
family.  In  his  journal  Daniel  described 
his  first  meeting  with  the  Concord  phi- 
losopher as  follows: 

"The  season  %vas  winter.  A  snow  had 
lately  fallen  and  I  was  engaged  in 
shovelling  the  accumulated  mass  from 
the  entrance  to  my  house  when  I  per- 
ceived a  man  walking  toward  me  bearing 
an  umbrella  in  one  hand  and  a  travel- 
ling bag  in  the  other.  So  unlike  my 


ideal  Thoreau,  whom  I  had  fancied  from 
the  robust  nature  of  his  mind  to  be  a 
man  of  unusual  vigor  and  size,  that  I 
did  not  suspect,  although  I  had  expected 
him  in  the  morning,  that  the  slight 
quaint  looking  person  before  me  was  the 
ITalden  philosopher.  There  were  few  per- 
sons who  had  previously  read  his  works 
who  were  not  disappointed  by  his  person- 
al appearance.  As  he  came  near  to  me  I 
gave  him  the  usual  salutations  supposing 
him  to  be  either  a  peddler  or  some  way- 
traveller.  He  at  once  remarked,  'You 
don't  know  me.'  Concealing  my  surprise 
I  at  once  took  him  by  the  hand  and  led 
him  to  the  room  already  prepared  for 
him. " 

Daniel  also  referred  to  Thoreau's  dance 
at  the  Brooklawn  home: 

"One  afternoon  when  both  Henry  and  Amos 
Bronson  Alcctt  were  present,  while  my 
wife  was  playing  an  air  upon  the  piano, 
Thoreau  became  very  hilarious,  sang  'Tom 
Bowline',  and  finally  entered  upon  an 
improvised  dance.  Not  being  able  to 
stand  what  appeared  to  me  at  the  time 
the  somewhat  ltidicrous  appearance  of  our 
TTalden  hermit,  I  retired  to  my  Shanty, 
while  my  older  and  more  humor-loving 
friend  Alcott  remained  and  saw  it 
through,  much  to  his  amusement." 
Of  the  Thoreau  bust  in  the  Concord  Pub- 
lic Library,  modeled  by  Daniel's  son,  Dr. 
Edward  Emerson,  son  of  Ralph  Waldo,  wrote: 
"Hal ton  Rickets  on 's  bust  will  be  on  the 
whole  the  best  representation  of  Thoreau. 
It  is  idealized  but  only  justly  and  has 
an  artistic  quality.   It  cannot  be  ex- 
actly alike,  even  if  that  were  desirable, 
but  it  is  sufficiently  like  and  tells 
the  story  of  clear  eyed  courage  and 
directness,  a  suggestion  of  Nature's 
ruggednoss  with  Nature's  refinement  and 
wholes omeness,  and  a  hint  too  of  the 
tenderness  and  faith  that  made  him  poet 
as  well  as  naturalist.   It  is  a  happy 
face,  as  it  should  be." 

********** 

RECENT  VISITORS 


On  Saturday,  June  35,  Miss  Nora  de  Lamos, 
of  the  Biblioteca  Minister io  do  Fomento, 
Caracas,  Venezuela,  visited  the  Library. 


On  Thursday,  June  30,  Miss  Pearl  E. 
Portnoy,  branch  librarian  from  Cincinnati, 
visited  the  Library.  Her  regret  ^ms  that 
she  had  so  little  time  that  she  could  not 
see  more  of  our  Branch  Libraries.  She 


-4- 


did  visit  the  departments  in  Central  Li- 
brary which  work  directly  with  Branch 
Libraries  and  found  much  of  interest 
there. 


On  Thursday  afternoon,  June  30,  a  group 
of  thirty  librarians  who  wore  enrolled  in 
the  annual  Summer  Library  Institute  of 
the  Division  of  Public  Libraries,  visited 
the  Library.  After  a  short  talk  by  Mrs 
Elizabeth  Wright,  Supervisor  of  Personnel, 
they  were  taken  on  a  tour  of  the  building. 
They  were  then  shown  two  moving  pictures 
of  professional  interest  followed  by  a 
showing  of  the  picture  on  Yosemite  which 
was  introduced  by  Mr  Young.  This  last, 
was  a  demonstration  of  the  proper  way  to 
introduce  a  film  to  a  library  audience. 

AN  ACCIDENT 

On  June  28  an  accident  occurred  in  the 
Book  Preparation  Department  which  in- 
volved two  members  of  the  Buildings  De- 
partment ~  Mr  John  J.  Mealeyand  Mr 
Michael  Sullivan,  While  Mr  Mealeywas  at 
work  washing  the  upper  windows,  the  lad- 
der on  which  he  was  standing  slipped  on 
the  highly  polished  linoleum  and  he  fell, 
dislocating  his  shoulder  and  receiving 
other  cuts  and  bruises.  Mr  Sullivan,  who 
was  steadying  the  ladder,  injured  his 
ankle.  We  are  happy  to  report  that  no 
more  serious  injuries  were  sustained;  to 
welcome  back  Mr  Sullivan,  who  returned  to 
his  duties  last  week;  and  to  send  our 
best  wishes  for  a  speedy  recovery  to  Mr 
Me  a ley. 

********** 

POPS 

The  evening  of  June  24,  was  Pop's  night 
for  members  of  the  Staff  Association  and 
their  friends.  One  hundred  and  forty- 
eight  people  enjoyed  a  delightful  program 
of  old-time  music.  Some  of  the  old  fa- 
vorites whioh  the  audience  took  up  with  a 
great  deal  of  spirit  were,  Sidewalks  of 
New  York,  Sweet  Rosie  0» Grady,  The  Band 
Played  On,  Smiles,  Till  We  Meet  Again, 
and  Sweet  Adeline.  The  high  lights  of 
the  wonderful  evening  were  special  fea- 
ture numbers  by  Leo  Litwin,  master  of 


classical  music,  and  Phil  Saltman,  the 
king  of  rhythm.  Priscilla  Fortescue  was 
chosen  as  the  commentator  to  give  thumb- 
nail sketches  of  the  lives  of  these  men 
who  are  outstanding  in  different  fields 
of  music. 

Our  friends  will  be  glad  to  know  that 
the  profits  from  this  concert  have  in- 
creased the  funds  of  the  treasury  of  the 
Staff  Association  by  thirty-seven  dollars 
and  seventy- five  cents. 

M.A.C. 

********** 

LIBRARY  GROUP  ENJOYS  OUTING 

-■-      ■    ■   -■   ■   i'  .  ii 

On  the  morning  of  July  4,  a  group  of 
library  employees  and  their  friends  left 
by  bus  from  Copley  Square  for  Crane's 
Beach,  Ipswich.  Approximately  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  people  filled  four  buses 
for  this  outing. 

Amid  a  minimum  of  confusion,  the  buses 
left  Copley  Square  at  10:15  a.m.  and  ar- 
rived at  11:30  a.m.  The  members  of  the 
group  refreshed  themselves  in  the  cool 
water  of  Crane's  Beach.  Although  a  few 
games  of  dodge-ball  and  softball  were 
played,  the  terrific  heat  lessened  activ- 
ity. The  party  spent  most  of  its  time  in 
the  water  —  except  during  the  unexpected 
rain-hail-sand  storm  in  the  afternoon  — 
which  was  ideal  for  swimming.  Tonic 
which  was  supplied  was  served  at  the 
afternoon  and  evening  meals. 

Tired  but  happy  from  the  trip,  the 
crowd  —  sunburns  and  all  —  headed  for 
home  at  9:15  p.m.  and  arrived  safely  in 
Copley  Square  at  10:30  p.m. 

I  wish  to  express  my  thanks  to  all 
those  who  helped  make  this  outing  a  big 
success. 

F.P.C. 

3JC  -ft  3ff  3QG  JfC  ^y  ?JC  3f£  ^t  SfC 

PRESIDENT'S  NOTES 

Miss  Mary  T.  C.  Mannix,  children's 
librarian  of  the  Parker  Hill  Branch  Li- 
brary, has  been  appointed  to  fill  the  un- 
expired term  of  Miss  Helen  Sagoff  as  mem- 
ber of  the  Executive  Board. 


-5- 


A  recent  pole  regarding  CARE  distribu- 
tion reveals  the  following:  There  were 
273  ballots  returned. 
Number  wishing  present 

policy  continued  • •  104 

Number  wishing  a  proportion 
of  CARE  money  to  be  devoted 
to  the  Book  Program  • ••  153 

(25$  for  books  and  75$  for  food  as  a 
proportion  received  the  majority  of 
votes) 
Number  wishing  all  CARE 
allotments  to  go  to  Book 

Program.  ■•••••••••••• •  14 

Number  not  in  favor  of  any 

one  of  the  three  plans.. . .... ••   2 

This  survey  shows  several  very  gratify- 
ing trends.  The  fact  that  273  ballots 
were  returned  at  the  height  of  the  vaca- 
tion season  indicates  a  real  interest  in 
CARE  and  its  activities.  The  voting  re- 
veals the  fact  that  serious  thought  was 
given  to  tho  problem  by  individual  voters 

In  another  column  there  appears  a  plea 
on  the  part  of  the  current  CARE  committee, 
Such  reminders  are  essential.  They  help 
us  to  remember  that  while  the  B.P.L.P.S.A. 
has  an  enviable  CARE  record  (at  the  rate 
we  are  going  we  will  soon  top  our  $1000. 
mark  since  the  project  was  inaugurated  in 
1948)  we  must  not  rest  on  our  laurels, 
great  as  they  may  be.  There  is  still 
much  to  be  accomplished  and  it  can  be 
done  only  by  individual  effort.  Let  us 
each  one,  as  our  CARE  representative  sug- 
gests in  her  article,  stop,  look,  and 
listen  every  time  we  are  tempted  to  "wait 
until  next  week"  to  contribute  to  CARE. 


ANNOUNCEMENT 

The  In-Service-Training  Committee  for 
the  year  1949,  under  the  capable  leader- 
ship of  Mrs  Sarah  Flannery  of  the  History 
Reference  Department,  has  drawn  up  tenta- 
tive plans  for  the  fall  program.  This  is 
to  take  the  form  of  an  Institute  to  be 
held  in  the  Boston  Public  Library  Lecture 
Hall  on  Thursday  and  Friday,  November  17 
and  18,  1949.  The  main  objective  of  the 
Institute  is  to  present  new  developments 
in  several  fields  of  knowledge,  especial- 
ly as  they  are  reflected  in  the  attitudes 
..f  the  writers  in  the  various  fields, 
ihis  objective,  if  attained,  should  help 


to  bring  staff  members  up-to-date  on 
modern  trends  in  the  publishing  field. 
It  should  also  make  the  staff  more  aware 
of  what  is  useful  and  interesting  and 
make  them  better  able  to  serve  the  public 
in  helping  them  to  select  reading  suited 
to  specialized  needs,  in  preparing  book 
lists  and  other  professional  aids. 

The  title  of  the  Institute  is  to  be 
Current  attitudes.  A  limited  number  of 
subjects  will  be  covered  during  the  tvo- 
day  sessions  with  specialists  in  the 
various  fields  as  leaders.  Details  will 
be  reported  as  they  are  worked  out  by  the 
committee. 

The  success  of  the  Staff  Institute  in 

1948  was  due  not  only  to  the  outstanding 
contribution  of  the  1948  In-Service- 
Training  Committee  but  to  the  fine  finan- 
cial support  given  by  the  Trustees  of  the 
Library.   It  gives  me  real  pleasure  to  be 
able  to  announce  that  the  Trustees  have 
made  a  similar  grant  of  $200.  for  the 
Staff  Institute  for  1949. 

The  Trustees  are  behind  the  idea  of  an 

1949  Institute.  The  members  of  the  com- 
mittee are  prepared  to  give  unstintingly 
of  their  time  and  talents.  All  that  is 
needed  to  make  the  1949  Institute  equal 
in  interest  and  value  to  the  individual 
staff  members  is  your  wholehearted  sup- 
port and  participation.  No  staff  activi- 
ty* great  or  small,  can  succeed  without 
the  cooperation  of  the  staff.  If  you 
wish  to  make  a  contribution  of  ideas  or 
effort,  contact  Mrs  Flannery  or  any  mem- 
ber of  her  committee  —  Miss  Ruth  Cannell, 
Mr  Charles  Higgins,  Miss  Evelyn  Levy  and 
Miss  Pauline  Walker. 

THE  B.P.L.  QUARTERLY  IS  OUT! 

"Le  roi  est  mort.  Vive  le  roil"  is  the 
theme  of  this  notice.  Since  December 
More  Books  in  its  cheerful  covers  of 
crimson,  flame,  russet,  green,  and  (in 
Junet)  sky-blue  was  no  more  to  be  seen 
lying  about  on  reference  desks  and  hall 
tables.  Like  air  and  love  and  all  the 
best  things  of  life,  More  Books  was  free 
(of  charge).  But  we  are  living  in  a  hard 
age  of  heavy  costs,  with  the  consoquence 
that  this  freedom,  and  with  it  the  life 
of  the  Bulletin,  could  not  be  maintained. 
A  new  venture,  however,  has  taken  its 
place  —  The  Boston  Public  Library 
Quarterlyj  one  which  is  different  in  form, 


-6- 


but  not  so  very  different  in  essence. 

Dr.  Zoltan  Haraszti,  Keeper  of  Rare 
Books,  who  created  More  Books  and  edited 
it  for  twenty-three  years,  is  also  the 
Editor  of  the  new  Quarterly.  More  Books 
was  unique  in  that  it  served  a  twofold 
purpose.  For  the  Boston  Public  Library, 
more  than  any  other  library  in  the  coun- 
try, except  the  New  York  Public  Library, 
combines  the  resources  and  services  of  a 
public  and  of  a  university  library j  more- 
over, the  scope  of  its  special  collec- 
tions exceeds  that  of  the  American  uni- 
versity libraries,  with  the  exception  of 
Harvard  and  Yale.  So  the  bulletin  looked 
backward  and  forward.   It  showed  to  re- 
search scholars  -  and  to  the  general  pub- 
lic also  -  the  riches  of  the  rare  book 
and  other  special  collections,  describing 
these  from  a  historical  and  humanizing, 
as  well  as  a  technically  bibliographical, 
angle.  At  the  same  time,  it  printed  a 
classified,  annotated  list  of  the  books 
currently  acquired  and,  in  addition,  of- 
fered the  familiar  "Ten  Book"  feature  - 
brief  reviews  of  ten  non-fiction  books 
chosen  monthly.  Formerly  the  Bulletin's 
list  of  recent  acquisitions  included  also 
fiction  and  children's  books  -  a  freight 
now  carried  by  the  Books  Current  of  the 
Circulation  Division. 

In  the  first  year  of  its  existence 
More  Books  was  voted  by  the  Library 
Scnool  of  Columbia  University  "the  best 
bulletin  published  by  any  library  in 
America."  And  during  its  long  career 
More  Books  maintained  its  initial  stand- 
ard. A  glance  over  the  articles  it  pub- 
lished shows  an  infinite  variety.  Every 
new  issue  had  a  pleasant  freshness  and 
vitality.  To  the  end,  its  distinguishing 
feature  was  the  combination  of  sound 
scholarship  with  popular  appeal. 

More  Books  had  a  high  reputation  among 
librarians  and  book  collectors  throughout 
the  country  as  well  as  abroad.  The  in- 
numerable inquiries  of  the  public,  both 
by  mail  and  in  person,  after  it  became 
known  that  the  December  issue  was  to  be 
the  last,  show  to  what  extent  More  Books 
has  become  a  part  of  the  tradition  of  the 
Library  —  has  won  the  affection  of 
scholars  and  laymen  alike. 


In  its  light-blue  cover  The  B.P.L. 
Quarterly  presents  a  strikingly  attrac- 
tive appearance  The  cover  «  designed 


by  that  great  artist  of  the  book,  Mr 
William  A.  Dwiggins  — •  is  dignified  and 
restful.  People  may  notice  that  the 
traditional  seal  of  the  Library  has  been 
redrawn  --  simplified  —  by  Mr  Dwiggins. 

The  first  number  of  the  new  Quarterly 
opens  auspiciously.  Those  who  have  read 
Dr.  Haraszti' s  previous  studies  present- 
ing John  Adams's  marginal  comments  on  the 
eighteenth-century  French  philosophers 
will  welcome  the  first  article  entitled 
"John  Adams  and  "Turgot."  The  frontis- 
piece is  a  portrait  of  the  great 
Comptroller-General  of  Louis  XVI,  against 
whose  criticism  Adams  wrote  his  Defence 
of  the  Constitutions  of  the  United  States. 
The  dialogue  between  Turgot's  letter  and 
Adams's  manuscript  comments,  now  printed 
for  the  first  time,  throbs  with  the  vital 
issues  of  the  young  American  nation. 
"The  fate  of  America  is  already  decided  -- 
she  is  independent  now  for  ever,"  the 
French  statesman  reflected,  "but  will  she 
be  free  and  happy?"  And  Adams  answered 
with  a  confident  "Yes," 

The  second  article,  "Pantaloon  as 
Shylock"  by  Professor  John  Robert  Moore 
of  Indiana  University,  should  be  welcome 
to  that  growing  public  which  —  thanks, 
perhaps,  to  Laurence  Olivier  —  is  more 
and  more  interested  in  Shakespeare, 
Professor  Moore  shows  that  Shylock  is  in 
the  tradition  of  the  Pantaloon,  or  harle- 
quin, bequeathed  by  the  16th-century 
Italian  comedy. 

The  staff  members  who  take  their  rest 
in  the  court-yard  must  be  familiar  with 
the  bronze  tablet  on  the  north  wall: 
"In  Memoriam  Thomas  Sergeant  Perry,  1845- 
1928.  He  enriched  this  Libraby  by  his 
wise  counsel  and  his  rare  learning  during 
half  a  century."  Miss  Virginia  Harlow, 
Professor  at  Do  Pauw  University,  has  con- 
tributed an  enjoyable  chapter  on  the 
friendship  between  Perry  and  Henry  James, 
Long  excerpts  from  more  than  fifty  un- 
published letters  by  James  make  the  arti- 
cle both  significant  and  delightful. 

Readers  of  the  Quarterly  would  be  dis- 
appointed if  they  had  to  miss  the  regular 
articles  by  Mr  Arthur  Tf.  Heintzelman, 
Keeper  of  Prints,  on  the  artists  whose 
works  have  been  exhibited  in  the  "Tiggin 
Gallery.  The  first  issue  includes  his 
sensitive  interpretation  of  the  litho- 
graphs of  Fantin-Latour  —  the  most  com- 
prehensive collection  of  its  kind  ~-  re- 
cently donated  to  the  Library  by  Mr 
Wiggin, 


-7- 


The  descriptive  catalogue  of  the  Li- 
brary's Griswold  Collection,  begun  sever- 
al years  ago  by  Miss  Honor  McCusker  in 
More  Books,  is  continued.  Within  this 
formal  framework,  the  literary  world  with 
which  Rufus  Wilmot  Griswold,  editor  of 
Graham's  Magazine  and  literary  executor 
of  Poe,  was  in  correspondence  comos  sub- 
tly to  life. 

Finally,  under  the  collective  title  of 
"Notes  on  Rare  Books"  are  briefer  arti- 
cles: on  the  rich  Treasure  Room  exhibit 
made  in  celebration  of  the  centenary  of 
the  publication  of  George  Ticknor's 
History  of  Spanish  Literature;  on  an  en- 
tertaining old  work  on  medicinal  plants; 
on  the  1513  edition  of  Huon  de  Bordeaux; 
on  Lorenzo  Gracian's  baroque  Art  of 
Ingenuity;  and  on  Jane  Austen's  last 
novels. 

Paper,  format,  and  typography  of  The 
B.P.L.  Quarterly  are  equally  excellent. 
The  Printing  Department  has  done  itself 
proud  with  the  new  publication. 


REDUCED  RATES  FOR  EMPLOYEES 

We  note  here  with  pleasure  that  copies 
of  the  B.P.L.  Quarterly  will  be  available 
to  employees  of  the  Library  at  reduced 
rates.  Every  employee  is  entitled  to 
purchase  a  single  copy  at  $.35  (instead 
of  $.50)  or  have  a  year's  subscription  at 
$1.25  (instead  of  §2.00). 

This  is  really  a  bargain.  The  four 
issues  of  the  B.P.L.  Quarterly  v/hich  will 
make  up  a  year's  volume  will  comprise, 
v.ith  the  inserted  illustrations,  nearly 
300  pages  —  a  substantial  book,  which 
would  command  something  like  $5.00  nowa- 
days. 

(A  hint  to  the  wise:  Two  years  ago  a 
New  York  rare  book  firm,  The  Brick  Row 
Book  Shop,  offered  a  handful  of  stray 
copies  of  More  Books  for  §12.50). 

BRANCH  LIBRARY  NOTES 

Connolly 

The  annual  lollipop  party  for  the  chil- 
dren of  the  district  took  place  on 
Thursday  afternoon,  June  23,  in  the  lec- 
ture hall  of  the  Branch.  Sponsored  by 
the  Jamaica  Plain  Women's  Club,  the  party 


featured  entertainment  by  the  children, 
community  singing,  and  a  quiz  between  a 
team  of  girls  and  a  team  of  boys.  On  the 
way  out,  each  child  was  presented  with  a 
lollipop  and  a  bag  of  popcorn,  with  the 
compliments  of  the  Jamaica  Plain  Women's 
Club.  These  parties,  started  three  years 
ago,  have  become  an  annual  event  at  tho 
library.  The  children  enjoy  them,  and 
the  lollipop  parties  have  proven  to  be 
good  public  relations  for  the  branch. 


A  special  exhibit  explaining  the  many 
benefits  to  be  had  from  Federal  Social 
Security  is  being  featured.  Pamphlets 
are  being  distributed  to  help  the  public 
learn  how  they  may  obtain  benefits  under 
Social  Security. 


A  very  unusual  shell  collection  vail  be 
on  exhibit  during  the  month  of  July. 
Miss  Anna  Von  Euw  of  Jamaica  Plain  has 
offered  to  exhibit  her  collection, 
gathered  during  her  trips  to  all  parts  of 
the  world.  It  is  completely  catalogued, 
and  contains  dolls  and  other  articles 
made  from  shells,  as  well  as  many  rare 
types  of  shells. 


Mattapan 

A  delightful  luncheon  was  tendered  to 
Miss  Helen  Sagoff  at  the  Salmagundi  Tea 
Room  on  May  14  by  members  of  the  Branch 
Staff  and  friends.  A  silver  decorated 
salad  bowl  was  presented  to  her.  The 
children's  librarians  entertained  Miss 
Sagoff  at  a  luncheon  at  the  Red  Coach 
Grill  in  May.   In  early  June  Miss  Gladys 
White  and  Miss  Pearl  Smart  were  hostesses 
at  a  supper  party  held  at  Miss  Smart's 
home  to  which  former  Mt.  Bowdoin  Library 
associates  were  invited.  Miss  Sagoff  was 
married  on  June  26  to  Mr  Bernard  W. 
Berkowitch.  Their  home  is  at  Point  of 
Pines,  Revere. 


North  End 

The  High  School  Reading  Club  ooncluded 
its  activities  for  the  season  by  attend- 
ing a  "Pops"  concert  at  Symphony  Hall 
with  Mrs  Herrick.   It  was  a  new  and 


•      i : 


i' 


-8- 


greatly  enjoyed  experience  for  the  girls. 


Miss  Becker  accompanied  her  "Reading 
Teensters"  on  an  all-day  picnic  to 
Riverside*  Perfect  weather,  swimming  in 
the  pool,  games,  and  hearty  lunches  com- 
bined to  make  a  memorable  day. 


A  demonstration  of  storytelling  tech- 
niques was  given  by  Miss  Dorothy  Becker 
of  this  branch  library  and  Miss  Jeannette 
Pepin  of  Hyde  Park  Branch  Library  to  the 
Conference  for  Playground  Workers  held  at 
Boston  Teachers1  College, 


Miss  Ellen  Peterson  assisted  by  Miss 
Becker  and  Miss  Pepin  spoke  at  the 
"Summer  in  the  City  Training  Program"  on 
How  to  choose  and  tell  stories  to  chil- 
dren. This  institute,  now  in  its  eighth 
year,  is  held  annually  at  the  North  End 
Union  for  the  training  of  volunteer  so- 
cial workers.  Books,  reading  lists,  and 
marionettes  made  by  children  at  the  li- 
brary were  exhibited. 


Miss  Estelle  Henderson  recently  trans- 
ferred from  North  End  Branch  Library  to 
Jeffries  Point  Branch  Library  was  hon- 
ored at  a  luncheon  and  presented  a  gift 
by  the  North  End  staff. 


Vacation  time  has  come  for  Miss  Ellen 
Peterson  who  is  spending  three  weeks  at 
her  summer  home  in  Sandwich,  for  Miss 
Dorothy  Becker  who  is  taking  a  motor  trip 
to  the  Gaspe  with  Miss  Marie  Kennedy  of 
Mt,  Bowdoin,  and  for  Miss  Saari  who  is 
visiting  her  family  in  Fitchburg,  The 
vacationists  shared  honors  at  an  ice 
cream  party  which  also  served  to  cele- 
brate Miss  Rose  DiPasquale's  birthday  and 
enrollment  at  Simmons  College  Summer 
School,  and  as  a  welcome  to  Miss  Charlotte 
Myers  recently  transferred  from  South  End 
Branch  Library,  At  the  party,  Miss  Rita 
Susi  gave  an  account  of  a  glorious  Fourth 
of  July  week-end  at  Hampton  Beach. 


STOP  AND  THINK 

Did  you  enjoy  your  last  steak  dinner? 
Your  last  broiled  lobster  with  drawn 
butter?  Do  you  scrape  your  plate  clean 
until  every  morsel  of  food  is  gone,  or  are 
you  a  disciple  of  etiquette  who  always 
leaves  some?  Do  you  swallow,  grab,  and 
gobble  your  food  --  any  food  as  long  as  it 
is  food  —  without  regard  to  taste  or  type? 
Some  will  answer  "Yes"?  others,  "No";  and 
yet  others  with  a  horrified,  "Of  course 
not;  I  wouldn't  think  of  gobbling  my  food," 
or  "I'm  very  particular  about  what  I  eat," 

Well,  many  of  our  neighbors  in  European 
countries  would  have  said  the  same  thing 
once,  for  Europe  was  once  the  center  of 
food  culture,  each  country  being  famous 
for  a  dozen  different  dishes.  But  hunger 
ends  all  that.  Food  becomes  anything  that 
is  edible,  anything  that  can  be  crammed 
into  hungry  mouths,  anything  that  can  be 
used  as  sustenance  for  tortured  bodies, 
TOien  was  the  last  time  you  were  hungry? 
Perhaps  you  are  hungry  right  now  if  it  is 
just  before  lunch  time  or  dinner  time  or 
at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  You 
feel  hungry.  Sure,  but  stop  and  think  a 
moment.  You  had  all  you  wanted  to  eat  — 
probably  wasted  a  lot,  or  a  lot  was  wasted 
or  discarded  in  preparation  --  just  a  few 
hours  ago.  Multiply  that  hunger  you  feel 
now  by  several  days.  Work  in  the  field 
for  six  hours  to  get  a  mouthful  of  food 
that  is  barely  enough  to  sustain  life  for 
another  six  hours.  The  next  time  you  get 
hungry,  skip  a  meal  and  see  if  you  are  as 
particular  about  the  next  meal  you  eat. 
Just  think  how  you  would  feel  if  that  hun- 
ger was  prolonged  for  three  days,  a  week, 
a  month,  or  since  before  the  last  war  — 
for  ten  years. 

Of  course,  we  all  know  how  necessary  it 
is  for  us  to  lend  aid  and  we  all  talk  of 
billions  to  this  country  and  that,  but  the 
fact  is  that  little  of  this  aid  reaches 
the  individual  immediately.  Government 
expenditures  are  primarily  to  set  the  huge 
wheels  of  overall  economy  turning  again, 
and  a  slow  process  it  is  in  war-ravaged 
countries.  But,  we  as  individuals  can 
feel  the  needs  of  people  as  individuals. 
Ask  any  serviceman.  He  was  fed  and 
clothed  by  the  Army  and  Navy  by  the  high- 
est standards  of  the  world,  yet  the  things 
these  men  and  women  longed  for  most  were 
the  packages  from  home  ~  food,  candy, 
socks,  sweaters.  Our  foreign  neighbors 


! 


r, 


'.        !'      ■  : 


s 


c      ';;.:■:■■ 


-9- 


are  not  eating  at  the  highest  standards, 
may  live  largoly  on  American  gifts;  so, 
you  can  imagine  their  joy  upon  receiving 
a  package  of  the  staple  food  items  sent 
from  some  warm-hearted  friends  here  in 
America, 

This  giving  is  not  beyond  our  reach; 
giving  is  a  satisfaction  everyone  can  en- 
joy. T7e  have  heard  stories  of  some  of 
the  roughest  MP  Sergeants  taking  off  much 
of  the  monthly  pay  to  send  packages  from 
CARE  to  friends  or  acquaintances  they  had 
made  on  their  tour  of  duty  in  Europe. 
One  said,  "Why  shouldn't  I?  The  people 
are  starving."  There  was  no  forcing  him; 
no  one  had  even  put  up  a  CARE  poster.  He 
knew  from  experience  that  he  got  the  most 
good  from  his  money  from  CARE.  One  look 
at  some  of  the  privations  and  starvation 
of  the  people  and  you,  too,  will  give 
more  to  CARE. 

Especially  during  this  time  when  some 
hope  is  returning  to  the  world,  let's 
help  that  hope  in  the  B.P.L.  drive  for 
C'\RE.  More  especially,  every  time  you 
sit  down  to  even  your  plainest  meal,  give 
thanks  that  you  will  not  be  hungry  --  and 
give  more  to  CARE. 

H.L.L. 
********** 

NEW  BOOKS  IN  THE  STAFF  LIBRARY 

American  Library  Association 

Handbook.  1948 . 
Assembly  of  librarians  of  the  Americas 

Proceedings,   1947. 
Bent ley,  M.  L. 

Wedding  etiquette. 
Bowen,  Elizabeth 

Heat  of  the  day. 
Buck,  Pearl 

Kinfolk. 
Cerf,  Bennett 

Shake  well  before  using, 
Churchill,  Winston  S. 

Their  finest  hour. 
Costain,  Thomas 

High  towers. 
Cowles,  B.  M.  and  Robert  W,  Orr 

Library  instruction  manual. 
Cozzens,  James  G, 

Guard  of  honor. 
Far son,  Negley 

Sons  of  Noah, 


Fowler,  Gene 

Beau  James;  the  life  and  times  of 

Jimmie  Walker. 
Gilbreth,  F,  B,  and  E.  M.  G.  Carey 

Cheaper  by  the  dozen. 
Gunther,  John 

Death  be  not  proud. 
Hamburger,  Philip 

The  oblong  blur, 
Joeckel,  Carleton  B,,  ed. 

Reaching  readers;  techniques  of  extend- 
ing library  services, 
Jordan,  Alice  M, 

From  Rollo  to  Tom  Sawyer  and  other 

papers, 
Marquand,  John 

Point  of  no  return. 
Mason,  F,  Van  Wyck 

Cutlass  empire, 
Meany,  Tom 

Baseball's  greatest  teams. 
Miller,  Arthur 

Death  of  a  salesman. 
Murphy,  Audie 

To  hell  and  back. 
Pan ova,  Vera 

The  train, 
Pearson,  Hesketh 

Dickens,  His  character,  comedy  and 

career. 
Persons,  Christopher  Edgar 

Public  relations  for  colleges  and 

universities, 
Ruark,  Robert  C. 

I  didn't  know  it  was  loaded. 
Sheen,  Fulton  J, 

Peace  of  soul, 
Shera,  Jesse  H, 

Foundations  of  the  public  library. 
Smith,  Ira  L.  and  H,  Allen  Smith 

Low  and  inside;  a  book  of  baseball 

anecdotes  and  oddities. 
Smith,  "Red" 

Saturday  Evening  Post  sport  stories. 
Spring,  Howard 

There  is  no  armour, 
Taylor,  Margaret  S, 

Fundamentals  of  practical  cataloguing. 
Walser,  Frank 

Art  of  conference. 
Wayman,  Dorothy  G. 

Bite  the  bullet, 
Wellman,  Paul  I. 

The  chain, 
Wylie,  Philip 

Generation  of  vipers, 
Zilahy,  Lajos 

The  Dukays, 

********** 


-10- 


AIR  YOUR  VIET73 

If  we  cannot  have  a  food  concession  at 
present,  why  can't  we  have  a  coke  machine, 
anyways  ? 

********** 

ODD  ITEMS 

Requested  Seriously  —  cushions  of  some 

sort  for  people 
who  have  to  sit 
for  long  hours 
studying. 

********** 
MUSIC    IN  THE  COURTYARD 

To  the  casual  observer  it  would  seem 
that  there  are  two  distinctly  divergent 
schools  of  thought  regarding  music  in  the 
courtyard  during  the  lunch  hour.   It  ap- 
pears that  some  people  believe  that  under 
any  circumstances  and  at  any  time  "Music 
hath  Charms",  while  others  feel  that  un- 
less conditions  are  ideal  "Heard  melodies 
are  sweet,  but  those  unheard  are  sweeter". 
The  opinions  we  share  with  you  are  those 
of  individual  staff  members,  staffs  of 
some  departments  fronting  on  the  court- 
yard, and  some  volunteered  by  members  of 
the  public. 


Music  in  the  Courtyard  is  a  happy 
thought,  but  is  not  enjoyed  by  people  who 
are  working  up  above  the  cloister  roof. 
The  music  from  this  point  is  simply  a 
sound,  no  feeling  of  the  programs  offered. 


Pleaset  No  vocal  selections.  Sounds 
like  a  loud  speaker  sound  wagon  on  elec- 
tion time.**Please  go  light  on  brasses, 
the  courtyard  can't  take  such  volume,** 
A  person  who  likes  to  go  into  the  court- 
yard to  read  said  there  was  no  use  to  do 
so  —  it  was  impossible  to  concentrate,** 
Can't  we  have  light  background  music, 
instead  of  a  concert?**  Overtures, 
Strauss  waltzes  and  popular  tunes  ~  such 
as  the  Jerome  Kern  album  --  seems  most 
unsuited  if  readers  are  trying  to  concen- 
trate seriously,**  TUhy  not  concentrate  on 


chamber  music?**  Try  something  on  the  or- 
der of  Schumann's  Carnaval  Suite, 
Schubert's  ballet  music  from  Rosamunde, 
etc,**  Try  the  sonatas  of  Mozart, 
Beethoven,  Brahms,  etc,**  How  about  the 
quartets  of  Hayden,  Boccherini,  etc? 


This  is  a  bid  for  MORE  AND  MORE  MUSIC  in 
the  courtyard,  I  find  the  noonday  program 
most  enjoyable  and  pleasant  to  hear  as  I 
toil  at  my  desk.  To  me  it  is  not  dis- 
tracting but  stimulating;  not  disturbing 
but  refreshing.  The  only  suggestion  I  of- 
fer is  that  the  programs  be  continued 
every  day,  not  just  the  three-day  schedule. 
The  selections  are  excellent,  and  the  at- 
mosphere created  by  this  musical  interlude 
often  lends  a  certain  enchantment  to  an 
otherwise  ordinary  work  day. 


Most  of  our  students  think  the  music  is 
distracting,  A  few  think  it  is  "very 
nice".  The  reception  is  poor,  and  at 
times  it  is  only  sounds  up  and  down.  We 
think  the  students  and  serious  readers 
should  be  considered  before  the  General 
Public  who  are  only  relaxing  in  the  court- 
yard.  Isn't  the  fountain  music  enough  on 
a  hot  day?  Glancing  around  the  courtyard 
there  is  just  as  much  conservation  going 
on  as  ever  and  few  seem  to  be  concentrat- 
on  the  recordings,**  My  personal  vote 
would  be  for  Stop  the  Mus  ic , 


The  music  in  the  courtyard  provides  a 
pleasant  interlude  on  a  long  hot  summer 
day.  Admittedly  it  is  there  primarily 
for  the  library  patrons'  enjoyment,  but  I 
wish  there  were  some  way  we  in  our  depart- 
ment could  hear  it  more  clearly. 


PANEM  ET  CIRCENSES 

The  so-called  music  in  the  courtyard 
represents  one  more  step  toward  turning 
the  Library  from  its  established  purpose, 
"Thy  should  a  library,  built  for  reading, 
join  the  company  of  busses,  restaurants, 
bars,  and  the  neighbors'  radios  which 
flood  people  day  and  night  with  amplified 


-11- 


music. 

A  courtyard  is  poorly  adapted  to  music 
f  any  kind.  Carefully  chosen  selections, 
j  ""lyed  on  great  occasions  by  talented 
r  sicians,  could  be  delightful.  But  a 
hedge-podge  of  selections  badly  played 
assault  the  one  sense  that  cannot  be 
"turned  off". 

Serious  readers,  in  need  of  quiet  in 
which  to  study,  are  sacrificed  in  a  fool- 
ish attempt  to  cater  to  a  casual  group  of 
people  who  loaf  in  the  courtyard  for  a 
few  minutes  or  hours.  Some  of  these  idle 
people  come  in  search  of  quiet,  which 
they  do  not  find.  Among  the  readers  are 
many  who  have  come  long  distances  to  get 
books  which  are  unattainable  elseivhere, 
and  their  time  is  limited.   Surely  they 
have  a  right  to  as  much  quiet  as  the  lo- 
cation of  the  Library  and  the  routine  of 
departments  allow, 

I  do  not  speak  of  those  persons,  and 
there  are  very  many,  who  either  do  not 
care  for  music  or  who  only  wish  to  listen 
to  excellent  music  when  they  are  in  the 
mood  for  it. 


A  musician:  The  amplification  is  very 
poor  and  the  choice  of  records  is  com- 
monplace.  In  an  institution  of  this  kind 
-  musical  program  should  include  little- 
k.  own  music,  not  the  stuff  that  is  played 
frequently  on  radio  programs  and  in  popu- 
lar concerts.   The  music  may  be  good,  but 
we  are  getting  tired  of  it. 

An  average  man:   It  squeaks;  sounds  like 
a  bad  calliope. 

A  sensitive  man:   I  wonder  about  the 
mentality  of  the  person  vfho   suggested 
such  an  atrocity. 

A  woman  trying  to  concentrate:  "Then  will 
it  be  over?  I»ll  come  back  then. 

A  half  dozen  others:   Ye  gods  J  IThat  a 
racket  I 

A  reader  of  Lawrence  Hope's  India's  love 
lyrics:   I  like  it. 


"Music  hath  charms  to  soothe  the 
troubled  breast".  Maybe  --  maybe  not. 


It  depends  on  many  things  --  mood,  temper- 
ament, ability  to  throw  off  extraneous 
"noises",  and  the  capacity  for  musical 
appreciation.  Personally  I  must  lack  the 
latter.   I  seldom  hear  the  concerts  when 
they  are  on;  I  never  miss  them  when  they 
are  off. 

Immune . 


It's  a  d— -  nuisance.  First  it's  the 
noise  in  the  subway;  then  electric  fans 
humming  while  one  tries  to  concentrate; 
then  that! 


Are  you  irked  by  NoohMusik  in  the  Court- 
yard? Is  your  telephone  conversation 
marred  by  Voices  of  Spring  and  do  you  find 
that  when  you  look  at  a  book  Smoke  Gets 
in  Your  Eyes?  Is  it  true  that  to  you  a 
Nutcracker  is  no  longer  Suite? 

You  should  have  a  windo\v  on  Blagden 
Street  and  hear  the  music  students  in  the 
Nottingham  Building  vocalize,  an  obstruc- 
tion to  orderly  mental  processes,  it  is 
admitted,  but  one  which  the  Library  staff 
has  withstood  for  years  and  still  has  been 
able  to  function. 

A  listener. 


Given  the  proper  amplifier  and  soft,  sub- 
dued background  music  —  who  knows,  it 
might  be  fine I 

********** 


SOAP  BOX 


PRAISE  THE  LORD  AND  PASS 
THE  TRAVEL  FOLDERS 

Behold  the  Subs 

Though  they  be  proud 

In  reverence 

Their  heads  are  bowed 

Showing  their  appreciation 

For  that  increase  in  vacation, 


-12- 


Editor's  Note; 

An  unsigned  suggestion  concerning  employ- 
ees working  30  hours  a  week  has  been  re- 
ceived. If  the  person  who  sent  it  will 
submit  a  signed  letter  setting  forth  the 
details  of  the  case,  vie  shall  be  glad  to 
print  the  letter  (without  name  if  desired) 
in  the  next  issue  of  The  Question  Mark. 

********** 
IN  APPRECIATION;  CARE 

Dear  Sir, 

It  was  a  very  pleasant  surprise 
that  came  to  us  last  week,  when  we  opened 
the  large  carton  and  stacked  out  on  the 
kitchen  floor  such  a  pile  of  good  things 
to  eat  in  those  bright  American  wrappers 
which  reminded  us  of  our  three  year  visit 
to  the  States  years  ago. 

Some  things  we  just  put  away  for  those 
occasions  when  one  wishes  he  had  some- 
thing special,  but  the  dried  apricots 
were  soon  in  an  appetising  dish  on  the 
breakfast  table.  They  were  of  first 
quality,  and  we  couldn't  resist  the 
temptation  to  use  them  at  once. 

I  do  not  know  how  you  managed  to  get 
our  names,  I  am  Librarian  in  a  small 
missionary  college,  and  am  doing  my  ut- 
most to  build  it  up  to  10,000  volumes 
(all  non-fiction).  But  to  the  individual 
who  put  us  on  the  list,  and  to  the  group 
that  gave  us  this  pleasure,  we  wish  to 
send  back  a  hearty  "Thank  You." 

E.  A.  Marter 
England 


Dear  unknown  Friend, 

77e  have  just  received  your  parcel  CARE 
and  we  wi sh  to  tell  you  how  pleased  we 
are  my  wife  and  I  with  all  these  precious 
things  from  America. 

Will  you  please  thank  all  the  members 
of  your  staff  for  their  kindness.  As 
life  is  yet  quite  difficult  here  we  con- 
sider ourselves  very  lucky  to  receive 
such  a  wonderful  gift.   It  does  not  only 
help  us  considerably  but  shows  the  sym- 
pathy and  the  generosity  of  our  american 
friends. 

We  remain  yours  very  greatfully, 

A,  Ramirez 
France 


Dear  friends, 

"7e  are  extremely  grateful  to 
acknowledge  receipt  of  a  CARE  parcel  for 
our  baby,  sent  by  your  kindness.  The 
tins  of  baby  foods  etc.  will  prove  inval- 
uable during  the  coming  winter;  their 
variety  amazed  us  I 

We  have  two  young  children  -  Anthony 
Robin  (2  years  4  months)  and  Gillian 
(11  months)  both  with  hearty  appetites. 
I  enclose  a  recent  photo  of  Gillian  (on 
file)  in  order  that  you  may  seo  the  one 
v/ho  will  actually  benefit  from  your  par- 
cel. As  our  mi. Ik  ration  has  now  been 
cut  again  for  the  coming  winter,  the  tins 
of  dried  milk  will  be  most  useful  for 
making  puddings  and  drinks  for  her. 

In  conclusion,  my  husband  and  I  wish  to 
thank  you  very  much  for  this  fine  gesture 
of  friendship  from  the  library  staff  of 
your  city,  and  your  thoughtfulness  for 
the  children  of  this  country. 

Yours  sincerely, 
(Mrs.)  Joan  Crossley 
England 

********** 
FLASH 

Bates  Hall  ceiling  is  falling  down  — 
again I 

LATE  FLASH 

Mr  Albert  Carpenter  and  his  assistant, 
Mr  Paul  Kennedy,  nearly  came  to  blows 
over  who  should  investigate  a  lost  book 
which  had  been  borrowed  by  a  chorus  girl 
who  performs  at  the  Old  Howard.  Miss 
Ruth  S.  Cannell  had  to  make  the  final 
decision. 

Paging  Miss  Cannell It 

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BOSTON  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 
PROFESSIONAL  STAFF  ASSOCIATION 


THE   QUESTION   MARK 


Published  by  the  Boston  Public  Library  Professional  Staff  Association 
Volume  IV,  Number  7 August  1949 

Publications  Committee:  Mildred  R.  Adelson,  M.  Dorothy  Brackett,  John  M.  Carroll, 

Eleanor  DiGiannantonio,  Sarah  M.  Usher,  Chairman 


Publication  date: 
The  fifteenth  of  each  month 


Deadline  for  submitting  material: 
The  tenth  of  each  month 


TiHAT'S   IN  A  SMILE? 

It  has  been  said  that  over  fifty  muscles 
are  brought  into  use  when  one  frowns  and 
only  twelve  or  thirteen  when  one  smiles. 
In  these  days  of  heat  when  every  excess 
movement  counts,  it  is  well  to  consider 
the  value  of  a  smile. 

This  has  been  put  very  aptly  in  a  clip- 
ping which  we  came  across  recently,  the 
original  source  of  which  we  have  been  un- 
able to  locate. 

The  Value  of  a  Smile 

It  costs  nothing,  but  creates  much. 

It  enriches  those  who  receive  without 
impoverishing  those  who  give. 

It  happens  in  a  flash  and  the  memory  of 
it  sometimes  lasts  forever. 

None  are  so  rich  they  can  get  along 
without  it,  none  so  poor  but  are  richer 
for  its  benefits. 

It  creates  happiness  in  the  home,  fos- 
ters good  will  in  a  business  and  is  the 
countersign  of  friends. 

It  is  rest  to  the  weary,  daylight  to  the 
discouraged,  sunshine  to  the  sad,  and 
nature's  best  antidote  for  trouble. 

Yet  it  cannot  be  bought,  begged,  bor- 
rowed or  stolen,  for  it  is  something 
that  is  no  earthly  good  to  anybody  till 
it  is  given  away. 

And  if  someone  is  too  tired  to  give  you 
a  smile,  just  give  them  one  of  yours 
anyway.  For  nobody  needs  a  smile  as 
much  as  those  who  have  none  left  to  give 

* 


How  about  it?  Have  you  some  smiles  tucked 
aivay?  Why  not  try  giving  them  to  patrons 
and  fellow  staff  members? 

PERSONAL  NOTES 
New  Staff  Members 


MisS  Marcia  J.  Dunlevy,  Allston  Branch 
Library. 

Miss  Mary  J.  Littlefield,  Charlestown 
Branch  Library. 

Mrs  Jane  B.  Lacy,  Rare  Book  Department. 

Miss  Barbara  S.  Rogovin,  Book  Stack 
Service. 

Mrs  Virginia  B.  Reusch,  General  Refer- 
ence Department. 

Miss  Elaine  D.  Parsons,  Business  Branch. 

Miss  Ruth  E.  McNamee,  Book  Preparation 
Department  (formerly  part-time  at  School 
Issue  Department) 

Miss  Patricia  A.  Tuley,  Book  Preparation 
Department  (formerly  part-time  at  Mt. 
Bowdoin  Branch  Library) 

Miss  Doris  M.  Cornelius,  Codman  Square 
Branch  Library  (formerly  part-time  at 
Washington  Village  Branch  Library). 

Miss  Helen  R.  McMahon,  Book  Stack  Serv- 
ice. 

Resignations 


Mrs  Florence  McNair,  South  End  Branch 
Library,  to  live  in  California. 

Mrs  Jean  W.  Armstrong,  Book  Purchasing 
Department. 

Miss  Mary  L.  Mowles,  Dorchester  Branoh 
Library,  to  stay  at  home. 

Mr  Ralph  0.  Silva,  Fine  Arts  Department. 

Miss  Doris  L.  Cros6,  Rare  Book  Depart- 
ment, in  order  to  accept  a  teaching  posi- 
tion. 

Miss  Norma  Dalton,  Book  Stack  Service, 
to  join  the  Women's  Army  Auxiliary  Corps. 


-2- 


Miss  Mary  K.  Donaldson,  Fine  Arts  De- 
partment, to  study  at  Columbia  University. 
She  also  received  a  Fulbright  Scholarship 
and  will  study  abroad  in  Athens,  Greeoe. 

Mrs  Dolores  Dobay,  Book  Stack  Service, 
to  stay  at  home  after  a  month's  vacation 
in  Maryland. 

Transfers 

Miss  Mary  L,  Dennison,  Allston  Branch 
Library  to  Jeffries  Point  Branch  Library. 

Miss  Rosemarie  DeSimone,  Jeffries  Point 
Branch  Library  to  Dorchester  Branch 
Library, 

Mrs  Iphigenia  K.  Fillios,  Jeffries 
Point  Branch  Library  to  Orient  Heights 
Branch  Library. 

Miss  Estella  R.  Henderson,  North  End 
Branch  Library  to  Jeffries  Point  Branch 
Library, 

Miss  Mildred  Kaufman,  Mt,  Bowdoin 
Branch  Library  to  Mattapan  Branch  Library. 

Miss  Marie  R.  Kennedy,  Orient  Heights 
Branch  Library  to  Mt,  Bowdoin  Branch 
Library, 

Miss  Charlotte  A,  Myers,  South  End 
Branch  Library  to  North  End  Branch  Li- 
brary, 

Mrs  Anna  L.  Shanor,  "Vest  End  Branch 
Library  to  South  End  Branch  Library, 

Miss  Naomi  R.  Michalak,  Jamaica  Plain 
Branch  Library  to  Hyde  Park  Branch  Li- 
brary, 

Engagements 

Miss  Mary  T.  Ryan,  Tfest  End  Branch  Li- 
brary, to  Mr  Kenneth  Hale  Robinson  of 
Char lest own,  Massachusetts  and  Old 
Orchard,  Maine, 

Miss  Carol  Antoinette  Connor,  Fine  Arts 
Department,  to  Mr  Luis  Amescua  of  Mexico 
City,  Mexico, 

Weddings 

On  Saturday,  July  23,  Miss  Isabelle  M, 
McHugh,  Office  of  the  Trustees,  was  mar- 
ried to  Mr  Henry  M,  Leen,  at  St,  Joseph's 
Church,  Amesbury.  A  reception  followed 
at  the  Amesbury  Country  Club,  After  a 
honeymoon  in  Nassau,  Mr  and  Mrs  Leen  will 
live  in  Tfoburn.  Miss  Elizabeth  B, 
Brockunier  and  Miss  Phyllis  Hoffman  of 
the  Office  of  the  Trustees  attended  the 
wedding  and  reception. 


Miss  Fanny  Goldstein,  Branch  Librarian 
of  "Test  End  Branch  Library,  will  attend 
the  New  York  State  Community  Service 
Council  of  Young  Adults  Conclave  at 
Hamilton  College,  Clinton,  New  York  during 
the  week  of  August  30  —  September  5. 

5|C  3f(  »jc  3fC  3jC  ?JC  3|£  3fC  *^C  jfC 

ALUMNAE  NOTES 

Mr  and  Mrs  Lawrence  Kirkman  are  receiv- 
ing congratulations  on  the  birth  of  a  son, 
Robert  Kincaid  (weight  four  pounds),  Mrs 
Kirkman  is  the  former  Clarinda  ("Topsey") 
Lavrson  of  the  Science  and  Technology  De- 
partment, 


Mr  and  Mrs  Joseph  Runci  are  receiving 
congratulations  on  the  birth  of  a  daughter, 
Janet  Louise,  on  August  3,  1949,  Mrs 
Runci  is  the  former  Alice  O'Connell  of  the 
Circulation  Division  Office, 

********** 
RECENT  VISITORS 

On  Sunday,  July  31,  Mr  and  Mrs  Albert  H, 
Yfiggin  paid  their  first  visit  to  the  new 
enlarged  Print  Department,  Mr  Tfiggin 
formed  his  unique  collection  of  prints 
over  a  period  of  many  years,  culminating 
his  work  by  placing  the  Collection  in  the 
Boston  Public  Library  in  June  1941,  when 
the  Print  Department  was  established. 
Since  that  time  he  has  added  many  invalua- 
ble prints  to  the  Collection,  most  note- 
worthy being  the  complete  works  of 
Alphonse  Legros,  Honore'  Daumier,  Gavarni* 
and  Henri  Fantin-Latour . 


Miss  Florence  Adelson,  former  children's 
worker  in  the  Branch  System,  visited  li- 
brary friends  on  her  way  to  a  Canadian 
vacation.  Miss  Adelson  is  now  Branch 
Librarian  at  Montclair,  New  Jersey, 


Miss  Eva  Anttonen,  a  member  of  the  staff 
of  the  Benjamin  Franklin  Library  in  Mexico 
City,  recently  visited  East  Boston  Branch 
Library  where  she  had  been  children's 


-3- 


librarian.  Miss  Dorothy  F.  Nourse  enter- 
tained Miss  Anttonen  at  a  dinner  to  -which 
many  of  her  friends  and  former  associates 
were  invited. 


Mr  Edward  X.  Casey,  formerly  at  the 
Kirstein  Business  Branch,  visited  Central 
Library  recently.  Mr  Casey  is  now  study- 
ing at  Boston  University. 


On  the  afternoon  of  July  19,  1949  a 
class  from  the  Simmons  College  Library 
School,  which  Mr  Charles  L.  Eiggins  of  the 
Reference  Department  has  been  teaching 
this  summer,  visited  the  Library  to  make  a 
study  of  its  services.  Mrs  Elizabeth  L. 
Wright,  Supervisor  of  Personnel,  spoko  to 
the  class  on  the  library  service,  and  then 
they  wero  taken  on  a  carefully  planned 
tour  of  demonstration. 

********** 

CONGRATULATIONS  ARE  IN  ORDER? 

Miss  Mary  Cornwall,  extra  assistant  at 
South  End  Branch  Library,  won  the  award  on 
the  "Cinderella  Yfeek-end"  program  on 
August  5.  Mary  will  go  to  New  York  by 
plane  on  August  12,  and  there  she  will 
meet  other  "Cinderellas".  And  it  couldn't 
happen  to  a  nicer  girlt 


Miss  Louise  Fogarty,  extra  assistant  at 
Washington  Village  Branch  Library,  has 
been  awarded  the  Notre  Dame  Alumnae  four- 
year  scholarship  to  Emmanuel  College. 

********** 

BON  VOYAGE 

AND 
WELCOME  BACK 


Mrs  Elizabeth  L.  Wright,  Supervisor  of 
Personnel,  and  Miss  Elizabeth  B. 
Brockunier,  Assistant  to  the  Director,  are 
flying  to  Mexico  on  Monday,  August  15,  for 
a  four-weeks'  vacation. 


Miss  Nura  Globus,  first  assistant  at 
West  End  Branch  Library,  is  traveling  by 
automobile  through  the  Blue  Ridge  Moun- 
tains. 


Miss  Rebecca  Millmeister,  second  assist- 
ant at  West  End  Branch  Library,  reports 
that  her  recent  cruise  to  Guatemala  was 
one  of  her  most  enjoyable  trips* 


Miss  Carol  A.  Connor,  Fine  Arts  Depart- 
ment, has  returned  from  an  extended  tour 
of  the  Southwest,  including  Mexico  City* 

********** 

MR  MAIERS  RETIRES 

Fifty-two  years  of  library  service  is 
the  proud  record  of  Mr  William  C.  Maiers, 
Chief  of  the  Book  Purchasing  Department, 
who  has  just  been  retired.  The  title 
"Chief  of  the  Book  Purchasing  Department, 
Emeritus"  was  immediately  given  him* 

All  of  us,  and  especially  members  of  the 
Book  Purchasing  Department  staff,  now 
realize  the  meaning  of  a  void  and  a  vacuum, 
and  the  loss  of  a  "guide,  philosopher,  and 
friend".   In  addition  to  business  acumen, 
Mr  Maiers  had  the  "human  touch"  and  ready 
wit  which  endeared  him  to  his  associates. 
He  was  almost  as  much  of  an  institution  as 
the  Library  itself J 

He  was  the  recipient  of  a  gift  and  a 
memory  book  at  an  informal  reception  held 
in  the  Book  Purchasing  Department  on 
Thursday,  July  28. 

Mr  Maiers  carries  with  him  the  respect 
and  good  wishes  of  all  for  his  outstanding 
achievement  and  for  the  leisure  which  he 
has  abundantly  earned.  However,  if  we 
were  to  hazard  a  guess,  Mr  Maiers  might 
soon  embark  on  Career  No,  2, 


A.  V. 

*#**#*#;|<** 

INSTITUTE  IN  RADIO-AUDIO- VISUAL  AIDS 

Mrs  Muriel  C.  Javelin  aoted  as  a  dis- 
cussion group  leader  covering  the  subject, 
Putting  Films  to  Work  in  the  Community,  at 
the  Institute  in  Radio-Audio-Visual  Aids 


-4- 


held  at  The  Massachusetts  School  of  Art, 
on  June  28,  29,  30,  and  July  1,  1949* 
This  Institute  was  presented  by  the  Divi- 
sion of  University  Extension,  Office  of 
Radio-Audio- Visual  Aids,  with  the  coopera- 
tion of  Boston  University's  Divisions  of 
Radio  and  Teaching  Aids;  WBZ-WBZA,  the 
Westinghouse  Stations  in  New  England; 
WCOP,  The  American  Broadcasting  System; 
WEE  I,  Columbia  Broadcasting  System;  WHDH, 
Boston;  "JNAC,  the  Yankee  Network;  and  the 
New  England  Committee  on  Radio  in 
Education. 

CONFERENCE  OF  VISUAL  AIDS 

Mrs  Muriel  C.  Javelin,  Deputy  Supervisor 
in  Charge  of  Work  with  Adults,  attended 
the  annual  conference  of  the  Educational 
Film  Library  Association  held  in  Chicago, 
July  29  to  August  3,  in  cooperation  with 
the  National  Association  of  Visual  Educa- 
tion Dealers,  the  Film  Council  of  America, 
and  the  Midwest  Forum  on  Audio-Visual  Aids. 

The  conference  theme  was  Improving  Ad- 
ministrative and  Supervisory  Patterns  for 
Audio-Visual  Center  Operations.   In  addi- 
tion to  the  general  sessions,  there  were 
sectional  meetings  covering  such  subjects 
as,  "What  Assistance  Should  the  User  Re- 
ceive from  a  Center  of  Audio-Visual 
Materials,"  "What  are  the  Problems  of  Dis- 
tribution, Maintenance,  and  Storage  of 
Audio- Visual  Materials,"  "Ylhat  is  the  Role 
of  the  Commercial  Producer,"  "What  are  the 
Problems  of  Implementing  the  Audio-Visual 
Functions  at  the  Local  Level,"  etc. 

The  speakers  at  the  banquet  meeting  of 
the  Film  Council  were:  Dr.  Homer  P# 
Rainey,  President,  Stephens  College,  Dr. 
Mortimer  J.  Adler,  University  of  Chicago, 
and  Mr  Charles  H,  Percy,  President,  Bell 
&  Howell  Co. 

Mrs  Javelin  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Senate  of  the  Film  Council  of  America 
representing  the  Northeastern  Region. 

********** 
MOONLIGHT  SAIL 

A  group  of  over  one  hundred  enthusiastic 
poopie,  young  and  old,  enjoyed  a  delight- 
ful evening  aboard  The  Boston  Belle  on  the 
evening  of  August  the  fifth.  This  modern 
floating  palace  — •  with  its  spacious  decks, 


lovely  ball-room,  and  peppy  orchestra  — 
has  all  the  facilities  for  providing  a 
happy  evening  for  its  passengers.  Those 
who  preferred  to  enjoy  the  invigorating 
salt  air  from  the  decks  were  fortunate  in 
having  a  dear  moonlight  night  to  view 
Boston's  fast  changing  sky-line.  The 
orchestra  wss  most  generous  in  the  selec- 
tions which  it  offered  to  those  who  en- 
joyed the  dancing,  and  dedioated  one  num- 
ber, I  love  you  truly,  to  the  BPLPSA. 

Yfe  are  glad  to  announce  that  the  treas- 
ury of  the  Association  was  increased  by 
twenty-six  dollars  and  five  cents  from  the 
sale  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-three 
tickets , 

The  Entertainment  Committee  thanks  all 
those  who  contributed  to  the  success  of 
the  first  Moonlight  Sail  of  the  BPLPSA. 

Margaret  Calnan,  Chairman 
Entertainment  Committee 

********** 

PRESIDENT'S  NOTES 

In  these  days  of  soaring  temperatures, 
it  is  refreshing  to  be  able  to  even  think 
about  next  January.  So  a  cooling  note 
comes  when  we  report  that  a  Nominating 
Committee  has  been  chosen  by  the  Executive 
Board  to  draw  up  a  slate  of  officers  for 
the  business  meeting  of  January  20,  1950. 
The  list  is  to  be  submitted  for  approval, 
or  rejection,  by  the  membership  as  a  whole 
at  the  November  business  meeting.  The 
task  of  this  committee  is  not  always  an 
easy  one.  You  can  be  of  real  service  to 
the  organization  by  accepting  graciously 
any  office  which  might  be  offered  to  you. 
Based  on  personal  experiences,  I  can  say 
that  the  actual  demands  made  upon  an  offi- 
cer are  much  less  strenuous  than  might  be 
expected.  The  membership  as  a  whole  makes 
the  task  of  the  officer  a  very  satisfying 
one.  Complete  cooperation  on  every  score 
and  a  willingness  to  make  unlimited  per- 
sonal sacrifices  of  time  and  talent  on  the 
part  of  the  individual  members  has  been 
most  gratifying.   It  is  certain  that  the 
incoming  officers,  whoever  they  may  be, 
will  find  that  this  spirit  of  cooperation 
does  much  to  lighten  what  otherwise  might 
be  the  heavy  tasks  of  office  holding.  Do 
not  hesitate  to  say  "yes"  to  the  fatal 
question.  With  over  four  hundred  willing 
cohorts,  your  task  will  be  relatively  easy. 


-5- 


The  Nominating  Committee,  which  v/ill  be 
waiting  on  you  in  the  near  future,  is  made 
up  of  the  following  members : 

Miss  A.  Gertrude  Barry,  Personnel  Office. 

Miss  Muriel  C.  Figenbaum,  Print  Depart- 
ment. 

Miss  Mary  Golden,  Allston  Branch  Library. 

Mr  Robert  J.  Roper,  Science  and  Tech- 
nology Department. 

Miss  Dorothy  F.  Nourse,  Chairman,  East 
Boston  Branch  Library. 


The  Executive  Board,  at  its  last  meeting, 
decided  to  appoint  a  Publicity  Committee 
to  serve  for  the  remainder  of  the  current 
year.  The  Association's  activities  have 
never  been  publicized  through  a  duly  ap- 
pointed Publicity  Committee  and  it  seemed 
wise  to  make  this  one  of  the  special  com- 
mittees for  this  year  with  the  recommenda- 
tion that  it  become  a  standing  committee 
should  there  be  sufficient  work  to  justify 
its  continued  existence. 

The  membership  for  the  Publicity  Commit- 
tee for  1949  is  as  follows: 

Miss  Marie  T.  Hastie,  School  Issue  De- 
partment. 

Mr  B.  Joseph  O'Neil,  Periodical  and 
Newspaper  Department. 

Miss  Isabelle  G.  Pennampede,  Chairman, 
Information  Office. 


Mrs  Sarah  W.  Flannery,  Chairman  of  the 
In-Service  Training  Committee,  reports 
that  plans  for  the  Fall  Institute 
(November  17  and  18)  are  coming  along 
apace.  She  hopes  to  have  a  detailed  re- 
port for  the  September  issue  of  The 
Question  Mark. 


Remember  that  VERY  IMPORTANT  date  we 
asked  you  to  save,  December  2nd?  We  hope 
it  isn't  too  late  to  change  it  to  December 
1st.  Events  over  which  mere  humans  had  no 
control  made  it  necessary  to  change  the 
date.  "Tatch  the  September  issue  of  The 
Question  Mark  for  more  about  this  gala 

8f  'Ut. 

********** 


NOTABLE  BOOKS  COMMITTEE 

1949 

Once  again  the  Boston  Public  Library  has 
been  invited  to  participate  in  the  selec- 
tion of  the  A.L.A.  List  of  Notable  Books. 
The  national  committee  is  under  the  chair- 
manship of  Mr  John  S.  Richard,  Librarian 
of  the  Seattle  Public  Library  and  vice- 
president  of  the  Public  Libraries  Division 
of  the  A.L.A.  The  local  committee  is  to 
work  under  the  chairmanship  of  Miss  Edna 
G.  Peck  of  the  Book  Selection  Department, 
Circulation  Division.  The  following  staff 
members  are  serving  on  the  committee  for 
the  current  year : 

Mr  Harry  Andrews,  Branch  Issue  Depart- 
ment. 

Mr  John  M.  Carroll,  General  Reference 
Department. 

Miss  G.  Florence  Connolly,  Fine  Arts 
Department. 

Miss  Mary  F.  Daly,  Statistical  Depart- 
ment. 

Miss  G.  Elizabeth  Fitzgerald,  Cataloging 
and  Classification  Department,  Reference 
Division. 

Miss  Christine  Hayes,  Book  Selection 
Department,  Reference  Division. 

Mrs  Geraldine  S.  Herrick,  North  End 
Branch  Library. 

Miss  Frances  C.  Lepie,  Mt.  Bowdoin 
Branch  Library. 

Mr  Leonard  J.  Macmillan,  Book  Purchasing 
Department. 

Miss  Louisa  S.  Metcalf,  Open  Shelf  De- 
partment . 

Mr  Robert  J.  Roper,  Science  and  Tech- 
nology Department. 

Miss  Pauline  A.  r'.ralker,  "".Test  Roxbury 
Branch  Library. 

Miss  Gladys  R.  Ylhite,  Mt.  Pleasant 
Branch  Library. 

********** 

BOTTLING  LEAGUE  ORGANIZED 

The  organization  of  a  fall  bowling 
league  among  the  members  of  the  library 
staff  is  in  progress.  Male  and  female  are 
invited  to  participate.  Anyone  interested 
should  contact  Mr  Arthur  Mulloney  of  the 
Statistical  Department  or  Mr  Frank  P. 
Bruno  of  the  Patent  Room. 

********** 


4      ■      ■' 


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-6- 


CITY  OF  BOSTON 
EMPLOYEES'  CREDIT  UNION 

ITord  has  been  received  from  the  Credit 
Union  Office  that  beginning  Monday,  August 
15,  it  will  be  possible  for  any  permanent 
employee  of  the  City  of  Boston  to  purchase 
five  shares  per  month  ($5.00  per  share) 
for  an  indefinite  period.  This  is  in  addi- 
tion to  the  fifteen  shares  per  employee 
available  for  purchase  since  April  1, 

It  is  suggested  that,  if  you  are  not 
familiar  with  the  Credit  Union  and  are  in- 
terested in  joining,  you  contact  Room  38, 
City  Hall  Annex.  It  is  open  from  9  a.m. 
to  3  p.m.,  Monday  through  Friday. 

********** 

BRANCH  NOTES 


An  unusually  interesting  exhibit  of 
fourteen  varieties  of  breads  from  other 
countries,  which  was  on  display  at  the 
Jamaica  Plain  and  South  Boston  Branch 
Libraries  last  winter,  is  being  exhibited 
at  the  Children's  Museum  for  the  summer 
months.  This  exhibit  will  be  available 
for  loan  to  other  branch  libraries  this 
fall.  Any  persons  interested,  please  con- 
tact Miss  Mildred  Adelson.  Jamaica  Plain 
Branch  Library. 

********** 

DEPARTMENT  NOTES 

The  staff  of  the  Kirstein  Business 
Branch  entertained  Miss  Sylvia  Smith  at 
dinner  at  Patten's  Restaurant  on  July  15th, 
She  was  presented  with  golden  earrings. 
Miss  Smith  is  leaving  the  service  to  re- 
sume her  studies  at  Northeastern  Universi- 
ty. 

REPORTS  ON  CARE  PACKAGES 


Vienna,  Vl/56 


Dear  Sir, 


Several  weeks  ago  my  chief  said  to  me, 
that  I  would  receive  a  CARE  parcel.   I 
think  the  joy,  which  I  had  you  cannot 
imagine,  because  we  are  in  Austria  very 
indigent  now. 


"Then  I  went  to  fetch  the  parcel  I  came 
td  know  your  address  and  now  I  want  to 
thank  you  very,  very  much  for  it. 

The  contents  of  the  parcel  is  so  consti- 
tuted, that  every  woman  must  be  very  en- 
joyed, of  course  my  wife  was  also  very 
delighted,  you  can  perhaps  imagine. 

Now  I  will  introduce  myself  to  you.  I 
am  lodging  in  Vienna  with  my  family.   I  am 
thirty-six  years  old  and  have  tvo  children, 
a  girl,  who  attends  the  first  class  of  the 
elementary  school  and  one  boy,  seven 
month  of  age.  My  profession  is  law-officer 
and  my  salary  is  only  so,  that  I  am  able 
to  purchase  the  most  necessary  things  only. 

During  the  war  I  was  soldier  and  one  and 
a  half  year  prisoner  of  the  Americans  in 
Italy  in  Naples  and  Pisa.  The  treatment 
was  good  there,  but  the  foods  better. 

Now  dear  unknown  donor  once  more  the 
best  thanks  for  the  present,  which  you 
have  done  for  a  really  needy  family.  You 
gave  us  many  pleasure  with  it,  particular- 
ly for  the  children  also,  I  mean  ;vith  the 
chocolate  and  cocoa,  and  I  don't  know,  how 
I  can  thank  you. 

Looking  forward  to  a  letter  from  you,  I 
close  my  letter  vdth  the  best  Y/ishes, 

Yours  sincerely, 

Anton  Ulrich. 


BOROUGH  OF  DEPTFORD 
PUBLIC  LIBRARIES 

Dear  Mr  McDonough, 

I  would  like  to  thank  you  most  sincerely 
for  the  very  kindly  gift  of  food  which  was 
sent  to  me  by  your  Staff  Association.  The 
consignment  arrived  safely  and  was  imrne- 
diagely  unpacked  and  the  goods  displayed 
on  our  staff  room  table.   I  wish  our  good 
friends  in  Boston  could  have  seen  the  de- 
lighted expressions  on  the  faces  of  the 
staff  at  the  sight  of  the  contents  of  the 
parcel.   It  was  decided  to  ballot  for  the 
articles  and  I  am  pleased  to  say  that  each 
member  of  the  staff  was  able  to  benefit 
from  the  gift. 

As  you  know,  we  in  England  have  been 
living  under  austere  food  conditions  for 
some  years  now,  and  although  we  are  far 
from  being  badly  fed  the  type  of  articles 
reveived  from  you  are  in  very  short  sup- 
ply, and  were  most  appreciated.   Indeed 


a  ,,.  . 


■■ :  '    i  ■ 
-■......      ■  i 


.'■•.-     * 


-7- 


some  of  the  things  had  not  been  seen  for 
many  years.  On  behalf  of  the  staff  of  the 
Deptford  Libraries  I  do  again  thank  you 
for  so  thoughtful  a  gift. 

Deptford,  with  a  population  of  about 
80,000,  is  one  of  the  smaller  of  the 
twenty-eight  London  Boroughs,  but  owing  to 
its  strategic  situation  was  one  of  the 
most  badly  damaged  by  enemy  action.  It  is 
also  a  very  historic  borough,  and  for  your 
interest  I  am  enclosing  two  booklets  which 
briefly  describe  and  illustrate  something 
of  its  history  and  present-day  conditions. 
I  am  also  enclosing  a  short  account  of  the 
Deptford  Libraries  during  the  war  which 
has  been  written  by  one  of  the  Staff,  as 
I  was  away  on  Tjar  Service  at  the  time. 

Trusting  you  and  your  Staff  Association 
will  find  these  items  of  some  interest, 
and  welcoming  this  occasion  of  contact 
between  your  large  and  progressive  city 
and  this  small  London  borough. 

Yours  sincerely, 

(signed)  H.  J.  Rengert 

Borough  Librarian 

DEPTFORD  LIBRARIES  1939  to  1945 

During  the  first  few  months  of  the  war  the 
activities  of  the  Libraries  in  Deptford 
were  considerably  reduced.  Deptford  was 
very  much  "on  the  map"  because  of  its 
riverside  position  in  the  South  East  of 
London.  There  was  the  mass  evacuation  of 
children  and  the  work  of  the  Junior  Li- 
braries, a  special  feature  of  the  service, 
ceased  completely.  Later  when,  contrary 
to  fears,  as  the  months  passed  bombs  did 
not  fall  many  children  returned  to  their 
parents  and  one  of  the  Branch  Libraries 
was  able  to  offer  accommodation  to  a 
teacher  who  had  rounded  up  sufficient  pu- 
pils for  a  class  but  had  no  place  in  which 
to  hold  it  since  all  the  schools  were 
closed  or  being  used  for  other  purposes. 

The  Libraries  Committee  were  determined  to 
maintain  the  service  to  its  members.  A 
return  to  the  reading  habit  was  inevitable 
once  people  had  recovered  from  the  first 
shock  of  war  and  all  that  it  had  implied. 
In  actual  fact  the  issues  per  head  of  the 
much  depleted  population  began  to  in- 
crease. Reading  as  "escapism"  was  common, 
and  a  growing  return  to  a  more  normal 


mental  outlook  brought  the  demand  for 
knowledge.  But  the  maintenance  of  the 
service  was  carried  out  under  considerable 
difficulties.  As  soon  as  what  had,  prior 
to  September  1939,  been  referred  to  as  a 
"state  of  emergency"  became  bluntly  a 
"state  of  war"  the  Staff,  headed  by  the 
Borough  Librarian,  became  responsible  for 
feeding  the  Civil  Defence  Personnel  and 
were  organised  to  be  prepared  to  act  in 
all  circumstances  and  under  all  conditions 
from  exercise  operations  to  the  complete 
obliteration  of  whole  areas,  by  enemy  ac- 
tion. This  was  additional  to  the  continu- 
ation of  the  Library  service  and  it  was 
quite  common  for  assistants  to  be  attend- 
ing to  the  preparation  and  distribution  of 
eggs  and  bacon  (later  to  be  supplanted  by 
toast  and  margarinej)  from  7  to  9  a.m.  and 
books  thereafter. 

Yihen  later  Deptford  began  to  "get  it",  and 
as  we  pride  ourselves  to  take  it,  the 
Libraries  Staff  was  made  responsible  for 
the  preliminary  emergency  feeding  of  peo- 
ple rendered  homeless  by  bombing  (and 
there  were  many  hundreds  since  Deptford 
suffered  some  of  the  worst  incidents  on 
record)  and  of  those  who  spent  their 
nights  in  public  air-raid  shelters.  Even 
here,  in  addition  to  a  food  service,  a 
shelter  library  service  was  inaugurated 
and  every  communal  shelter  in  the  borough 
had  a  corner  from  which  a  library  servioe 
was  operated.  It  was  in  the  feeding  of 
the  people  that  the  borough  will  always 
remember  its  indebtedness  to  the  generosi- 
ty of  the  people  of  the  United  States  who 
presented  two  mobile  canteens  and  to  the 
children  of  Australia  who  presented  one 
for  work  with  Deptford  children.  These 
canteens,  although  operating  under  the 
authority  of  Civil  Defence,  were  organised 
by  the  Libraries  Staff  and  serviced  by  a 
band  of  '"'omens'  Voluntary  Service  helpers 
under  the  able  and  sympathetic  leadership 
of  Miss  Noel  Streatfeild,  known  equally 
well  in  the  United  States  as  in  England 
as  novelist,  writer  of  children's  books 
and  lecturer.   It  is  also  of  interest  that 
on  more  than  one  occasion  of  heavy  bombing, 
especially  the  Flying  Bomb  era,  and  par- 
ticularly after  an  attack  on  the  Victual- 
ling Yard,  both  soldiers  and  sailors  of 
the  U.S.A.  billeted  locally,  gave  valuable 
assistance.  They  will  be  remembered  also 
as  giving  help  when  the  people  of  Deptford 
experienced  for  the  first  time  the  devas- 
tation caused  by  a  Rocket. 


-8- 


And  so  the  Libraries  continued  until  the 
final  "all-clear"  to  hold  the  reins  of 
the  Departments  for  feeding  the  inner  man 
coupled  with  the  nourishment  of  the  in- 
tellect. But  the  story  was  not  as  simple 
as  it  is  in  the  telling.  The  Government 
early  in  the  TJar  began  to  direct  women 
into  National  Service  and  it  became  nec- 
essary to  replace  all  but  the  Senior  mem- 
bers of  the  Staff  by  young  and  untrained 
assistants  with  little  or  no  aptitude  for 
the  duties  required  of  them.   The  Chief 
Librarian  and  Deputy  Librarian  were  also 
required  to  serve  in  the  armed  forces. 
Albeit  the  storm  was  weathered  and  now, 
with  almost  the  full  complement  of  pro- 
fessional staff,  the  leeway  is  being  made 
up  and  the  Library  Service  takes  its 
place  in  the  fore-front  of  the  Deptford 
Borough  Council's  cultural  activities. 


COUNTY  BOROUGH  OF  i.TEST  HAM 

Public  Libraries 

Dear  Colleagues, 

Thank  you  very  much  in- 
deed for  your  kind  gift  of  a  food  parcel 
received  through  the  C«A,R.E.  organisa- 
tion.  I  have  acknowledged  its  receipt 
through  the  official  organisation  but 
feel  that  I  must  express  my  personal  ap- 
preciation to  you  all. 

The  'Test  Ham  Libraries,  seven  in  num- 
ber, are  situated  in  this  heavily  indus- 
trialised area,  of  eight  square  miles, 
and  they  carry  an  annual  issue  of  books 
amounting  to  over  a  million  and  a  half. 

Our  southern  boundary  is  the  River 
Thames,  on  the  banks  of  which  are  situ- 
ated the  Royal  Docks.   This  dockside  area 
was  an  attraction  to  the  enemy  during  the 
last  war.   So  much  so  that  the  Borough  of 
"Test  Ham  had  over  eleven  hundred  of  its 
citizens  killed  in  air  raids  and  over 
thirty  thousand  injured  and  taken  to 
hospitals.  Fourteen  thousand  houses  were 
completely  demolished  and,  as  you  can 
imagine  we  are  faced  with  a  huge  housing 
problem. 

The  replanning  of  the  Borough  is  now 
under  way  and  several  hundred  houses  have 
now  been  built  in  our  Tidal  Basin  area, 
which  was  practically  completely  de- 
stroyed. The  replanning  includes  provi- 
sion for  new  library  buildings,  but 


these,  of  course,  must  await  the  rebuild- 
ing of  houses  which  have  first  priority. 

It  is  interesting,  however  to  mention 
that  before  the  war,  with  a  population  of 
280,000  our  annual  book  issue  was  about  a 
million.  Today  with  a  reduced  population 
of  170,000,  our  issues  are  now  over  a  mil- 
lion and  a  half. 

Once  again,  ever  grateful  thanks  for 
your  very  kind  generosity. 

Yours  sincerely, 

(signed)  E.  R.  Gamester 

Borough  Librarian 

London 
********** 


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ATI  ON 


THE   QUESTION   MARK 

Published  by  the  Boston  Public  Library  Professional  Staff  Association 
Volume  IV,  Number  8 September  1949 

Publications  Committee:  Mildred  R.  Adelson,  M»  Dorothy  Brackett,  John  M.  Carroll, 

Eleanor  DiGiannantonio,  Sarah  M.  Usher,  Chairman 


Publication  date; 
The  fifteenth  of  each  month 


Deadline  for  submitting  material; 
The  tenth  of  each  month 


ANNOUNCEMENT 

The  stencil  for  the  present  cover  of 
The  Question  Hark  is  rapidly  disintegrat- 
ing. The  Publications  Committee,  there- 
fore, is  faced  with  the  necessity  of  pro- 
viding a  new  cover. 

The  suggestion  has  been  made  to  the  Com- 
mittee that  there  are  many  people  with 
artistic  talent  on  the  staff  who  should  be 
asked  to  contribute  sketches  for  a  new 
cover. 

So,  we  are  now  inviting  anyone  who 
wishes  to  make  his  contribution  to  The 
Question  Mark  to  submit  a  sketch  for  a 
proposed  cover,  not  later  than  October  20, 
1949. 

All  sketches  received  will  be  reproduced 
in  The  Question  Mark  for  November  fif- 
teenth so  that  each  member  of  the  Staff 
Association  may  have  an  opportunity  to 
vote  for  his  choice. 


Width  of  design: 
Length  of  design: 


Specifications 

Not  over  7  inches. 


Not  over  11  inches, 


Deadline 
October  20,  1949 

REMEMBER  —  TIME  MARCHES  ONI 

Make  sure  that  you  have  earmarked  time 
~  and  a  few  dollars  —  so  that  you  can 
participate  in  the  first  New  England  Con- 
vention of  the  A.L.A.  under  its  new  plan. 
M.L.A.,  S.L.A.,  —  and  all  the  other 
L.A. 's  —  will  be  represented. 

New  Ocean  House 

Swamps cott 

October  12-15 

SORT  breakfast  —  October  13,  8  a.m. 
********** 


PERSONAL  NOTES 


New  Staff  Members 


Mrs  Barbara  G.  Sissman,  Jamaica  Plain 
Branch  Library. 

Miss  Philomena  F.  DiVito,  Book  Purchas- 
ing Department. 

Miss  Mary  C.  O'Malley,  Book  Stack  Serv- 
ice (formerly  part-time  at  Connolly  Branch 
Library) . 

Mrs  Elizabeth  A.  Simoons,  West  Roxbury 
Branch  Library. 

Mr  Thomas  H.  O'Connor,  Statistical  De- 
partment (formerly  part-time). 

Mrs  Margaret  P.  Filburn,  Cataloging  and 
Classification  Department,  Reference  Divi- 
sion. 

Miss  Mary  V.  Groden,  Book  Stack  Service 
(formerly  part-time  at  Washington  Village 
Branch  Library). 

Miss  Marion  H.  Dowling,  Fine  Arts  De- 
partment . 

Mrs  Elaine  E.  Kimmelman,  Rare  Book  De- 
partment . 

Mr  Edward  X.  Casey,  Cataloging  and 
Classification  Department,  Reference  Divi- 
ion  (formerly  worked  at  Kirstein  Business 
Branch). 

Transferred 


Mrs  Iphigenia  Fillios,  Orient  Heights 
Branch  Library  to  West  Roxbury  Branch  Li- 
brary. 

Miss  Marion  Flaherty,  ".Test  Roxbury 
Branch  Library  to  Orient  Heights  Branch 
Library. 

Miss  Gilda  Rossetti,  Reference  Division 
Office  to  Kirstein  Business  Branch. 

Resignations 


Mrs  Dorothy  G.  Mackey,  Statistical  De- 
partment, to  remain  at  home. 

Miss  Mary  J.  Azadian,  Book  Stack  Service, 
to  attend  Boston  University. 


-2- 


Mr  Roger  P.  Bristol,  Cataloging  and 
Classification  Department,  Reference  Di- 
vision, to  work  at  the  Peabody  Institute 
Library,  Baltimore. 

Mr  Domenic  J.  Maio,  Book  Stack  Service, 
to  attend  Northeastern  University. 

Miss  Joan  Hopkinson,  Book  Selection  De- 
partment, Circulation  Division,  to  accept 
another  position. 

Mrs  Adele  Wynne,  Kir  stein  Business 
Branch,  to  live  in  England. 

Engagements 

Mr  John  M.  Carroll,  Deputy  Supervisor 
in  the  Reference  Division  and  Chief  of 
the  General  Reference  Department  to  Miss 
Evelyn  Caswell,  Head  of  Guided  Missiles 
Library,  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology.  Miss  Caswell  is  a  former 
member  of  the  staff  of  the  Science  and 
Technology  Department. 

Miss  Kathryn  I.  N.  Dolan,  Open  Shelf 
Department,  to  Mr  Edward  G.  Maloof. 

'Weddings 

On  Saturday  morning,  August  27,  Miss 
Frances  W.  McGonagle  of  Book  Selection 
Department,  Circulation  Division,  was 
married  to  Mr  William  P.  Kelley,  Jr.  at 
St.  Anthony's  Church,  Allston.  A  recep- 
tion followed  at  the  Hotel  Somerset,  and 
the  honeymoon  was  spent  in  Bermuda.  Miss 
McGonagle  was  attended  by  her  twin  sister, 
Mrs  Marjorie  Eiggins. 

Miss  Jean  "T..  Briscoe,  Codman  Square 
Branch  Library,  to  Mr  Thomas  C.  Buchanan 
III,  July  23,  1949. 

Mr  Ernest  E.  Hughes,  Science  and  Tech- 
nology Department,  to  Miss  Margaret  Ann 
McDonald  on  August  20,  1949. 

Babies 

August  16  —  a  son,  Brian  Gerard,  to  Mr 
and  Mrs  Henry  Barry,  Book  Preparation 
Department . 

August  18  --  a  daughter,  Carol  C,  to 
Mr  and  Mrs  Robert  Roper,  Science  and 
Technology  Department  (Mrs  Roper  is  the 
former  Dorothy  Galvin  of  the  Business 
Office). 

August  19  —  a  daughter,  Priscilla  Ann, 
to  Mr  and  Mrs  Francis  Myers,  Book  Stack 
Service  (Mrs  Myers  is  the  former  Carolyn 
"Wallace  of  the  Director's  Office). 

August  20  ~  a  son,  Roger  William,  to 


Mr  and  Mrs  William  DiRosario,  Fine  Arts 
Department • 

September  5  —  a  daughter,  Kathleen  Ann, 
to  Mr  and  Mrs  Patrick  Murtagh,  Book  Stack 
Service  (Mrs  Murtagh  is  the  former  Alveria 
Calbury  of  the  Fine  Arts  Department). 

Septembor  12  —  a  son  to  Mr  and  Mrs 
Sidney  Altman.  Mrs  Altman  is  Branch 
Librarian,  Jeffries  Point  Branch  Library. 

********** 

W  WELCOME  BACK 

Mr  Donald  L.  Newman,  Records,  Files,  and 
Statistics  Office,  after  an  absence  of 
over  five  weeks  on  account  of  an  injury  to 
his  ankle  received  while  playing  baseball. 

Miss  Sigrid  Robinson,  Open  Shelf  Depart- 
ment, after  a  four-months'  leave  of  ab- 
sence. 

********** 
CONGRATULATIONS,  MR  HILL 

The  June  issue  of  The  Question  Mark 
carried  the  announcement  that  the  name  of 
Mr  Bradford  Hill  had  been  submitted  for 
possible  inclusion  on  the  slate  of  the 
Steering  Committee  of  the  national  SORT 
(Staff  Organizations  Round  Table).   It  is 
with  real  pleasure  that  we  can  now  write 
the  second  chapter  to  that  story.  Not 
only  was  Mr  Hill's  name  included  in  the 
nomination  slate  but  he  was  elected  to  the 
office.  Thus  the  BPLPSA  is  represented 
on  the  national  organization.  This  honor 
which  comes  to  Mr  Hill,  and  indirectly  to 
the  staff  association  which  he  represents, 
is  well  deserved  for  Mr  Hill  has  done  much 
to  further  the  interests  of  our  staff  as- 
sociation.  It  also  means  that  we,  as  an 
association,  are  growing  up9 

These  who  are  serving  with  Mr  Hill  on 
the  Steering  Committee  of  SORT  for  the 
current  year  are: 

Margaret  G.  Hickman,  Los  Angeles  Public 
Library  Staff  Association!  Esther  Kelly, 
Dayton  Public  Library  Staff  Association; 
Katherine  Prescott,  Cleveland  Public 
Library  "Torkers'  Association;  Wilma  W. 
Taite,  University  of  California  Library 
Staff  Association. 

A  SORT  breakfast  is  being  planned  for 
October  13,  during  the  Swampscott  Confer- 
ence which  will  provide  an  excellent  op- 
portunity for  those  interested  in  staff 


-3- 


organizations  to  get  together  and  ex- 
change  ideas. 


********** 


ALUMNAE  NOTES 


Miss  Annie  J.  Daley,  former  member  of 
the  staff  of  the  Branch  Issue  Department, 
is  now  a  neighbor,  having  recently  moved 
from  T7ellesley  to  127  Commonwealth  Avenue 


Mr  Robert  F.  Dixon,  Jr.,  has  recently 
been  made  Assistant  Librarian  at  the 
United  States  Coast  Guard  Library,  New 
London,  Connecticut .   Since  leaving  the 
Science  and  Technology  Department  of  the 
Boston  Public  Library,  Mr  Dixon  has  been 
at  the  United  States  Naval  Academy  Li- 
brary, Nevrport. 


Mr  Francis  X.  Doherty,  Branch  Librarian 
in  the  '"."ashington,  D.  C.  Public  library 
system,  has  recently  been  transferred 
from  the  Northeastern  to  the  Mr.  Pleasant 
Branch  Library,  one  of  the  largest  in  the 
system.   Mr  Doherty  formerly  worked  in 
the  General  Reference  Department, 

****:£***** 

RECENT  VISITORS 

Dr  Herbert  Putnam,  Librarian  of  the 
Boston  Public  Library  from  1895  to  1899, 
and  now  Librarian  Emeritus  of  the  Library 
of  Congress,  on  September  8.   Having  been 
instrumental  in  planning  the  present 
Central  Library  Building,  Mr  Putnam  ex- 
pressed the  hope  that  he  will  live  to  see 
new  wings  or  additions  made  to  the  build- 
ing when  the  Library  comes  into  posses- 
sion of  the  Boston  University  buildings. 
Mr  Putnam  is  88. 


Miss  Juliette  Chabot,  Assistant  Chief 
Librarian  of  the  Montreal  Public  Library 
was  one  of  the  out-of-town  visitors  to 
the  Library  on  August  23,  1949. 

Miss  Chabot  was  especially  interested 
in  the  new  quarters  of  the  Cataloging  and 
Classification  Department,  Reference 


Division,  and  inquired  about  the  lighting 
fixtures,  the  equipment  and  furniture,  the 
system  of  storage  space  in  the  adjoining 
stack,  as  well  as  the  size  of  personnel 
and  the  technical  processes  of  the  depart- 
ment. The  duplication  of  catalog  cards 
was  a  main  point  of  interest  to  her,  com- 
paring our  Niagara  Duplicator  to  the  mul- 
tilith  machine  used  in  the  Montreal  libra- 
ry. 

Miss  Chabot  also  visited  the  Parker  Hill 
Branch  Library.   She  was  impressed  with 
the  architecture  and  equipment  of  the 
building,  "giving  due  consideration"  to 
quote  Miss  Chabot, "to  the  European  branch 
libraries  I  have  visited". 


Miss  Edith  Gustafson,  formerly  of  the 
Branch  Department,  and  now  on  the  staff  of 
the  Newark  Museum,  visited  Central  Library 
on  August  24.   She  was  interested  in  the 
changes  --  physical  and  administrative  — 
which  have  taken  place  in  the  Branch  De- 
partment, as  well  as  throughout  the  rest  . 
of  the  building. 


Mrs  Ned  Yfyinan  of  Athens,  Vermont,  visit- 
ed the  Library  one  day  in  August.   She  was 
nmch  surprised  to  find  that  the  Catalog 
Department  was  not  in  the  room  which  she 
left  in  1914.   She  is  the  former  Laura 
Mendum  and  has  never  returned  to  the  Li- 
brary since  her  last  day  of  work  here  and 
was  amazed  at  the  changes  which  have  taken 
place. 

******  ^c*** 

THE  DIRECTOR  SPEAKS 
FROM  CAIRO 

Town  Meeting  of  the  Air  program  on 
Tuesday,  August  20,  originated  in  Cairo, 
Egypt,  and,  as  all  others  of  this  partic- 
ular series,  it  was  transcribed,  Mr 
Milton  E.  Lord,  representing  the  American 
Library  Association,  made  the  introductory 
remarks.   He  was  heard  by  many  staff  mem- 
bers who  have  followed  the  tour  with 
great  interest. 

:fc***:fc**sf:*:fc 


-4- 


Reprinted  by  Request 

CITY  OF  BOSTON 
EMPLOYEES'    CREDIT  TO  ION 

Word  has  been  received  from  the  Credit 
Union  Office  that  beginning  Monday, 
August  15,  it  will  be  possible  for  any- 
permanent  employee  of  the  City  of  Boston 
to  purchase  five  shares  per  month  ($5.00 
per  share)  for  an  indefinite  period. 
This  is  in  addition  to  the  fifteen  shares 


per  employee  available  for  purchase  since 
April  1. 

It  is  suggested  that,  if  you  are  not 
familiar  with  the  Credit  Union  and  are 
interested  in  joining,  you  contact  Room 
38,  City  Hall  Annex.   Ih  is  open  from 
9  a,m,  to  3  p.m..,  Monday  through  Friday. 

THE  GOLDEN  FUTURE 

Those  members  of  the  staff  who  belong 
to  the  "5^"  State  Retirement  System  will 
be  interested  to  know  that  during  the 
recent  session  of  the  State  Legislature 
three  changes  were  made  in  that  pension 
system.   Die  full  text  of  these  changes 
will  be  found  in  Chapters  656,  657,  and 
671  of  the  Acts  of  1949,  copies  of  which 
are  located  in  the  General  Reference  and 
Statistical  Departments. 

These  amendments  to  the  basic  law  gen- 
erally liberalize  the  previous  provisions. 
Chapter  656  modifies  the  formula  for  cal- 
culating retirement  benefits  for  those 
reaching  60  years  of  age  and  having  had 
40  years  of  service.   Chapter  657  reduces 
the  length  of  service  required  before 
being  eligible  for  disability  retirement 
from  20  to  15  years,  making  that  feature 
uniform  with  the  "4^"  system.  Chapter 
671  liberalizes  the  financial  provisions 
of  the  system, 

LABOR  DAY  OUTING 

As  the  sun  broke  through  the  clouds  at 
about  10:15  Labor  Day  morning,  three  bus 
loads  of  Library  employees  set  forth 
from  Copley  Square  for  Stage  Fort  Park, 
Gloucester.  We  arrived  there  at  12  m. 
The  weather,  which  the  weather  forecaster 
tried  to  ruin  for  us,  turned  out  to  be 


ideal.  Everyone  enjoyed  the  refreshing 
waters  of  a  Gloucester  cove,  particularly 
those  who  played  ball  until  they  were 
about  ready  to  fall  in  their  tracks.  The 
busses  headed  for  home  at  8:45  p.m.,  and 
arrived  at  Copley  Square  at  10:30  p.m. 
There  were  no  accidents  but  the  next  day 
everyone  was  quite  stiff  from  the  strenu- 
ous exercise  of  the  day  before. 

I  wish  to  express  my  deepest  thanks  to 
all  those  who  helped  in  the  success  of  our 
Labor  Day  outing. 

Francis  P.  Connell 

A  NEW  LOOK 

The  front  entrance  hall  of  the  Central 
Library  Building  is  taking  on  a  new  look) 
The  enclosure  which  was  erected  during 
the  War  to  form  an  Information  Booth  will 
be  dismantled  and  the  new  Information 
Desk  will  be  opened  this  vreek.  Be  sure 
to  step  by  to  see  this  attractive  new 
Desk  which  has  been  especially  designed  to 
harmonize  with  the  'jurroundings. 

The  beauty  of  the  entrance  hall  is  to  be 
further  enhanced  shortly  by  the  installa- 
tion of  four  handsome  bronze  exhibition 
cases_,  which.,  being  placed  in  the  four 
niches  .  will  give  opportunity  for  more 
adequate  displays  of  the  Library's  treas- 
urest. 

NE7J  BRANCH  LIBRARY 

Mr  Richard  Shaw,  25  Huntington  Avenue, 
Boston,  has  been  selected  by  the  Trustees 
to  design  the  new  branch  library  building 
which  is  to  be  erected  on  a  site  on  Adams 
Street,  Dorchester,  between  Delmont  Street 
and  Oakton  Avenue. 

BOOKMOBILE  COMES  TO  BOSTON 

Some  time  in  October  Boston  will  get 
its  first  modern  Bookmobile  Service.   Ar- 
rangements have  been  made  with  the  H.B. 
Church  Truck  Service  Company  to  provide 
the  bookmobile  for  us  on  a  contractual 
basis.  The  driver  will  be  from  the  truck 
company  while  the  other  personnel  will  be 


from  the  Library  staff.  The  bookmobile, 
with  a  capacity  of  approximately  3500 
volumes,  vail  serve  the  adult  and  juve- 
nile population  of  the  entire  city.   De- 
velopments in  this  service  will  be  re- 
ported with  interest  in  future  issues* 

********** 

IN  RETROSPECT 

A  mobile  library  is  not  an  entirely  new 
venture  in  Boston.  Remember  the  pushcart 
library  which  was  used  in  the  summer  of 
1925  and  a  Fcrd  truck  book  wagon  in  1926? 

It  began  with  an  inspiration  on  the 
part  of  Miss  Grace  ITills,  the  Head  Worker 
of  Lincoln  House  settlement  and  the 
prompt  acceptance  by  her  personal  friend 
and  our  then  Supervisor  of  Branches,  Miss 
Edith  Guerrier.  Miss  Wills  found  a  fine 
banana  push  cart  and  a  willing  friend  who 
was  interested  in  promoting  a  nevr   idea, 
and  so  the  Tyler  Street  Branch  Library 
was  started  on  a  new  method  of  bringing 
books  to  the  homes  of  the  neighborhood. 

For  the  three  summer  months,  under  the 
direction  of  Miss  liarion  C.  Kingman, 
Eranch  Librarian  at  Tyler  Street  Branch 
Library,  a  weekly  load  of  books,  in 
English  and  four  or  five  foreign  lan- 
guages, made  a  trip  through  the  crowded 
streets  of  the  Harrison  Avenue  district 
between  the  railroad  tracks  and  Dover 
Street  from  4  to  7:30  p.m. 

Good  Luck  and  Bon  Voyage  to  the  stream- 
lined model! 

MONTREAL  EXPRESS  ACCIDENT 
HITS  NEAR  HOME 

On  August  19,  the  Ambassador,  Boston- 
bound  Montreal  express,  collided  with  its 
sister  train,  also  called  the  Ambassador, 
out  of  Boston,  at  Canaan,  New  Hampshire. 
One  of  the  passengers  was  Miss  Martha  C. 
Engler,  Children's  Librarian  at  South  End 
Branch  Library,  who  was  returning  home 
after  her  vacation.  Miss  Engler  writes: 

"I  should  like  to  say  a  sincere 
•Thank  you!1  to  all  my  good  friends  who 
sent  cards,  letters,  and  telegrams  to  me 
in  the  hospital  and  at  home.   It  is  all 
deeply  appreciated. 

"As  for  the  accident  itself,  it  all 
happened  so  quickly  that  none  of  us  in 


| the  train  had  any  chance  to  be  frightened. 
i One  minute  we  were  sitting  there  very 
peacefully  minding  our  own  business,  and 
the  next  minute  we  were  all  nursing  our 
individual  cuts  and  bruises.  Thanks  to 
my  loyal,  hard-working  Guardian  Angel,  who 
was  right  on  the  job,  I  escaped  with  cuts 
on  my  face  rather  than  injured  eyes.  One 
minute  before  the  crash  I  turned  my  head 
to  look  out  of  the  window,  and  the  back 
of  the  seat  in  front  of  me  hit  me  on  the 
side  of  my  face  rather  than  full  front! 
My  right  foot  was  also  badly  sprained  and 
that  is  what  is  keeping  me  at  home» 
Otherwise,  I  feel  fine, 

"Those  of  us  who  were  taken  to  the  Mary 
Hitchcock  Hospital  in  Hanover,  N.  H. ,  were 
very  fortunate.   It  is  a  modern,  well- 
equipped  hospital  with  lots  of  very  young 
and  very  efficient  doctors.  Everyone 
there,  patients,  nurses,  and  doctors  were 
very  jolly  and  it  was  as  pleasant  a  place 
to  be  as  to  be  in  a  hospital  at  all  can 
ever  be  pleasant. 

"All  in  all,  the  experience,  though  un- 
desirable, was  not  too  harrowing." 

S|t  +  *******Jj«   ,  , 

TEA  AT  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  LIBRARY 

Three  B»P.L.  travellers  in  Mexico  this 
summer  were  honored  in  a  delightful  manner 
at  a  tea  given  in  our  State  Department's 
Benjamin  Franklin  Library  in  Mexico  City. 
Miss  Elizabeth  M.  Gordon,  Deputy  Supervi- 
sor in  Charge  of  Work  with  Children,  Miss 
Margaret  Morgan  and  Miss  Virginia 
Haviland,  Branch  Librarians  at  Dorchester 
and  Phillips  Brooks  Branch  Libraries,  en- 
joyed meeting  staff  members,  other  librar- 
ians, and  authors,  who, at  the  invitation 
of  Miss  Bertha  Harris,  Director  of  the 
Benjamin  Franklin  Library,  and  Miss  Eva  J. 
Anttonen,  Children's  Librarian,  met  in- 
formally. "r,hile  the  delicious  tea  was 
being  served  there  was  opportunity  for 
most  interesting  conversation  with  persons 
doing  unusual  work  in  the  library  field. 

BOTLING  LEAGUE 

The  bowling  league  begins  next  Tuesday 
and  Wednesday,  September  20  and  21  at  the 
Fenway  alleys  at  eight  o'clock.   It  is 
still  not  too  late  to  join  on  either  night 
as  the  first  two  weeks  of  bowling  will  be 


-6- 


noncompetitive  to  ascertain  positions  on 
teams.  No  new  members  will  be  accepted 
after  the  second  week. 

A  GOETHE  EXHIBIT  IE  THE  TREASURE  ROOM 

The  bicentenary  of  Goethe's  birth  is 
being  celebrated  in  the  Treasure  Room  by 
an  exhibit  of  first  editions  and  other 
Goetheana.  Most  of  the  items  belong  to 
the  Sears-Freiligrath  collection;  others 
were  purchased  from  the  income  of  the 
Benton  Fund.  Though  the  exhibit  is  not 
large,  the  volumes  on  display  do  set 
forth  the  wide  range  of  Goethe's  inter- 
ests. 

The  most  important,  of  course,  is  Faust, 
which  in  the  literal  sense  was  a  life- 
work,  as  Goethe  began  on  it  at  the  age  of 
twenty-five  or  even  younger,  and  com- 
pleted it  only  shortly  before  his  death, 
in  his  eighty -third  year.  The  Library  is 
fortunate  in  having  the  first  printed 
version,  Faust,  ein  Fragment  of  1790  in 
three  copies  ~  two  separate  ones  (one 
with  the  date  misprinted  1787)  and  one  as 
volume  7  of  Goethe's  works  published  in 
the  same  year.  This  edition  is  especial- 
ly intriguing  for  the  student,  who  can 
compare  it  with  the  earliest  version  ex- 
tant, the  Urfaust,  and  also  with  the  com- 
pleted Faust,  Part  I. 

The  earliest  of  the  first-edition  items 
is  Goetz  von  Berlichingen  of  1773,  with- 
out the  author's  name  or  the  place  of 
printing.  Goethe  v.rote  this  gripping 
drama  of  sixteenth-century  feuds  and  the 
Peasants'  War  at  the  period  of  his  life 
when  he  was  most  under  the  influence  of 
Shakespeare,   Die  Leiden  des  Jungen 
Wert her  is  present  in  the  second  issue  of 
the  first  edition  of  Leipzig  1774.   This 
sensitive  tale  of  hopeless  love  made 
Goethe  suddenly  world-famous.  It  was 
translated,  imitated,  and  parodied  —  in 
short,  a  propelling  force  of  the  romantic 
movement. 

The  four  volumes  of  Wilhelm  Meisters 
Lehrjahre  are  seen  in  the  edition  of 
Berlin  1795-96,  with  the  six  folded 
plates  of  music  to  Goethe's  songs. 
Countless  people  are  familiar  with 
Mignon's  song  "Knows 't  thou  the  land," 
even  though  they  have  no  idea  that  Mignon 
is  a  fascinating  character  in  Goethe's 
engrossing  novel  of  a  young  idealist's 


strange  adventures.  Another  novel,  more 
modern  and  "psychological,"  is  Die 
Wahlverwandtschaften  (Elective  Affinities), 
represented  in  the  first  edition  of 
Tubingen^  1809.  The  narrative  poem  of 
rural  life,  Hermann  und  Dorothea,  may  be 
seen  as  it  first  appeared  in  an  almanach. 

The  many-sidedness  of  Goethe's  mind,  re- 
calling that  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci's,  is 
brought  out  by  a  view  of  his  contributions 
in  the  fields  of  art  and  of  science.  Here 
are  copies  of  the  art  periodicals,  the 
Propylaen  —  which  takes  its  name  from  the 
vestibule  to  the  temple  of  Athena  ~ 
founded  and  edited  by  Goethe  himself,  and 
Ueber  Kunst  und  Alterthum  which  contains 


his  critical  contributions,  as  well  as 
"Jinckelmann  und  sein  Jahrhundert,  Goethe ' s 
tribute  to  a  great  art  historian  of  his 
time.  His  works  on  botany  and  optics  are 
also  represented  by  original  editions. 

Other  items  are  Goethe's  translations 
from  the  French  and  the  Italian,  and  nu» 
merous volumes  of  his  correspondence.  A 
book  of  opinions  on  Goethe  by  his  contem- 
poraries includes  an'  amusing  criticism  of 
Goetz  von  Berlichingen  by  Frederick  the 
Great,  who,  writing  in  French,  commented: 
"One  can  pardon  Shakespeare  for  his  bi- 
zarre faults,  for  the  birth  of  the  arts  is 
never  the  point  of  their  maturity.  But 
behold  a  Goetz  de  Berlichingen  appears  on 
the  scene,  a  detestable  imitation  of  these 
bad  English  plays,  and  the  pit  applauds 
and  calls  with  enthusiasm  for  a  repetition 
of  these  disgusting  platitudes,,." 

A  number  of  English  translations  are 
shown,  including  Carlyle's  Wilhelm 
Meister's  Apprenticeship,  Edinburgh  1824, 
and  the  manuscript  of  John  Sullivan 
Dwight's  Select  Minor  Poems  of  Goethe  and 
Schiller,  published  in  1G<59*  A  welcome 
feature  is  the  display  of  various  Faust 
illustrations,  ranging  from  the  austere 
outline  drawings  by  Moritz  Retzsch,  a  con- 
temporary of  Goethe,  to  Rene  Clarke's 
brilliant  illustrations  for  Alice 
Raphael's  translation  of  Part  I,  brought 
out  by  the  Limited  Editions  Club  in  1932. 
The  most  striking  of  all  is  the  splendid 
folio  of  a  French  translation,  Paris  1828, 
with  the  haunting  lithographs  by  the  great 
French  artist  Delacroix. 

Those  who  wish  to  know  more  about  the 
exhibit  are  referred  to  the  article  which 
is  to  appear  in  the  October  issue  of 
The  Boston  Public  Library  Quarterly. 


)|C  jfc#  !fc  Sfc  #%:$:#  JJC 


-7- 


AN  EXPERIMENT  IN  BOOK  CHARGING 

Photochargers  have  been  installed  in 
two  Branch  Libraries  —  Mattapan  and  West 
Roxbury  —  for  an  experimental  period  of 
two  months.  They  will  be  put  into  opera- 
tion sometime  within  the  next  ten  days. 
This  charging  system,  developed  by  the 
Library  Bureau  Division  of  Remington  Rand 
Company,  is  designed  to  eliminate  part  of 
the  clerical  work  now  involved  in  the 
charging  of  books* 

********** 

READING  LISTS 
PREPARED  AND  DISTRIBUTED 
BY  THE  BOSTON  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 
IN  1949 


Book  List  for  Grade  Three 

January  1949 
Book  List  for  Grade  4 

January  1949 
Book  List  for  Grade  5 

January  1949 
Book  List  for  Grade  6 

January  1949 
Third  National  Army- Industry  Day 

February  4,  1949 
Recent  Books  on  the  Negro 

Negro  History  Week 

February  6-13,  1949 
Brotherhood  Week 

February  20-27,  1949 
Science  and  the  Citizen 

March  29,  1949 
Army  Day 

April  6,  1949 
The  State  of  Israel 

May  4,  1949 
List  of  100  Books  for  the 

Average  Reader 

June  1949 
Enchanted  Caravan 

Summer  Reading  Club 

June  1949 
Goethe  Bicentennial,  1749-1949 

August  1949 
The  Electoral  College  and 

Presidential  Election 

August  1949 
Reading  List  suggested  in 

connection  with  the  63rd 

Annual  Convention  of  the 

American  Philatelic  Society, 

Inc.,  August  16-20,  1949 

********** 


BRANCH  NOTES 

Hyde  Park 

The  staff  is  appreciative  of  the  re- 
painting job  which  will  be  completed  here 
during  September. 


Jamaica  Plain 


An  exhibit  on  SCOTLAND,  consisting  of 
interesting  articles  lent  by  a  patron  of 
the  branch  library,  attracted  much  atten- 
tion. Appropriate  books  and  magazines 
were  also  displayed. 


Meet  the  Author  Group  at  the  Jamaica 
Plain  Branch  Library 

So  many  high  school  girls,  ranging  in 
age  from  fifteen  to  seventeen,  have  shown 
an  interest  in  the  personalities  and  lives 
of  the  authors  of  their  favorite  books 
that  special  sessions  have  been  held  this 
summer  at  the  Jamaica  Plain  Branch.  These 
book  reviews  were  similar  to  the  ones  held 
here  last  summer.  The  most  frequent  re- 
mark made  by  these  girls  has  been,  "We 
have  read  many  of  these  books  and  feel 
that  we  would  have  enjoyed  them  more  if  we 
knew  something  about  the  men  and  women  who 
wrote  them." 

The  procedure  at  these  meetings  was  to 
combine  enjoyment  and  knowledge.  Results 
have  proved  -unusually  worthwhile.  A.  J. 
Cronins  James  Hilton,  Louis  Golding, 
Kenneth  Roberts,  Mildred  Walker,  Lloyd 
Douglas,  Jane  Austen,  and  Thomas  Gray 
illustrate  the  diversified  interests  of 
the  young  people  who  took  part  in  these 
discussions.  The  informal  atmosphere  re- 
sulted in  spontaneous  reactions.  The  at- 
mosphere and  results  of  the  meetings  are 
perhaps  best  summarized  by  reactions  of 
one  of  the  girls s  "I  like  the  reading 
club  because  many  of  the  other  girls  had 
differences  in  opinions  about  the  authors 
and  it  made  me  understand  their  opinions." 

One  of  the  members  has  a  sincere  love 
for  poetry  and  she  held  the  group  en- 
thralled when  she  discussed  in  simple  lan- 
guage the  life  and  works  of  Thomas  Gray. 


E.  G. 


-8- 


North  End 

The  Puppeteers  had  a  very  successful 
season,  giving  weekly  shows  each 
"iednesday  morning  at  10:30  during  the 
months  of  July  and  August.  Despite  all 
the  city  heat,  these  performances  were 
very  well  attended,  having  audiences  of 
100  to  120.  Many  mothers  brought  their 
pre-school  children  to  the  plays.  The 
local  playground  teachers  and  settlement 
house  workers  used  the  Library's  programs 
in  connection  with  their  own  planned  rec- 
reation for  the  children. 

In  addition  to  the  regular  weekly  per- 
formances, the  Puppeteers  played  host  to 
a  group  of  girls  and  boys  from  the 
Phillips  Brooks  Branch  Library.  On  July 
29  Miss  Virginia  Haviland,  Branch  Li- 
brarian, and  her  assistant,  Miss 
Gracemarie  Alfe,  conducted  34  children  on 
a  visit  to  the  North  End  Branch  Library. 


The  Summer  Reading  Club  had  a  party  in 
the  branch  library  on  Wednesday,  Septem- 
ber 7,  to  end  a  very  successful  season. 
"TJhile  the  number  winning  awards  this  year 
was  not  as  large  as  in  other  years  be- 
cause of  the  terrific  heat,  much  very 
good  reading  had  been  accomplished  by  the 
finalists.  Refreshments  consisted  of 
punch  and  candy.  Miss  Tyyne  Saari,  as- 
sistant in  the  Children's  Room,  led  the 
group  in  playing  games.  After  the  party, 
pictures  were  taken  of  the  group. 


Yjest  End 

An  exhibit  is  being  currently  featured 
of  scenes  from  the  new  motion  picture 
"Sword  in  the  Desert".  A  collection  of 
pamphlets  and  books  on  Israel  has  also 
been  assembled  and  the  public  is  cordial- 
ly invited  to  visit  the  Branch  Library 
and  see  this  timely  and  interesting  ex- 
hibit. 


Thirty  children  had  their  favorite  toys 
as  special  guests  at  the  Toy  Party  held 
on  August  3  for  members  of  the  Summer 
Reading  Club.  Bride  dolls,  trains,  and 
Shmoos  were  among  those  present.  Prizes 
were  avrarded  to  the  owners  of  the  pretti- 
est, the  funniest,  and  the  most  unusual 


toys. 

Miss  Fanny  Goldstein,  Branch  Librarian, 
talked  to  the  children  on  summer  reading, 
and  Miss  Elinor  Day,  Children's  Librarian, 
told  an  entertaining  story.  The  guests 
also  participated  in  two  quizzes  ~  one  on 
books,  and  the  other  on  the  "Jest  End 
Branch  Library  building  and  its  history. 
As  a  climax  to  the  party,  ice  cream  and 
lollipops  were  served  to  the  guests. 


A  Great  Books  discussion  group  will  car- 
ry on  for  the  second  year,  beginning 
Monday  evening,  October  10,  and  meeting 
every  other  Monday  thereafter. 


In  connection  with  the  beginning  of  a 
new  academic  year  for  institutions  of 
higher  learning,  there  will  be  featured 
during  the  month  of  September  an  exhibit 
on  famous  colleges  and  universities,  both 
at  home  and  abroad.  The  exhibit  will  in- 
clude mounted  photographs,  catalogs,  and 
histories  of  many  of  the  schools,  as  well 
as  general  material  on  adult  education. 

********** 

PRESIDENT'S  NOTES 

There  is  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of  the 
members  of  the  Executive  Board  of  the 
B.P.L.P.S.A,  as  to  what  season  of  the  year 
it  is.  Fall  is  indeed  with  us,  and  with 
the  fall  a  host  of  proposed  activities. 
At  the  Executive  Board  meeting  held 
September  14  there  were  brought  before  the 
Board  several  suggestions  for  future  As- 
sociation undertakings  which  should  pro- 
vide pleasant  social  activities  for  the 
members  and  at  the  same  time  be  a  substan- 
tial help  to  our  shrinking  finances,  which 
need  reinforcement  if  our  professional 
projects  are  to  be  properly  executed.  The 
fact  that  the  proposals  submitted  by  staff 
members  were  nicely  balanced  between  pro- 
fessional and  social  shows  that  the  in- 
dividual members  are  alive  to  the  needs 
of  the  Association.  Several  of  these  sug- 
gestions require  some  ground  work  done  be- 
fore they  can  be  reported  to  the  member- 
ship as  a  whole  but  they  should  be  ready 
for  release  in  the  October  issue  of  The 
Question  Mark.  We  can  give  a  brief  report 


-9- 


on  the  follcwing  items: 

(1)  The  plans  for  that  VERY  IMPORTANT 
date  --  December  2,  1949  —  can  now  be 
divulged.   It  is  to  be  a  reception  to 
honor  our  Director  upon  his  inauguration 
as  President  of  the  American  Library  As- 
sociation. The  reception  is  to  be  held 
in  the  Princess  Suite  at  the  Hotel 
Somerset,  400  Commonwealth  Avenue,  Boston, 
at  8  p.m.   It  lias  been  several  years 
since  a  Director  of  the  Boston  Public 
Library  has  been  President  of  A.L.A. 

This  honor  which  comes  to  Mr  Lord  is 
shared  in  a  certain  measure  by  the  Boston 
Public  Library  and  the  other  libraries  in 
the  New  England  area,  where  Mr  Lord  has 
made  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  im- 
provement of  library  standards.   It  is 
hoped  that  all  staff  members  will  take 
this  opportunity  to  pay  tribute  to  a  high 
office  and  to  the  man  who  has  been  chosen 
to  serve  in  that  office  for  the  coming 
year. 

(2)  The  Committee  on  In-Service  Train- 
ing reports  that  speakers  for  the  Pall 
Institute,  to  be  held  in  the  Boston 
Public  Library  Lecture  Hall  November  17 
and  18,  have  been  contacted.  The  list  is 
impressive  and  it  is  hoped  that  those  who 
accept  will  bring  to  the  membership,  and 
all  others  who  are  able  to  participate  in 
the  Institute  proceedings,  real  inspira- 
tion for  a  broader  and  more  understanding 
service  to  the  public.  A  general  plan  of 
the  Institute  was  outlined  in  the  July 
issue  of  The  Question  Mark. 

(3)  Tentative  plans  are  underway  for  a 
theatre  party  and  for  an  evening  of 
square  dancing,  both  undertaken  to  pro- 
vide pleasant  recreation  and,  it  is 
hoped,  a  little  financial  upholstery  for 
the  Institute  expenses. 


SOAP  BOX 


Dear  "Soap  Box"  Editor: 

Those  of  us  who  are  interested  in  the 
scholarships  granted  to  staff  members  for 
study  in  the  fields  of  library  science 
are  somewhat  disturbed  by  the  number  of 
applicants  who  receive  scholarships  and 
then,  after  a  very  brief  time  with  the 
Library,  go  on  to  "greener  pastures."  It 
would  seem  that  the  prevalence  of  this 


practice  should  be  given  some  serious  con- 
sideration. TTould  it  be  possible  to  make 
one  of  the  requirements  of  the  receipt  of 
a  scholarship  a  promise  from  the  recipient 
that  he  or  she  will  stay  in  the  Library  a 
specified  length  of  time  after  the  comple- 
tion of  the  course  for  which  the  scholar- 
ship was  given? 

Not  being  familiar  with  the  procedure  of 
scholarship  grants,  I  find  it  difficult  to 
offer  concrete  suggestions,  but  it  does 
seem  that  some  measure  should  be  taken  to 
protect  the  Library  against  this  method  of 
refined  exploitation  which  is  becoming  far 
too  prevalent  either  for  the  good  of  the 
Library  service  or  for  those  receiving 
scholarships. 

AN  INQUIRER 


A  CHEAP  Y7AY  TO  BETTER  PUBLIC  RELATIONS 

In  direct  ratio  to  the  building  up  of 
the  splendid  book  collection  in  the  Branch 
Issue  Department  during  recent  years  is 
the  growing  need  (apparent  to  those  mem- 
bers of  the  staff  working  with  the  public) 
to  make  this  collection  more  widely  avail- 
able to  borrowers  using  the  Central  Li- 
brary. The  size  of  the  collection  (more 
than  double  that  of  the  Open  Shelf  Depart- 
ment and  the  largest  of  the  Branch  adult 
collections)  and  the  broad  understanding 
of  books  and  people  and  their  needs  re- 
flected in  its  selection,  make  it  incom- 
parably the  finest  basic  circulating  col- 
lection in  the  library  system.  Carefully 
developed  on  the  basis  of  city  wide  rather 
than  purely  local  needs  it  is  free  of  the 
parochialism  which  of  necessity  may  char- 
acterize a  branch  collection.  For  this 
reason  and  because  of  the  sharply  reduced 
book  quotas  now  in  effect  in  the  Open 
Shelf  Department  and  the  Branch  Libraries 
it  would  seem  desirable  that  its  resources 
should  be  available  to  the  public  at  all 
times  that  the  circulating  departments  of 
the  Central  Library  are  open. 

All  too  often  a  Branch  borrower,  finding 
his  local  collection  inadequate  for  his 
immediate  special  needs,  comes  hopefully 
to  Central  only  to  discover  that  the  books 
he  requires  are  unobtainable  from  the  Open 
Shelf  Department  or  restricted  to  hall  use 
in  the  Reference  Division.  Unless  it  is 
at  a  time  xihen   the  Branch  Issue  Department 


-10- 


is  open  (whore  in  many  instances  his  needj 
might  be  met)  the  borrower  will  leave  un- 
satisfied, mentally  chalking  up  a  black 
mark  against  the  library  "where  you  can 
never  get  anything"  --  a  wail  familiar  to 
complaint-hardened  staff  members. 

In  addition  to  its  overall  value  as  a 
well  rounded,  basic  collection  is  the 
added  fact  that  it  includes  also  hundreds 
of  "starred"  books  which  in  most  in- 
stances are  unobtainable  for  circulation 
anywhere  else  in  the  system.  As  every 
assistant  in  public  departments  such  as 
Open  Shelf  and  General  Reference  is 
aware,  many  of  these  are  among  the  most 
consistently  asked  for  books  by  students 
and  teachers  as  well  as  the  general 
reader. 

Discounting  the  numerous  ephemeral 
"best  sellers"  which  for  one  reason  or 
another  are  assigned  to  this  collection, 
the  following  groups  of  books  are  to  be 
found  in  the  "starred"  collection* 

1.  Significant  fiction  --  Authors 

ranging  from  Boccacoio  to  Flaubert, 
Zola,  Stendhal,  Romains,  Gide, 
Proust,  James  Joyce,  Huxley, 
D.  H.  Lawrence,  Dos  Passos, 
Sherwood  Anderson,  Dreiser, 
Faulkner,  Hemingway,  Steinbeck, 
James  Farrell  and  such  contempo- 
rary war  novelists  as  Hersey, 
Burns,  Shaw,  Mailer,  etc. 
Although  but  a  handful  of  exam- 
ples, these  suffice  to  indicate 
that  it  is  impossible  for  a  stu- 
dent, teacher  or  the  general 
reader  to  study  the  development 
of  the  modern  novel  without  re- 
course to  this  collection, 

2,  Books  on  sex  and  marriage,  contin- 

ually asked  for  by  students, 
teachers,  social  workers,  young 
couples,  etc. 

3.  Titles  in  various  special  fields  of 

psychology,  such  as  Psychology  of 
women,  Varieties  of  temperament, 
etc. 

4,  Miscellaneous  —  individual  titles 

in  the  fields  of  criminology, 
anatomy,  physiology  and  medicine, 
anthropology,  autobiography, 
drama,  etc. 
Other  important  fields  in  which  the 
Branch  Issue  Department's  holdings  are 
strong,  on  which  the  Open  Shelf  Depart- 
ment and  the  Reference  Departments  draw 
heavily  for  their  borrowers  because  of 


inadequacies  or  restrictions  in  their  own 
collections,  are: 

1.  Civil  service  books.  Unavailable  in 

the  Open  Shelf  at  the  present  time, 
the  bulk  of  the  Reference  Division's 
extensive  holdings  are  for  hall  use 
only,  and  the  few  available  for 
circulation  are  entirely  inadequate 
to  meet  the  continual  heavy  demand 
for  copies  for  home  use. 

2.  Technical  books.  These  are  unavail- 

able in  the  Open  Shelf  Department 
and  in  many  cases  are  restricted  to 
hall  use  in  the  Reference  Division. 

3.  Vocational  literature  —  including 

operating  small  businesses,  etc, 

4.  The  standard  classics  —  including 

wide  duplication  of  titles  used  in 
"Great  Books"  courses. 

5.  So  called  "avant  garde"  literature. 

6.  Psychology  —  standard  works  and 

texts  insufficiently  duplicated 
elsewhere. 

7.  Arts  and  crafts. 

8.  Social  sciences, 

9.  Certain  current  reference  books, 

generally  unavailable  elsewhere  for 

home  use. 
Since  the  Branch  Issue  Department  is 
closed  evenings,  Saturdays  and  Sundays  (or 
39  hours  weekly  when  Open  Shelf  and 
General  Reference  Departments  are  open)  it 
is  painfully  apparent  to  assistants  in 
these  departments  that  scores  of  borrow- 
ers are  each  week  denied  at  the  time  of 
their  requests  books  which  in  most  in- 
stances could  be  supplied  without  waiting 
by  Branch  Issue  Department.   In  many  in- 
stances these  individuals  are  working 
people  whose  only  free  time  is  during  the 
evening  hours  and  on  weekends. 

At  the  present  time,  during  those  hours 
when  Branch  Issue  is  open,  an  average  of 
thirty  trips  daily  are  made  from  Open 
Shelf  to  that  Department  to  supply  borrow- 
ers' needs.  This  is  in  addition  to  simi- 
lar trips  made  from  the  various  Referonce 
Departments, 

In  view  of  these  facts,  might  it  not  be 
possible  to  staff  the  Branch  Issue  Depart- 
ment during  these  hours  with  one  capable, 
trustworthy  part-time  assistant  (at  60  - 
80/  an  hour)  who  would  service  the  col- 
lection and  be  responsible  to  the 
Supervisor?   In  terms  of  added,  much 
needed  service  to  the  public,  and  the  sub- 
sequent good  public  relations  created  by 
such  a  step  certainly  the  cost  (roughly 


-11- 


$1400  a  year)  would  be  negligible. 

CONCERNED 

* 

To  the  "Soap  Box": 

No  Soap  Box  in  the  August  issue!  Lest 
this  lapse  should  become  permanent,  I've 
picked  two  conflicting  opinions  out  of 
the  not-as-hot-as-it-was  atmosphere  (if 
that  is  where  opinions  dwell)  and  present 
them  for  inspection: 

la  The  Question  Mark  is  not  "profes- 
sional"  and  it  should  be  as  the 
mouthpiece  of  a  professional  organ- 
ization, 
2.  The  Question  Mark  is  grand  because 
it  brings  me  up-to-date  on  what's 
happening  around  me.   I  look  for- 
vrard  to  the  fifteenth  of  each  month 
with  pleasurable  anticipation. 
Obviously,  before  agreeing  or  disagree- 
ing, it  was  only  fair  s 

1.  To  examine  the  Constitution  and  By- 
Laws  of  the  Association  and  the 
file  of  The  Question  Mark  to  see  if 
the  scope  of  the  paper  had  ever 
been  set  down  in  black  and  white. 

2.  To  examine  the  issues  to  date  to 
reacquaint  myself  with  what  they 
contained. 

3.  To  consider  —  regardless  of  1  and 
2  —  the  people  for  whom  the  paper 
is  issued. 

First,  the  Constitution  contains  no 
statement  with  regard  to  a  bulletin. 
The  By-Laws  (Article  V,  Section  5)  state: 

"It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Publica- 
tions Committee  to  issue  a  bulletin. 
The  chairman  of  this  committee  shall 
be  the  editor-in-chief." 

The  first  issue  of  The  Question  Mark 
included  this  statement: 

"This  publication  is  a  trial  balloon  — 
a  news  sheet  for  the  Staff  Association. 
We  should  like  to  have  it  controlled 
as  much  as  possible  by  all  the  Staff 
members  for  whom  it  is  issued,., 

"The  present  plan  is  to  cover,  in  brief 
form,  current  library  news  and  person- 
al notes  of  general  interest,  with 
occasional  notices  of  special  books  or 
articles  on  library  topics.   Further 
suggestions  will  be  very  welcome. 
There  might,  for  instance,  be  an 
'open  forum*  section;  or  one  for 


discussion  of  projects  under  way  in 
Branches  or  at  Central;  or  any  other 
feature  which  you  would  find  useful." 
Secondly,  an  examination  of  the  issues 
through  the  years  revealed  that  space  has 
been  given  to:  Reporting  professional 
library  meetings;  listing  articles  of  pro- 
fessional interest  in  periodicals;  detail- 
ing branch  and  department  activities 
(social  and  professional);  announcing 
ever-changing  personnel;  and  free  expres- 
sion of  opinion  in  the  Soap  Box. 

Thirdly,  for  whose  consumption  is  The 
Question  Mark  intended?  Primarily  for 


the  members  of  the  Staff  of  the  Boston 
Public  Library  —  hundreds  of  human  beings 
(from  15  to  701 ),  subject  to  the  frailties 
and  foibles  of  all  Imman  beings;  therefore, 
probably  interested  in  the  minutiae  of 
everyday  living  among  their  fellow  workers, 
and  ~  in  more  serious  moments  ~  eager  to 
be  informed  of  the  progress  being  made  in 
the  profession  of  Librarianship, 

These  hundreds  of  human  beings  are  lo- 
cated in  more  than  thirty  widely-separated 
buildings  (no  bookmobiles,  yetl)  through- 
out the  city.  They  need  a  medium  through 
which  they  can  keep  in  touch  and  be  made 
to  feel  that  what  their  branch  or  depart- 
ment does  professionally  and  socially  is 
helping  to  make  the  whole  organization 
prosper. 

All  of  which  leads  me  to  express  two 
personal  opinions: 

First,  that  The  Question  Mark  should  be 
both  professional  and  non-professional; 
both  serious  and  not-so-serious;  but 
always  embracing  a  "live-and-let-live" 
philosophy  and  never  a  condescending 
"holier-than-thou"  attitude. 
Secondly,  that  whatever  The  Question 
Mark  contains  it  will  appeal  —  now,  to 
some;  again,  to  others;  but  probably 
never  to  all  at  the  same  time. 
Hot/  do  you  feel  about  your  Question  Mark? 

I  LIKE  ITS 

Editor's  Note:   The  Publications  Commit- 
tee \velcomes  —  and  anticipates  ~  dis- 
cussion with  regard  to  the  content  of 
The  Question  Mark,  It  is  hoped  that  the 
above  letter  will  call  forth  other  ex- 
pressions of  opinion  as  well  as  contri- 
butions of  both  types  mentioned. 


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THE   QUESTION   MARK 

Fublished  by  the  Boston  Public  Library  Professional  Staff  Association 
Volume  IV,  Number  9 October  1949 


Publications  Committee t  Mildred  R.  Adelson,  M.  Dorothy  Braokett,  John  M.  Carroll, 

Eleanor  DiGiannantonio,  Sarah  M.  Usher,  Chairman 


Publication  date; 
The  fifteenth  of  each  month 


Deadline  for  submitting  material j 
The  tenth  of  each  month 


IN  MEMORIAM 

Abraham  E.  Pinanski 

Trustee  of  the 
Boston  Public  Library 
February  1943  —  April  1949 


"To  live  in  hearts  we  leave  behind 
is  not  to  die." 


With  the  death  of  Judge  Abraham  E.  Pinanski  on  October  fifth 
the  Library  lost  a  staunch  friend  and  tireless  worker  for  its 
betterment.  Judge  Pinanski  served  the  Library  from  1934  to  1942 
as  a  member  of  the  Examining  Committee,  of  which  he  was  elected 
Vice  Chairman  in  1937  and  again  in  1938.  On  February  16,  1943 
Judge  Pinanski  was  appointed  a  Trustee  of  the  Library  and  con- 
tinued on  the  Board  of  Trustees  until  April  30,  1949,  He  served 
as  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  in  1946. 


The  human  quality  of  his  warm  friendliness  and  of  his  unfail- 
ing kindness  made  association  with  Judge  Pinanski  a  pleasure  for 
the  staff.  His  willingness  to  aid  in  activities  carried  on  by 
members  of  the  staff  and  to  give  of  his  time  and  energy  whenever 
called  upon  by  the  Library  will  not  soon  be  forgotten. 


PERSONAL  NOTES 
New  Staff  Members 

Miss  Joan  R.  Nill,  Mattapan  Branch 
Library. 

Miss  Joyce  C.  Rylander,  Reference  Divi- 
sion Office. 

Miss  Nancy  J.  Dickson,  Book  Selection 
Department,  Circulation  Division. 

Miss  Fern  K.  Schoonmaker,  Brighton 
Branch  Library. 

Resignations 

Mrs  Phyllis  Podren,  Brighton  Branch 
Branch  Library,  to  remain  at  home. 

Mrs  Jeanne  C.  Foret,  Mattapan  Branch 
Library,  to  accept  a  position  as  Chil- 
dren's Librarian  at  the  Watertown  Public 
Library. 

Miss  Joan  Hopkins on,  Book  Selection 
Department,  Circulation  Division,  to  ac- 
cept another  position, 

Mrs  M.  Kathleen  Roomian,  City  Point 
Branch  Library,  to  remain  at  home. 

Mr  Julian  L.  Moynahan,  Cataloging  and 
Classification,  Reference  Division,  to 
study  at  Harvard  University. 

Transferred 

Mrs  Helen  F.  Hirson,  West  Roxbury 
Branch  Library  to  Circulation  Division 
Office. 

Staff  Members  Studying  at  Simmons  College 


School  of  Library  Science 

Miss  M.  Dorothy  Brackett,  City  Point 
Branch  Library. 

Miss  Mary  J.  Brady,  Cataloging  and 
Classification  Department,  Reference  Di- 
vision. 

Mrs  Marjorie  G.  Bouquet,  Reference  Di- 
vision Office. 

Miss  Elizabeth  H.  Kaufmann,  Print  De- 
partment. 

Miss  Isabella  G.  Pennampede,  Informa- 
tion Office. 

Miss  Elizabeth  G.  Todd,  Teachers  De- 
partment . 

Miss  Katharine  TJeisman,  Memorial  Branch 
Library. 


Engagements 

Miss  Nancy  J.  Dickson,  Book  Selection 
Department,  Circulation  Division,  to  Mr 
Tilliam  A.  Boy  Ian,  Harvard  Lav/  School. 

Miss  Sigrid  Robinson,  Open  Shelf  De- 
partment, to  Mr  John  W.  Reddy  of  West 
Newton,  on  September  18. 

Weddings 

At  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
Saturday,  September  17,  at  the  Cathedral 
of  the  Holy  Cross,  Miss  Kathryn  I.  N. 
Dolan,  Open  Shelf  Department,  was  married 
to  Mr  Edward  G.  Maloof .  Miss  Anne  Moore 
of  the  same  department  was  one  of  the 
bridesmaids.  Following  the  ceremony  a 
reception  was  held  at  the  Brookline  Elks1 
Club.  After  a  wedding  trip  through  New 
Hampshire  and  Canada,  Mr  and  Mrs  Maloof 
will  live  in  Winchester. 

WE  WELCOME  BACK 

Mr  Milton  E.  Lord,  the  Director,  after 
a  summer's  absence  during  which  he  repre- 
sented the  American  Library  Association 
as  a  member  of  the  World  Town  Hall 
Seminar. 

Miss  Marie  McCarthy,  Cataloging  and 
Classification  Department,  Circulation 
Division,  after  a  long  absence  on  account 
of  illness. 

Miss  Martha  Engler,  South  End  Branch 
Library,  after  several  weeks*  absence 
as  the  result  of  a  railroad  accident. 

ACCIDENT 

Miss  Katherine  G.  Sullivan  of  the 
General  Reference  Department  has  been  ab- 
sent from  the  Library  since  September  10 
because  of  a  fractured  v/rist  sustained  in 
a  fall  while  visiting  in  Quincy.  Her  re- 
turn is  looked  forward  to  by  her  fellow 
workers  and  the  public  as  eagerly  as  we 
hope  she  looks  forward  to  it. 

4HHHHHHHHH* 


-3- 


C0NGRATULATI0N5  ARE  IN  ORDER 

Miss  A.  Virginia  Haviland,  Branch  Li- 
brarian at  Phillips  Brooks  Branch  Library, 
will  give  the  second  Hewins  Lecture  at 
Swampscott  on  Saturday  afternoon,  October 
1$.  She  is  the  second  member  of  the 
Boston  Public  Library  staff  to  have  re- 
ceived this  honor.  The  first  lecture  in 
19h7  was  given  by  Miss  Alice  M.  Jordan, 
Supervisor  of  Y/ork  with  Children, 
Emeritus.  The  Hewins  Lectures  were 
founded  by  Mr  Frederic  Melcher  and  are 
administered  by  the  Round  Table  of  Chil- 
dren' s  Librarians. 


Mrs  Dorothy  M.  Lovett,  Business  Branch 
Librarian,  will  participate  in  the  Region- 
al Meeting  of  the  Business  and  Technology 
Section  of  the  ALA.  An  informal  discus- 
sion of  mutual  problems  and  plans  for  the 
formation  of  a  Regional  Group  is 
scheduled. 


Mr  Charles  L.  Higgins,  First  Assistant 
in  the  General  Reference  Department,  is 
conducting  a  course  in  Reference  Work  at 
Simmons  College  and  is  also  teaching  a 
University  Extension  course  in  Reference 
Work  which  will  meet  in  the  Training 
Classroom  in  the  Central  Library. 


We  are  happy  to  learn  that,  effective 
March  1,  19h9 ,   according  to  Chapter  681, 
Acts  of  19l;9,  all  city  employees  retired 
prior  to  October  1,  19U6,  received  an  in- 
crease of  20$  in  pensions,  provided  that 
they  had  been  receiving  less  than  $1^00  a 
year,  and  that  no  pension  in  this  category 
should  be  increased  to  an  amount  exceed- 
ing .$1500.  Congratulations  to  each  of 
you  I 

ALUMNAE  NOTES 

SECOND  ALUMNAE  TEA 

Remembering  that  those  who  attended  the 
Alumnae  Tea  in  19U8  had  expressed  a  desire 
that  the  event  might  become  a  regular  Fall 


activity,  Miss  Edith  Guerrier,  Supervisor 
of  Branch  Libraries,  Emeritus,  issued  in- 
vitations to  the  same  fifteen  who  were 
invited  one  year  ago. 

Those  Branch  Librarians,  Emeritus,  who 
came  were:  Mrs  Edith  H.  Bailey,  Misses 
Anne  M.  Donovan,  Margaret  H.  Reid, 
Katherine  S.  Rogan,  Mary  M.  Sullivan,  and 
Geneva  Watson ;   also,  Miss  Marion  A. 
McCarthy,  Chief  of  Book  Preparation  De- 
partment, Emeritus.  Those  who  were  pre- 
vented from  coming  on  account  of  previous 
engagements  were:  Supervisor  of  Work  with 
Children,  Emeritus,  Miss  Alice  M.  Jordan, 
and  Branch  Librarians,  Emeritus,  Misses 
Katie  F.  Albert,  Mary  E.  Ames,  M.  Florence 
Cufflin,  Clara  L.  Maxwell,  Carrie  L. 
Morse,  and  Katharine  F,  Muldoon,  and 
Supervisor  in  the  Circulation  Division, 
Mrs  Ada  A.  Andeiman. 

Miss  Guerrier  was  assisted  by  what  she 
referred  to  as  her  "Catering  Club" : 
Miss  A.  Virginia  Haviland,  Mrs  Muriel  C. 
Javelin,  Miss  Dorothy  F.  Nourse,  Miss 
Edna  G.  Peck,  Mrs  Gertrude  Stoddard,  and 
Miss  Sarah  M.  Usher. 

After  refreshments  had  been  enjoyed, 
colored  slides  taken  by  her  in  Mexico 
this  past  summer  were  shown  by  Miss 
Haviland.  The  afternoon  was  in  all  re- 
spects a  complete  success. 


MISS  GUERRIER  GIVES  TALK 

On  Friday  evening,  September  30,  Miss 
Edith  Guerrier  entertained  the  Old 
Dartmouth  Historical  Society  with  a  talk 
about  the  friendship  between  her  grand- 
father, Daniel  Ricketson  of  New  Bedford, 
and  Henry  David  Thoreau,  famous  author, 
naturalist,  and  philosopher. 

Miss  Guerrier  also  read  many  excerpts 
from  letters  written  by  friends  to  her 
grandfather.  There  were  letters  from 
William  Howitt,  British  author,  Lydia 
Maria  Child,  editor  of  the  first  monthly 
periodical  for  children  published  in  the 
United  States,  Charles  Elliott  Norton, 
Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  John  Greenleaf 
Whittier,  W.  Ellery  Channing,  Theodore 
Parker,  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  Wendell 
Phillips,  the  English  poet,  William 
Barnes,  George  William  Curtis,  and 
Thoreau. 

In  the  informal  period  which  followed 
the  talk,  Miss  Guerrier  was  greeted  by 


'.. 


-U- 


many  persons  who  remembered  her  as  a 
child  in  New  Bedford.  She  had  the  thril- 
ling experience  of  being  introduced  to  an 
unusually  good  oil  painting  of  her  mother, 
the  existence  of  which  she  had  not  known 
of  previously. 


MISS  OLIVIER  IN  ACCIDENT 

On  September  17 >  19h9 ,   while  on  an 
automobile  trip  to  Prince  Edward  Island, 
Miss  Evelina  V.   Olivier,  formerly  of  the 
Connolly  Branch  Library,  was  badly  in- 
jured vihen   the  car  in  which  she  was  a 
passenger  skidded  on  a  newly  constructed 
highway  in  Norton,  New  Brunswick.  The 
driver  was  also  badly  injured.  Because 
of  the  seriousness  of  their  injuries  a 
long  period  of  hospitalization  will  be 
necessary.  At  present  they  are  being 
cared  for  in  the  King's  County  Memorial 
Hospital,  Sussex,  N.B.  Canada.  After 
about  two  weeks  they  hope  to  be  trans- 
ferred to  a  hospital  near  home.  I  am 
sure  Miss  Olivier  would  be  glad  to  re- 
ceive friendly  greetings  from  her  library 
friends. 

M.  A.  C. 


* 


The  engagement  of  Miss  Joan  L. 
Hopkinson  and  Mr  John  W.  Harder  has  re- 
cently been  announced.  Miss  Hopkinson 
is  a  former  member  of  the  staff  of  the 
Book  Selection  Department,  Circulation 
Division. 

*HHHHHHHBf# 

LIKE  TO  BECOME  A  FIVE  PERCENTER? 

Those  who  did  not  j")in  the  $%   retire- 
ment system  for  the  reason  of  the  20-year 
disability  provision  as  against  the  l^- 
year  disability  provision  of  the  k%   sys- 
tem may  now  feel  that  they  wish  to  look 
into  the  $%   system  in  view  of  the  change 
in  the  law  equalizing  the  two  systems  in 
this  respect. 

It  has  been  suggested  at  the  office  of 
the  Retirement  Board  that  Mr  Kenney  might 
be  able  to  present  a  petition  to  the 
Board  to  re-open  the  $%   system  if  enough 
people  are  interested.  Letters  may  be 
sent  to: 


Mr  William  D.  Kenney 

Secretary  and  Executive  Officer 

Retirement  Board 

City  Hall  6$ 

Boston  8,  Massachusetts 

-IHBBBBHHHHS- 

CREDIT  UNION  LATE  FLASH 

The  City  of  Boston  Employees  Credit 
Union  reports  that  no  payments  will  be 
accepted  until  further  notice.  Future 
issues  of  The  Question  Mark  will  keep  you 
posted  on  any  changes. 

■SHHBHHHHHH!- 

BE  ON  THE  ALERT 

We  urgently  request  all  those  who  are 
attending  the  Regional  Meeting  in 
Swampscott  to  be  on  the  alert  for  items 
which  will  be  of  interest  to  the  Boston 
Public  Library  staff  and  should  be  in- 
cluded in  the  November  issue  of  The 
Question  Mark. 

THE  B0WLIN3  LEAGUE 

The  bowling  season  officially  opened 
Wednesday  evening,  October  fifth.   Be- 
cause of  the  small  turnout  on  the  previ- 
ous two  weeks  on  Tuesday  night,  the  day 
was  changed  to  Wednesday.  The  active 
bowler r  now  number  U2  —  23  women  and  19 
men.  Each  week  the  bowling  averages  with 
pinfall  will  be  posted  on  the  bulletin 
board.   On  account  of  the  holiday  on 
October  12,  there  will  be  no  bowling  that 
week. 

TELEVISION  SET  RENTED 

The  Men's  House  Committee  renorts  that 
the  television  set  rented  by  popular  sub- 
scription of  BPL  baseball  fans  so  that 
the  World  Series  could  be  brought  to  the 
Men's  Smoking  Room,  was  greatly  appreci- 
ated by  the  men  (and  a  few  of  the  ladies'.)- 
The  Committee  hopes  that  at  some  future 
time  a  television  set  will  be  a  permanent 
fixture  in  the  library. 


-5- 


PRESIDENT'S  NOTES 

The  changing  foliage,  the  crisp  early- 
morning  air,  and  the  calendar  all  remind 
us  that  fall  is  here.  There  are  also 
several  other  indications  for  BPLPSA  mem- 
bers that  the  busy  season  is  with  us. 

It  is  almost  time  for  the  annual  insti- 
tute. The  In-Service  Training  Committee 
reports  that  plans  are  progressing  favor- 
ably. Unless  some  unforseen  difficulties 
arise,  the  Institute  promises  to  be  a  re- 
warding experience  for  all  staff  members. 
Save  the  dates  —  November  17  and  18. 
Before  this  issue  of  The  Question  Mark 
reaches  you,  you  will  have  received  the 
preliminary  announcements  concerning  the 
Institute.  Remember  that  this  Institute 
can  be  of  value  to  you,  only  if  you  at- 
tend. 


To  help  defray  the  necessary  expenses 
involved  in  carrying  on  the  Institute, 
and  to  supplement  the  two  hundred  dollars 
so  generously  granted  by  the  Trustees, 
the  Entertainment  Committee  has  made  ar- 
rangements for  a  Square  Dance  to  be  held 
in  the  BPL  Lecture  Hall  on  Friday  even- 
ing, October  28,  at  8  p.m.  Duncan  Hay 
will  be  the  caller.  Refreshments  will  be 
in  keeping  with  the  season.  Admission  is 
sixty  cents,  tax  included.  Come  and 
bring  a  friend.  This  is  a  grand  chance 
to  have  a  oleasant  evening  and  at  the 
same  time  to  help  bolster  the  financial 
structure  of  the  Association. 


Recently  two  special  committees  have 
been  appointed  by  the  Executive  Board. 
It  was  decided  that  some  foundation  work 
should  be  done  on  the  problem  of  Sabbati- 
cal leaves.  Miss  Pearl  Smart  of  the 
Personnel  Office  was  asked  to  choose  a 
committee  to  begin  work  on  this  problem. 
Their  first  project  is  to  make  a  report 
on  Sabbatical  leaves  as  practiced  in 
other  educational  institutions,  with 
special  detail  given  to  the  library  angle. 
Miss  Smart  has  chosen  to  work  with  her, 
Mr  Edward  X.  Casey,  Cataloging  and  Clas- 
sification Department,  Reference  Division, 
Miss  Marie  J.  Pineo,  Uphams  Corner  Branch 
Library,  and  Miss  Edith  M.  Sliney, 
Records,  Files,  and  Statistics  Office. 


i I  am  sure  that  the  membership  will  be  in- 
terested in  hearing  from  this  committee. 


Another  special  committee  headed  by  Miss 
M.  Catherine  Robbins  is  busy,  very  busy, 
making  a  study  of  possible  discounts  for 
BPL  employees  in  several  essential  cate- 
gories. Their  contacts  to  date  have  been 
most  gratifying.  In  the  November  issue  of 
The  Question  Mark  it  may  be  possible  to 
submit  to  you  at  least  a  partial  list  of 
business  houses  and  firms  that  are  inter- 
ested in  giving  discounts  to  BPL  employ- 
ees. Miss  Robbins  has  chosen  to  work  with 
her  on  this  project  the  following  people: 
Mr  Samuel  Green,  Business  Office,  and  Mr 
Edward  X.  Casey,  Cataloging  and  Classifi- 
cation Department,  Reference  Division. 


* 


At  the  request  of  the  Executive  Board, 
steps  are  being  taken  to  have  the  complete 
file  of  The  Question  Mark  bound  and  in- 
dexed. Copies  will  be  added  to  the  Li- 
brary's collection.  This  important  task 
is  being  carried  on  by  the  Publications 
Committee. 


The  Executive  Board  has  voted  to  utilize 
the  constructive  suggestion  submitted  by 
Mr  Moorfield  Storey,  Junior,  Chairman  of 
the  Constitution  Committee.  Mr  Storey  has 
suggested  that  it  might  be  helpful  if  a 
week  prior  to  any  business  meeting,  the 
agenda  for  that  meeting  were  posted  on  the 
bulletin  boards,  in  Central  Library  and  in 
all  the  branch  libraries.  In  this  way 
every  member  of  the  Association  will  have 
some  idea  of  what  is  to  be  taken  up  at  the 
meeting,  and  will  be  able  to  crystallize 
his  or  her  own  ideas  on  the  topics  to  be 
discussed.  This  should  do  much  to  stimu- 
late interest  in  the  business  meetings, 
and  each  individual  member  will  be  given  a 
greater  responsibility  in  expressing  opin- 
ions on  any  policy  or  question  under  dis- 
cussion. 


The  fall  business  meeting  is  scheduled 
for  Friday,  November  2£,  at  9  a.m.  in  the 
Lecture  Hall.  Yes,  we  know  it  is  the  day 


-6- 


after  Thanksgiving  but  due  to  complica- 
tions —  November  11  is  a  holiday,  Nov- 
ember 18  is  the  final  day  of  the 
Institute  —  the  2£th  seems  to  be  the 
only  Friday  available  —  and  it  has  been 
generally  agreed  that  Friday  morning  is 
the  best  morning,  all  things  considered. 
So,  even  tho'  you  may  be  feeling  somewhat 
inflated  due  to  over-indulgence  on 
Thursday,  come  just  the  same.  The  exer- 
cise will  be  good  for  you. 


Another  suggestion  submitted  by  an  in- 
terested association  member,  Miss  Marion 
Kingman,  3ranch  Librarian  at  South  End 
Branch  Library,  is  that  a  plan  should  be 
set  up  whereby,  through  some  competitive 
measure,  a  cash  prize  should  be  offered 
to  young  staff  members,  (i.e.  young  in 
point  of  library  service)  to  help  defray 
expenses  at  professional  library  meetings, 
such  as  the  ALA,  MLA,  SLA,  etc.  The 
Executive  Board  has  this  suggestion  under 
advisement  and  it  is  hoped  that  a  satis- 
factory plan  may  be  set  up  in  the  near 
future.  At  the  moment  lack  of  funds  is 
the  chief  deterrent  to  the  plan. 


The  results  of  the  CARE  drive  were  very 
gratifying.  You  are  doing  a  grand  job. 
One  more  long  hard  pull  and  we ' 11  make 
that  desired  destination  —  one  thousand 
dollars. 


On  Tuesday  afternoon,  October  h>   Miss 
Fanny  Goldstein,  President  of  the  Boston 
Public  Library  Employees  Benefit  Associa- 
tion, Inc.,  Miss  Edna  G.  Peck,  President 
of  the  Boston  Public  Library  Professional 
Staff  Association,  and  Mr  Leonard  J. 
Macraillan,  Commander  of  the  Arnavets,  met 
together  to  discuss  the  possibility  of 
the  three  organizations  joining  forces  to 
lay  plans  for  the  erection  of  a  suitable 
memorial  to  those  library  employees  who 
served  in  World  War  II.  A  communication 
has  been  sent  to  the  Director  regarding 
this  matter.  It  is  hoped  that  we  may 
have  some  concrete  plans  to  present  in 
the  December  issue  of  The  Question  Mark. 


■K- 


What  is  the  status  quo  of  your  engage- 
ment calendar?  Don't  forget  you  have  a 
VERY  IMPORTANT  date  on  Friday  evening, 
December  2.  You'll  be  hearing  more  about 
it  very  shortly. 

*HHHBBBHHBt 

LEST  YOU  FORGET 

Sketches  for  a  cover  for  The  Question 
Mark  are  due  on  October  20 ,  19lt9 . 


Specifications 

Width  of  design:  Not  over  7  inches. 

Length  of  design:  Not  over  11  inches. 

Is  yours  ready? 


NEW  QUARTERS 

A  contract  has  been  awarded  to  C.  C. 
Temple  for  making  renovations  in  the  form- 
er Cataloging  and  Classification  Depart- 
ment. Upon  completion  of  the  work,  on  or 
about  February  1,  1950,  new  quarters  will 
be  available  for  the  Open  Shelf  Department. 

#3HHHH«BHfr# 

BOOKMOBILE 

Word  has  been  received  that  the  Book- 
movile  will  be  ready  for  use  on  November 
1st. 

XXXXXXXXXX 

BLIND  DATES 

Girls  from  various  colleges  going  out  on 
blind  date  —  first  question  asked: 
Wellesley  —  How  much  money  has  he  got? 
Smith  —  What  about  his  family  back- 
ground? 
Radcliffe  —  What  college  did  he  go  to? 
Simmons  —  Where  is  he? 

THE  LIBRARY  —  ACCORDING  TO  NIECES 

This  fall  Janet  aged  six  entered  school 
and  learned  many  things  including  the 
pledge  to  the  American  flag.  Her  version 


-7- 


is  "I  pledge  allegiance  to  the  flag  of 
the  United  States  of  America  and  the  pub- 
lic library  for  which  it  stands." 


■«■ 


Ten  year  old  Faith  has  her  life  well 
planned.  She  says,  "When  I  get  out  of 
college,  I'll  teach  for  a  year  or  two  un- 
til I  get  married.   If  no  one  asks  me  to 
marry  him,  I'll  be  a  librarian  like  my 
aunt." 

#3HHHHHHHt-tt 

OUR  FRONT  HALL  LOOKS  BACKWARD 

"Yes,  a  good  many  men  have  thought  me 
beautiful.  Thoy  do  now  —  sometimes." 
Our  Front  Hall  was  reviving  her  memories 
of  other  days  in  an  interview  granted  ex- 
clusively to  The  Question  Mark.   "No 
longer  ago  than  last  Christmas,"  she  con- 
tinued, "a  man  stopped  one  of  the  Library 
girls  on  the  main  staircase  and  asked, 
'What  does  it  say  to  you,  this  hall,  as 
you  go  in  and  out  and  look  up  at  its 
walls?  I  come  back  to  it  whenever  I  am 
in  Boston.  It's  forty  years  now  since  I 
first  saw  it. '" 

"In  those  days,"  the  Front  Hall  chuck- 
led, "we  didn't  think  too  much  about 
utility  and  convenience.  Being  beautiful 
was  supposed  to  be  enough.  But  you  have 
to  do  more  than  that  now  if  you  want  to 
keep  your  public. 

"Things  went  on  much  as  they  were  in 
the  beginning  for  a  number  of  years  — 
till  after  the  First  World  War.  Oh,  we 
held  an  exhibition  on  the  street  floor 
occasionally  in  one  of  those  little  rooms 
where  the  Open  Shelf  Department  is  now. 
And  over  beside  the  elevator  a  public 
stenographer  had  a  room.  The  telephone 
booths  were  down  the  hall  just  outside 
the  door  of  the  Newspaper  Room.   Except 
for  a  bench  where  visitors  to  members  of 
the  staff  could  be  entertained,  that  was 
all  there  was  until  Christmas  of  1918. 

"Then  some  women  from  the  Red  Cross 
wanted  to  come  in  for  the  holiday  season 
to  sell  greeting  cards  to  help  the  organ- 
ization. They  set  up  a  table  and  two 
chairs  in  front  of  the  old  coat  room  at 
the  left  of  the  staircase,  and  they  wore 
their  hats  and  coats  and  rubbers  all  day. 

"In  the  fall  of  1920,  the  combined  Open 
Shelf  Room,  Information,  and  Government 


Service  Departments  moved  into  the  little 
exhibition  room  and  it  wasn't  long  after 
that  before  we  began  to  hear  a  lot  about 
the  importance  of  information.  People 
needed  guidance  all  of  a  sudden  and  they 
had  to  have  it  as  soon  as  they  were  in- 
side the  front  door.  So,  a  few  years 
later  —  in  1928,  it  was  —  we  had  an 
Information  Booth.  It  cost  nine  hundred 
and  seventy-five  dollars.  Somehow,  I 
never  thought  it  suited  me.  It  was  a  big 
round  thing  of  dark-brown  wood  with  a 
dome-shaped  top  and  little  glass  windows 
so  that  the  girls  inside  wouldn't  feel 
the  draft.  But  it  vrould  take  more  than 
glass  to  keep  the  drafts  out  of  this  hall, 
if  you  ask  me.  I  used  to  see  the  girls 
dash  to  their  lockers  for  their  over- 
coats whenever  a  break-down  of  the  sched- 
ule threatened  and  an  emergency  call  was 
sent  down  for  some  one  to  go  on  duty  in  a 
hurry  at  the  booth. 

"Then  came  World  War  II.  By  that  time 
it  wasn't  enough  to  have  just  information. 
There  had  to  be  a  center  for  it  and,  of 
course,  I  was  the  Center.  You  remember 
what  happened.  Booths  to  the  right  and 
left  of  you,  maps,  flags,  posters,  signs, 
and  flood-lights  that  made  your  eyes  pop. 
The  old,  dome-covered  nine-hundred-and- 
seventy-five-dollar  pagoda  with  its  lit- 
tle glass  windows  was  hustled  off  to  the 
basement.  Additional  heat  was  installed 
in  the  outer  lobby  and  smart  tweeds  re- 
placed the  attendants'  overcoats.  Open- 
toed  sandals  had  come  in  with  the  war, 
and  no  one  wore  rubbers  any  more  even 
when  they  were  needed.  Like  the  bewil- 
dered old  woman  in  Mother  Goose,  I  looked 
round  and  said  to  myself,  '0!  deary, 
deary  me,  this  is  none  of  I.' ' 

"Stay?  Yes,  indeed,  I  did.  Every  day 
I  was  right  there,  greeting  the  public 
and  trying  to  look  my  best.  I  was  biding 
my  time.  Sure  enough,  after  the  war  all 
but  one  of  the  booths  were  moved  away. 
Now,  that,  too,  is  gone.  And  today, 
where  the  old  coat-room  with  its  drinking 
fountain  was  once,  and  afterwards  the 
office  of  the  tabulating  machine,  and 
after  that,  Book  Selection,  is  the  new 
nineteen  forty-nine  home  of  Information. 
You  can  read  the  familiar  name  in  shining 
letters.  Only  this  time  it's  stencilled 
over  fluorescent  lights. 

"People  tell  me,"  the  Front  Hall  con- 
cluded, with  a  touch  of  vanity,  "that  I 
am  looking  more  like  myself  again." 

CHRISTINE  HAYES 

##*HHHHH8Ht 


■■'■  I     ' 


-8- 


PRAYER  BOOK  EXHIBIT 
IN  THE  TREASURE  ROOM 

It  was  on  January  22,  15U9  —  four 
hundred  years  ago  —  that  the  first  Eng- 
lish Book  of  Common  Prayer  was  ratified 
by  Parliament.  In  commemoration  of  the 
anniversary,  an  exhibit  has  been  arranged 
in  the  Treasure  Room. 

The  Boston  Public  Library  owns  one  of 
the  richest  existing  collections  of  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer.  Received  in  1919 
as  a  bequest  of  the  late  Josiah  H.  Benton 
and  augmented  since  from  the  trust  fund 
established  by  him,  the  collection  com- 
prises over  eight  hundred  volumes.  It 
includes  first-edition  copies  of  the 
first  Prayer  Book  of  15U9,  Edward's  sec- 
ond Prayer  Book  of  1552,  and  those  of 
Queen  Elizabeth  of  1559,  King  James's  of 
I60I4,  and  no  less  than  five  copies  of  the 
final  revision  of  1662,  besides  scores  of 
other  editions.  It  has  some  of  the  rar- 
est English  Primers,  the  Scottish  Liturgy 
of  1637,  and  the  first  Prayer  Book  of  the 
Church  of  Ireland  of  1?21.  Translations 
into  nearly  a  hundred  languages,  ranging 
from  Greek  and  Latin  to  Turkish,  Yiddish, 
Sanskrit,  Eskimo,  and  the  dialects  of  the 
remotest  African,  Australian,  and 
Polynesian  tribes,  are  one  of  the  salient 
features  of  the  collection. 

The  American  section  is  equally  com- 
plete. It  boasts  of  such  extreme  rari- 
ties as  the  first  American  edition  of 
1710,  the  Mohawk  Prayer  Book  of  1715, 
Benjamin  Franklin's  Abridgement  of  1773, 
and  the  Liturgy  of  the  First  Episcopal 
Church  in  Boston,  1785.  Naturally,  it 
has  the  "Proposed  Book"  of  1786,  and  the 
first  standard  edition  of  1790,  and  all 
the  later  revisions.  The  exhibit  in  the 
Treasure  Room  had  to  be  limited  to  a 
hundred  items  —  to  the  choicest  volumes 
of  the  magnificent  collection. 

The  pre-Reformation  service-books  are 
extremely  rare  —  the  King's  Primer  pro- 
hibited their  use  in  \$l&,   and  a  year 
after  the  publication  of  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  a  statute  ordered  that  "all 
Bookes  called  Antyphones  Mysalls  Scrayles 
Processionalles  Manualles  Legends  Pyes 
Portuyses  Prymers  in  Lattyn  or  Inglishe... 
shalbe  clerely  and  utterlye  abollished 
extinguished  and  forbidden  for  ever  to  be 
used  or  kepte. . ," 

The  Library  has  about  a  dozen  of  these 
precious  items.  The  earliest  is  a  Hore 
Virginis  Mariae  according  to  the 


I  Salisbury  use,  printed  in  Paris  in  1526. 
It  is  a  beautiful  folio  of  22li  leaves, 
each  page  surrounded  by  a  woodcut  border 
made  up  of  scenes  from  the  Bible,  the 
Dance  of  Death,  and  various  grotesque 
figures;  the  title-page  shows  the  funeral 
of  the  Virgin,  and  there  are  twenty  other 
full-page  woodcuts,  besides  numerous  his- 
toriated  initials.  Next  should  be  men- 
tioned the  Prymer  off  Salysburye  Vse 
printed  in  Paris  in  1533.  This  is  a  small 
book  of  nearly  three  hundred  leaves.  The 
twelve  oval  woodcuts  of  the  Calendar,  rep- 
resenting the  successive  stages  of  human 
life,  are  probably  by  Geoffry  Tory,  as 
they  are  signed  by  his  mark,  the  Lorraine 
cross. 

But  even  more  valuable  is  a  copy  of  the 
first  edition  of  the  Marshall  Primer.  The 
volume  is  in  its  original  binding,  wooden 
boards  covered  with  green  velvet.  On  the 
last  fly-leaf  there  is  the  inscription: 
"The  seventh  daye  of  Septembre  was  the 
lady  Elizabeth  daughter  to  Kinge  Henry 
borne  at  Greenwiche  and  christened  at  the 
frere  churche  the  X  daye  of  Septembre..." 
It  must  have  been  jotted  down  in  early 
153U,  a  few  months  after  Elizabeth's 
birth  —  that  is  why  the  year  is  not  given. 
The  writer  speaks  merely  of  "Septembre," 
meaning  last  September.  The  Library  has  a 
beautiful  copy  of  the  King's  Primer.  The 
volume  was  produced  by  Richard  Grafton, 
the  last  page  bearing  his  mark,  a  tree 
growing  through  a  barrel. 

The  first  edition  of  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  was  published  by  Edward  Whitchurche 
in  London.  It  has  the  date  "anno  Do.  15U9. 
Mense  Martii"  on  the  title-page,  the  colo- 
phon further  stating  that  it  was  printed 
"the  seventh  daye  of  Marche,  the  yeare  of 
our  Lorde,  I5ii9."  Whitchurche  issued  two 
more  editions,  with  the  dates  of  May  and 
June.  Simultaneously  Richard  Grafton,  too, 
published  three  editions:  the  first  has 
March  in  the  title  and  March  8  in  the 
colophon;  the  second  has  March  in  the  ti- 
tle and  June  in  the  colophon;  and  the 
third  has  June  in  both  the  title  and  colo- 
phon. John  Oswen  printed  two  editions  at 
Worcester,  with  the  dates  of  May  and  July 
151*9- 

The  Library  has  a  beautiful  copy  of  the 
first  edition  by  Whitchurche.  A  note  on 
the  inside  cover  states:  "This  Book 
belonged  to  Lord  Crewe,  Bishop  of  Durham 
in  time  of  Charles  II,  and  descended  to 
Lord  Alvanley.  At  his  death  his  library 
was  sold  and  I  bought  this  volume. 
Wm.  Gott." 


-9- 


William  Gott  was  the  father  of  John  Gott 
(1830-1906),  Bishop  of  Truro;  and  the 
former  owner  mentioned  v.ras  undoubtedly 
the  third  Lord  Alvanley,  who  died  in  1857 
and  whose  library  was  sold  the  following 
year.  The  fly-leaf  has  another  note,  in 
the  hand  of  Bishop  Crewe:  "This  is  so 
great  a  Curiosity  I  apprehend  the  value 
of  it  to  be  at  least  Ten  Guineas."  The 
copy  should  be  worth  today  fifty  times 
that  sum. . .  We  have  also  a  beautiful 
copy  of  the  second  issue  produced  by 
Grafton . 

Apart  from  its  comprehensiveness,  the 
Benton  Collection  is  remarkable  for  the 
condition  of  its  volumes.  Most  of  the 
items  are  in  original  bindings.  Old  limp 
vellum,  fish-skin,  and  oak-boards  with 
metal  clasps  alternate  with  richly  orna- 
mented brown,  red,  and  blue  morocco.  The 
great  names  in  the  history  of  English 
binding  —  Samuel  Mearne,  Roger  Payne, 
Charles  Lewis,  Francis  Bedford,  and 
others  —  are  well  represented. 

The  provenance  of  the  books,  too, 
should  delight  the  bibliophile.  Many 
volumes  have  three  or  four  book-plates, 
besides  autograph  signatures  of  former 
owners.  Some  of  these  —  like  Archbishop 
Juxon,  and  Bishops  Wren,  Vaughan,  and 
Crewe  —  have  played  leading  parts  in  the 
history  of  the  Prayer  Book.  Several  vol- 
umes are  embellished  with  royal  monograms, 
while  others  belonged  to  simple  parish 
churches.  A  handsome  copy  of  the  1660 
folio  edition,  published  after  the 
Restoration  but  before  the  final  revision, 
Mr.  Benton  received  as  a  gift  from 
Kenneth  F.  Gibbs,  Vicar  of  Aldenham  and 
Canon  of  St.  Albans,  himself  a  collector 
of  prayer-books.  The  fly-leaf  bears  the 
inscription,  "To  Mr.  J.  H.  Benton,  from  a 
brother  maniac." 

The  First  Book  of  Common  Prayer  is  the 
subject  of  the  leading  article  of  the 
October  issue  of  The  Boston  Public  Library 
Quarterly.  Two  later  articles  will  dis- 
cuss the  successive  revisions;  and  a 
fourth  will  be  devoted  to  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  in  America. 

CHANGE  IN  CHARGING 

Remington  Rand  Photochargers  have  re- 
cently been  placed  in  the  Mattapan  and 
West  Roxbury  Branch  Libraries  for  two 
months'  experimental  use.  From  the 


Mattapan  Branch  Library  comes  the  follow- 
ing account  of  the  experience  of  the 
people  there  with  the  new  machine. 

"On  Wednesday,  September  21,  19U9,  a 
new  system  of  charging  books  was  inaugu- 
rated at  the  Mattapan  Branch  Library. 
The  Remington  Rand  Photocharger,  a  ma- 
chine which  keeps  a  photographic  record 
of  all  books  charged  out  along  with  the 
borrower's  name  and  address,  was  in- 
stalled at  the  issue  desk  for  a  two 
months'  experimental  period. 

"The  Photocharger  is  an  electrically 
operated  important-looking  square  grey 
machine,  1U  inches  high  and  15  inches 
wide,  which  contains  a  roll  of  photo- 
graphic paper  long  enough  to  charge  out 
2100  books.  The  borrower's  library  card, 
the  book  slip,  and  a  "date  due"  slip  are 
placed  in  position  beneath  the  photo- 
graphic lens  of  the  machine.  Then  a  foot 
pedal  is  pressed,  lights  go  on,  and  a 
picture  of  the  whole  transaction  is  taken 
on  the  roll  of  photographic  paper  inside 
the  machine.  This  streamlined  method  of 
charging  books  eliminates  the  copying  of 
card  numbers,  and  also  does  away  with  the 
tedious  process  of  slipping  books.  Each 
date  due  slip  is  numbered  consecutively, 
stamped  with  the  date  the  book  will  be 
due,  and  placed  with  the  library  card  and 
book  slip  into  the  pocket  of  the  book. 

"The  film  is  not  removed  from  the  charg- 
er until  its  2100  charging  spaces  have 
been  used  up.  At  present  the  developing 
of  the  film  has  been  taken  care  of  by  the 
Remington  Rand  people.  After  it  has  been 
developed  it  is  returned  to  the  branch  to 
be  read  on  a  viewer  that  makes  each  name 
easily  scanned  for  the  information  in- 
volved in  each  charging  operation. 

"Y/hen  the  book  is  returned  the  date  due 
slip  is  removed  from  the  pocket  and  filed 
numerically  with  all  the  other  date  due 
slips  removed  from  returned  books.  When 
the  time  to  type  mail  notices  arrives, 
the  date  due  slips  are  scanned  for  mis- 
sing slips,  i.e. ,  if  we  have  slips  #1,2, 
3,  and  5,  we  know  that  #U  is  missing,  and 
that  the  book  taken  out  on  #U  date  due 
slip  has  not  as  yet  been  returned  and  is 
now  overdue.  Then  we  examine  the  devel- 
oped roll  of  photographic  paper  to  find 
the  picture  of  #U  date  due  slip,  and 
there  we  find  the  name  and  address  of  the 
borrower,  and  the  author,  title,  and  num- 
ber of  the  book  borrowed.  The  overdue 
notice  is  then  typed  directly  from  this 
photographic  record,  thereby  eliminating 


-10- 


the  time-consuming  method  of  looking  up 
the  card  number  in  the  numerical  record, 
and  then  looking  up  the  address  in  the 
registration  files. 

"All  of  which  is  very  interesting  in 
theory,  but  is  twice  as  interesting  in 
actual  practice,  as  the  staff  at  Mattapan 
Branch  Library  discovered  on  the  first 
day  of  operation.  Mr.  Purcell  and  Mr. 
Underwood  of  Remington  Rand  were  on  hand 
to  lend  much  needed  moral  support  to  the 
awed  staff  members.  The  machine  was 
"loaded"  (a  term  which  did  little  to  al- 
lay suspicions  of  the  new  contraption), 
and  then  a  rather  apprehensive  group  of 
library  workers  waited  for  the  morning's 
first  customer.  Time  dragged  —  indeed, 
it  seemed  to  be  standing  still  as  we 
waited.  Just  when  it  began  to  look  like 
the  public  was  suddenly  boycotting 
Mattapan  Branch  Library  and  just  when  the 
gentlemen  from  Remington  Rand  were  sug- 
gesting that  we  camp  out  on  the  sidewalk 
to  waylay  unsuspecting  passers-by,  busi- 
ness began  with  the  customary  sudden  rush 
The  lights  on  the  machine  were  soon 
flashing  busily. 

"Operation  of  the  machine,  as  we  dis- 
covered immediately,  was  as  quick  and 
easy  as  rolling  off  the  proverbial  log  — 
and  much  more  fun.  Charging  books  this 
new  way  was  fast  becoming  as  automatic  to 
us  as  the  old  stamping  and  writing  of 
card  numbers  had  been. 

"As  may  be  expected,  comments  by  the 
public  came  in  fast  and  furious,  the  most 
frequent  being,  •'What's  THAT?'  After 
being  told  what  THAT  was,  the  remarks 
varied.  One  woman  pointedly  asked  the 
assistant,  •'What  are  you  going  to  do  if 
the  machine  does  all  the  work?'  It's 
this  latter  type  of  question  which  con- 
firms our  suspicion  that  the  public  be- 
lieves a  librarian  does  nothing  but  stamp 
books  in  and  out  all  day.  Another  bor- 
rower (he'd  probably  just  received  his 
tax  bill)  asked  if  the  machine  would  do 
away  with  librarians  entirely,  and  if 
taxes  would  then  be  lower. 

"And  the  remark  which  might  be  classed 
under  the  heading  "signs  of  the  times" 
came  from  a  busy  housewife  who  hurried  in 
to  return  her  books  and  failed  to  notice 
that  the  issue  desk  had  been  rearranged. 
The  assistant  asked  the  borrower  to  come 
around  to  the  other  side  of  the  desk,  ex- 
plaining 'We've  moved.1   'Oh.''  cried  the 
borrower,  obviously  misunderstanding, 


'Aren't  you  lucky  to  have  found  an  apart- 
ment these  days. • 

"But  the  reaction  of  the  wide-eyed  chil- 
dren was  perhaps  the  best  of  all.  One 
small  group  of  youngsters  stood  just  out- 
side the  front  and  breathlessly  asked  each 
child  as  he  came  out  clutching  his  library 
books,  'Did  you  get  your  picture  taken 
yet?'" 

NEW  BOOKS  IN  THE  STAFF  LIBRARY 

American  Library  Association.  Committee  ■ 
on  Post-was  Planning 

The  public  library  plans  for  the  teen 

a£c?  o 

(Cnicago)  A.L.A.  19U8. 
American  Library  Association.  Division  of 
Cataloging  and  Classification 

A.L.A.  cataloging  rules  for  author  and 

title  entries.  2d  ed. 

Chicago,  A.L.A.  19h9. 
American  Library  Association.  Division  of 
Libraries  for  Children  and  Young  People 

Proceedings,  pre-conference:  youth 

and  libraries  and  Institute  on  chil- 
dren's books  and  reading. 

Atlantic  City,  N.J.,  19W3. 
Berelson,  Bernard 

The  library's  public;  a  report  of  the 

Public  Library  Inquiry. 

New  York,  Columbia  Univ.  Press,  19lt9. 
Miller,  William 

The  book  industry,  a  report  of  the 

Public  Library  Inquiry. 

New  York,  Columbia  Univ.  Press,  1939. 
Orne,  Jerrold 

The  language  of  the  foreign  book  trade. 

Chicago,  A.L.A.,  19U9. 
Prescott,  Marjorie  W. 

New  England  son. 

New  York,  Dodd,  Mead.  19ii9. 
Special  Libraries  Association,  Boston 
Chapter 

Directory  of  special  libraries  in 

Boston,  vicinity  and  member  libraries 

in  New  England.  5th  ed. 

Boston.  19U0. 
U.S.  Library  of  Congress.  Subject  Cata- 
loging Division 

Subject  headings  used  in  the  diction- 
ary catalogs  of  the  Library  of 

Congress.  5th  ed. 

Washington.  19U8. 
Y/aldron,  Gloria 

The  information  film;  a  report  of  the 

Public  Library  Inquiry 

New  York,  Columbia  Univ.  Press,  19U9. 


-11- 


Wheeler,  Joseph  L. 

A  regional  library  service  for  the 
East  Bay  area.  Oakland,  California. 
East  Bay  Regional  Library  Committee. 
19U8. 

4HBHHHHHHH* 

BRANCH  NOTES 


i in  the  Children's  Room  during  the  month  of 
| October.  While  the  emphasis  is  on  stamp 
I  collecting,  other  hobbies  are  represented 
'with  descriptive  pictures  and  books. 
'Framed  "Blocks"  bearing  the  coveted  serial 
| numbers  of  stamp  sheets  form  the  nucleus 
jof  the  display,  and  many  a  young  stamp 
! collector  will  enjoy  seeing  the  correct 
■way  to  mount  and  preserve  valuable  stamps. 


Connolly 

On  October  ll;  the  Community  Fund  Com- 
mittee of  Jamaica  Plain  held  its  first 
meet;ng  here  to  make  plans  for  the  annual 
drive  to  raise  funds  for  the  social 
agencies. 


The  first  meeting  of  the  combined  West 
Roxbury  and  Connolly  Branch  Libraries 
Great  Books  Group  met  on  Thursday, 
October  6.  Homer's  Odyssey  provided  the 
material  for  a  spirited  discussioni  The 
meetings  will  be  held  once  a  month  at 
each  branch  library. 


Miss  Gilligan  of  the  Art  Department  of 
the  Mary  E.  Curley  School  has  offered  to 
cooperate  for  Art  Week  by  sending  for 
display  purposes  an  exhibit  of  the  work 
done  by  the  pupils  of  her  classes. 


* 


Neponset 

On  Wednesday  evening  September  'twenty- 
eight,  at  seven-thirty  o'clock,  a  special 
program  was  held  at  which  prizes  were 
awarded  in  the  Book  Review  Contest  which 
was  sponsored  by  the  Neponset  Post,  No. 
583U,  Veterans  of  Foreign  Wars,  in  co- 
operation with  the  branch  library.  More 
than  one  hundred  people  were  present. 
Commander  Robert  Carson  and  Mr  William 
Timmins  represented  the  Neponset  Post. 
After  a  speech  by  'Ir  Timmins,  Commander 
Carson  awarded  prizes  to  eight  boys  and 
girls.  The  program  concluded  with  the 
showing  of  three  films  It's  All  Yours, 
Backward  Ho  I ,  and  Washington,  D.  C. 


West  End 

"What's  your  hobby?"  is  the  theme  of  an 
unusual  exhibit  which  is  being  featured 


Beginning  October  8,  stills  and  descrip- 
tive material  will  be  exhibited  in  con- 
nection with  the  first  Boston  showing  of 
the  new  Technicolor  motion  picture, 
"Christopher  Columbus".  A  tie-up  with  the 
film  will  be  a  display  of  mounted  pictures, 
book  jackets,  and  books  on  great  explorers 
and  explorations  through  the  centuries. 


Art  Week,  October  31  to  November  7,  will 
be  observed  with  an  exhibition  of  drawings 
and  paintings  by  the  pupils  of  the  local 
schools;  The  Blackstone,  the  Peter  Faneuil, 
and  the  Winchell.  A  cordial  invitation  is 
extended  to  the  community  to  view  this 
display. 

DEPARTMENT  NOTES 

The  staff  of  the  Kirstein  Business 
Branch  enjoyed  an  outdoor  picnic  at  the 
Humarock  Beach  cottage  of  Miss  Rita 
Desaulniers  on  Saturday,  September  10. 
The  occasion  was  a  farewell  to  Mrs  Adele 
Wynne,  who  has  resigned  to  live  in  England 
for  a  year.  Her  husband  has  a  Harvard 
fellowship  in  neurology  at  Queens  Square 
Hospital,  London.  They  will  make  their 
home  in  Iverheath,  Bucks,  a  small  village 
about  twenty  miles  from  London.  The  group 
enjoyed  a  feast  of  humburgers,  sweet  corn, 
and  all  the  fixings.  A  long  walk  on  the 
beach  was  necessary  in  order  to  negotiate 
the  ice-cream  and  cake  which  came  later. 
Farewell  gift  to  Mrs  Wynne  was  a  rhine- 
stone  necklace. 


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THE   QUESTION   MARK 

Published  by  the  Boston  Public  Library  Professional  Staff  Association 
Volume  IV,  Number  10 November  19U9 


Publications  Committee: 


Mildred  R.  Adelson,  M.  Dorothy  Brackett,  John  M.  Carroll, 
Eleanor  DiGiannantonio,  Sarah  M.  Usher,  Chairman 


Publication  date; 
The  fifteenth  of  each  month 


Deadline  for  submitting  material: 
The  tenth  of  each  month 


A  NEW  COVER 

In  the  September  issue  we  announced 
that  the  stencil  for  our  cover  was  fast 
deteriorating.  We  asked  that  members  of 
the  staff  possessed  of  artistic  ability 
submit  suggestions  for  a  new  cover. 

We  are  happy  to  announce  that  eight 
drawings  have  been  received.  These  have 
been  reproduced,  each  by  its  creator, 
and  copies  are  attached.  They  are  num- 
bered from  1-8,  inclusive. 

Please  examine  these  suggested  covers 
carefully  so  that,  when  a  ballot  is  sent 
to  you  in  the  near  future,  you  will  be 
ready  to  cast  your  vote  without  delay. 

The  cover  chosen  by  you  will  appear  on 
the  December  issue.  At  that  time  the 
name  of  the  artist  will  be  announced. 

■SKBBHBKHKKf- 

MR  LORD  TO  BE  HONORED 

Plans  have  been  completed  for  the  re- 
ception on  December  second,  when  the 
Boston  Public  Library  Professional  Staff 
Association  will  honor  the  newly-elected 
President  of  the  American  Library  Asso- 
ciation, Mr  Milton  E.  Lord. 

Invitations  have  been  issued  to  all 
active  members  of  the  Association,  to  re- 
tired members  of  the  staff,  and  to  libra- 
ry friends  outside  the  Boston  Public 
Library.  A  general  invitation  has  been 
extended  also  to  those  members  of  our 
staff  who  are  not  members  of  the  Associa- 
tion, and  to  friends  and  families  of  all 
groups. 

Now,  to  answer  a  few  questions]  What 
part  of  the  Hotel  Somerset?  The  Princess 
Ballroom.  Formal?  No,  it  is  not  formal. 
Program?  No  formal  program  —  reception 
to  guests,  vocal  and  instrumental  music, 
no  ballroom  dancing.  Refreshments?  Yes  J 

Additional  tickets  are  available  upon 


application  to  the  Chairman  of  the 
Entertainment  Committee,  who  reminds  you 
that  returns  should  be  made  by  November 
twentieth. 

Margaret  A.  Calnan 
Chairman,  Entertainment  Committee 

PERSONAL  MOTES 
New  Staff  Members 


Miss  Rose  S.  Sanft,  Book  Stack  Service 
(formerly  part-time  in  Book  Stack  Service), 

Resignations 


Mrs  Edith  P.  Kelley,  Uphams  Corner 
Branch  Library. 

Mrs  Rita  0.  Sullivan,  Brighton  Branch 
Library,  to  remain  at  home. 

Engagements 

Miss  Jean  E.  Watson,  Director's  Office, 
to  Mr  Frank  C.  Weitz  of  Allston. 

Marriages 

Miss  Patricia  C.  Carter,  Registration 
Department,  to  Mr  Henry  F.  Iseman  on 
October  12. 

Miss  Corona  M.  Groves,  Mt.  Bowdoin 
Branch  Library,  to  Mr  Ralph  F.  Murphy  on 
October  17. 

Births 


Mr  and  Mrs  John  Bavicchi  have  announced 
the  birth  of  a  daughter,  Janet  Marie,  on 
September  26.  Mrs  Bavicchi  is  an  assist- 
ant at  Hyde  Park  Branch  Library. 


•SBHHHHKHHHf- 


-2- 


DEPUTY  SUPERVISORS  GIVE  TALKS 

Miss  Elizabeth  M.  Gordon,  Deputy  Super- 
visor in  Charge  of  Work  with  Children, 
gave  a  talk  at  a  meeting  of  the  Old 
Colony  Library  Club  held  in  Abington, 
Massachusetts,  on  November  \\.     Miss 
Gordon  spoke  on  children's  work  and  re- 
viewed the  fall  books. 


Mrs  Muriel  C.  Javelin,  Deputy  Super- 
visor in  Charge  of  Work  with  Adults,  gave 
a  talk  at  a  meeting  of  the  Merrimac 
Valley  Library  Association  in  Chelmsford 
on  October  21.  Mrs  Javelin  spoke  on  the 
use  of  films  in  the  public  library. 


One  hundred  and  ninety-seven  parents 
attended  the  October  twenty-sixth  meet- 
ing of  the  Thomas  Gardner  Home  and  School 
Association  to  hear  Miss  Elizabeth  M. 
Gordon,  Deputy  Supervisor  in  Charge  of 
Work  with  Children,  describe  the  behind- 
the-scenes  work  involved  in  buying  books 
for  young  people.   The  Association,  which 
was  instrumental  in  the  establishment  of 
the  library  in  that  school,  was  interest- 
ed in  learning  of  the  careful  screening 
process  employed  by  the  juvenile  book 
review  committee,  and  in  knowing  of  the 
Library's  other  facilities  for  children, 
story  telling,  films,  the  bookmobile-to- 
be  ,  etc . 

After  the  meeting,  the  parents  visited 
in  the  library  where  they  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  examine  the  book  collection  and 
to  talk  with  the  librarians.  This  year 
marks  the  thirteenth  that  the  Thomas 
Gardner  School  Library  has  been  in  opera- 
tion.  In  1936-37  it  was  administered  by 
the  Staff  of  the  Young  People ' s  Room,  but 
since  1938  it  has  been  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  School  Issue  Department. 


WE  WELCOME  BACK 
FROM  THEIR  ILLNESSES 

Miss  Beatrice  M.  Flanagan,  Chief  of  the 
School  Issue  Department. 

Miss  Katherine  G.  Sullivan,  General 
Reference  Department. 

Miss  Grace  McCarthy,  Book  Purchasing 
Department. 


RECENT  VISITORS 

On  November  tenth,  Mr  and  Mrs  R.  F.  M. 
Immelman  of  Cape  Town>  South  Africa,  vis- 
ited Central  Library.  Mr  Immelman  is 
University  Librarian  and  Director  of  the 
School  of  Librarianship  of  the  University 
of  Cape  Town,  and  Vice  President  and 
President  Elect  of  the  South  African  Li- 
brary Association. 

ALUMNAE  NOTES 

Mrs  Kathleen  Ryan  Dacey,  formerly  an 
assistant  in  the  Children's  Room  of  the 
West  End  Branch  Library,  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Boston  School  Committee  on 
Tuesday,  November  8. 

4HHHHHHBHH* 

IN  MEMORIAL 


Mr  Alexander  D.  Magee,  who  at  the  time 
of  his  retirement  in  19h0   was  Acting 
Foreman  of  Painters,  passed  away  on 
October  thirtieth.  He  leaves  his  wife, 
Eleanor  J.  Magee. 

He  will  be  remembered  as  an  interior 
decorator  of  excellence  and  a  master 
craftsman.  One  of  the  highlights  of  his 
years  of  work  in  the  Boston  Public  Library 
was  his  friendship  with  Mr  John  Singer 
Sargent  which  began  while  Mr  Sargent  was 
installing  his  famous  murals. 


it- 


Mrs   Frank  Benson  passed  away  on  October 
thirtieth.  Mrs  Benson,  the  former  Susan 
Maguire,  worked  in  the  Issue  Department 
from  1905  to  1918. 

LETTER  FROM  MRS  PINANSKI 

In  acknowledgment  of  a  letter  of  condo- 
lence from  the  Benefit  Association  and  of 
the  expression  of  sympathy  which  appeared 
in  The  Question  Mark,  Mrs  Pinanski  has 
written  the  following  letter,  addressed 
to  Mrs  Mary  Farrell,  Secretary  of  the 
Benefit  Association: 

"Will  you  express  to  the  members  of  the 
Boston  Public  Library  Benefit  Association 


y 


-3- 


my  deep  appreciation  of  your  kind  letter 
and  of  the  beautiful  tribute  you  paid  to 
ray  beloved  husband  in  'The  Question  Mark?' 
He  was  very  haopy  in  his  association  with 
the  library  staff  and  counted  it  a  priv- 
ilege to  be  your  guest  at  your  annual 
dinner.  I  remember  so  well,  the  dinner 
he  wanted  me  to  go  to  when  he  was  in  the 
hospital  two  years  ago  and  he  wanted  to 
hear  all  about  it  on  my  return. 

"'To  serve  in  his  name  and  his  memory  is 
my  only  reason  for  courage  in  these  dark 
hours. 

Sincerely  yours, 
(signed)    Viola  R.  Pinanski" 

-JBBKHKKKHKS- 

PRESIDENT'S  NOTES 

As  this  issue  of  The  Question  Mark  goes 
to  press,  the  Institute  is  about  to  be- 
come a  reality.  An  outstanding  program 
has  been  planned.  Mrs  Sarah  Flannery  and 
her  able  committee  have  put  in  long  hours 
of  concentrated  effort  in  order  to  bring 
to  our  staff  members  and  to  members  of 
the  library  profession  throughout  this 
area,  a  group  of  speakers  who  will  pre- 
sent to  us  messages  of  inspiration  and 
challenge.   The  program  is  given  in  de- 
tail later  in  this  issue.  A  glance  will 
assure  you  that  the  Institute  this  year 
bids  fair  to  equal  that  of  last  year.  It 
is  something  no  alert  library  worker  can 
afford  to  miss. 


The  special  committee  appointed  to  in- 
vestigate the  possibilities  of  cash  dis- 
counts for  staff  members  has  done  an  out- 
standing piece  of  work.  The  results  of 
their  labors  may  be  announced  soon. 


Another  honor  has  come  to  our  associa- 
tion. Mr  Bradford  M.  Hill,  recently 
elected  to  the  Steering  Committee  of  SORT 
(Staff  Organizations  Round  Table)  has 
been  invited  to  serve  as  Editor  of  the 
Bulletin  of  SORT  for  the  current  year. 
Congratulations  and  best  wished  to  him! 
May  the  Bulletin  of  SORT  flourish  under 
his  expert  guidance. 


How  much  do  you  know  about  the  Fourth 
Activities  Committee  Report?  The 
Swampscott  meetings  certainly  brought  home 
the  fact  that  the  ALA  members  are  faced 
with  a  real  challenge.  The  Committee  re- 
ports as  well  as  background  material  is 
available  in  the  Staff  Library.   It  might 
be  a  good  idea  if  we  each  one  set  aside  a 
definite  evening  in  which  to  devote  some 
time  to  the  study  of  this  important  sub- 
ject. 


On  Friday  November  25,  at  9  a.m., the  fall 
business  meeting  of  the  Association  will  be 
held  in  the  Lecture  Hall.  At  that  meeting 
there  will  be  placed  before  the  membership 
the  question  of  the  Association  assuming 
the  responsibility  for,  and  thus  acquiring 
profits  from,  the  new  food  and  drink  con- 
cession about  to  be  opened  on  the  stack 
two  area.  Reports  from  Committees  will 
include  a  report  on  the  Institute  by  Mrs 
Sarah  Flannery,  the  Chairman  of  the  In- 
Service-Training  Committee,  and  a  report 
from  the  Entertainment  Committee  headed  by 
Miss  Margaret  Calnan,  on  social  events 
past  and  near  future.  The  report  of  the 
Committee  on  CARE,  to  be  given  by  the 
Chairman,  Mr  Eamon  McDonough,  will  include 
the  showing  of  the  film  sponsored  by  the 
national  CARE  organization. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  the  meeting  has 
to  be  held  the  day  after  Thanksgiving,  but 
it  might  be  a  good  time  to  be  thankful  that 
you  are  able  physically  and  mentally  to 
come  —  and  come  J 


The  following  letter  has  been  received 
from  the  Director: 


7  November  19h9 


Dear  Miss  Peck: 


I  am  inclosing  a  copy  of  the 
announcement  setting  forth  a  change  in  the 
matter  of  approval  of  the  making  up  of 
fractional  time  in  certain  instances,  such 
as  appointments  with  a  doctor,  a  dentist  or 
an  oculist,  and  funerals  and  weddings.   I 
think  that  it  speaks  for  itself. 

It  was  interesting  to  have  this  mat- 
ter presented  as  it  was  in  the  Question 
Mark,  and  I  am  happy  that  it  has  been 


-Im- 


possible to  take  action  along  the  lines 
suggested. 

Yours  sincerely, 

(signed)  Milton  E.  Lord 
Director 

To: 

Miss  Edna  G.  Peck 
President 

Boston  Public  Library  Profes- 
sional Staff  Association 
Boston  Public  Library 
Boston  17,  Massachusetts 

ENCLOSURE 
BOSTON  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


Fractional  Time 

To  Members  of  the  Staff: 

Beginning  on 
November  h,  19h9   Chiefs  of  Departments 
and  Branch  Librarians  may  arrange  for  the 
making  up  of  fractional  time  which  does 
not  exceed  two  and  one-half  hours  re- 
sulting from  a  fractional  absence  occur- 
ring for  any  of  the  following  reasons: 

(a)  a  doctor's  appointment 

(b)  a  dentist's  appointment 

(c)  an  oculist's  appointment 

(d)  a  funeral 

(e)  a  wedding 

For  fractional  absence?  for  these  pur- 
poses it  will  no  longer  be  necessary  to 
submit  Form  10 U2  to  the  Supervisor  of 
Personnel,  provided  that  the  amount  of 
time  to  be  made  up  does  not  exceed  two 
and  one-half  hours. 

Fractional  absence  up  to  this  maximum 
of  two  and  one-half  hours  may  be  made  up 
as  follows : 

(a)  on  a  lunch  hour  or  a  supper  hour, 
provided  that  no  lunch  hour  or 
supper  hour  is  of  less  than  one- 
half  hour  in  duration 

(b)  by  working  up  to  six  o'clock  on  a 
regularly  scheduled  five  o'clock 


!  day  in  an  open'  department  or  a 
branch  library 
(c)  by  working  up  to  one  o'clock  if 
working  on  a  six  a.m.  to  twelve 
noon  schedule 

The  maximum  allowance  of  two  and  one- 
half  hours  fractional  time  which  may  be 
made  up  in  this  fashion  will  equalize  for 
all  employees  the  opportunity  for  making 
up  of  fractional  time,  since  in  a  closed 
department  one-half  hour  a  day  (a  total  of 
two  and  one-half  hours  in  a  five-day  week) 
represents  the  maximum  amount  an  individu- 
al can  work  over  and  above  the  normal 
daily  work  schedule. 


MILTON  E.  LORD 
Director 
h   November  19h9 

COUNTRY  DANCE  PARTY 

Over  one  hundred  Association  members  and 
their  friends  spent  an  exceptionally  happy 
evening  on  October  twenty-eighth  at  the 
Country  Dance  Party  which  was  held  in  the 
Lecture  Hall.  Mr  Duncan  Hay,  the  popular 
dancing  leader,  was  the  caller,  and  was 
largely  responsible  for  the  gay  spirit 
with  which  all  present  joined  in  the 
dancing  and  merrymaking.  Newcomers  were 
warmly  welcomed  and  an  air  of  conviviality 
and  good  fellowship  enhanced  the  evening's 
fun.  Light  refreshments  befitting  the 
occasion  were  served  and  enjoyed  by  all. 

The  Country  Dance  Committee  takes  this 
occasion  to  thank  the  Director  and  the 
Trustees  for  the  use  of  the  Lecture  Hall. 
They  thank  also  those  members  of  the  Divi- 
sion of  Business  Operations  who  contributed 
materially  to  the  success  of  this  event. 

The  interest  and  enthusiasm  in  these 
pleasant  socials  seem  to  indicate  that 
more  frequent  gatherings  could  be  planned 
and  enjoyed  in  the  future. 

Margaret  A.  Calnan 

Chairman 

Entertainment  Committee 

JBBHHttBHHB* 


-5- 


FIRE  PREVENTION  WEEK 

The  Library  was  a  very  popular  place 
during  Fire  Prevention  Week  —  October  9 
through  October  15>.  There  was  a  continu- 
ous stream  of  firemen,  along  with  the 
public,  that  came  into  the  Library  to  see 
the  exhibit  in  observance  of  Fire  Preven- 
tion Week. 

In  the  Venetian  Lobby  on  the  second 
floor,  articles  seized  by  the  arson  squad 
of  the  fire  prevention  division  of  the 
Boston  Fire  Department  were  displayed. 
Deputy  Chief  Edward  Montgomery  lent  the 
articles  to  the  Library.   Included  were: 
trailors  recovered  from  the  basement 
floor  of  an  antique  shop;  coal  lining  and 
padding  saturated  with  flammable  fluid 
recovered  from  the  debris  of  a  large  fur 
factory;  trailors  of  cellophane  and  ex- 
celsior; and  excelsior  rolled  in  wrapping 
paper,  candle  with  matches  attached  to 
one  end  which  was  recovered  from  a  large 
wholesale  grocery  store.   On  either  side 
of  the  display  case  were  two  portable 
fire  trucks,  part  of  the  Central  Library^ 
equipment. 

In  the  Puvis  de  Chavannes  and  Sargent 
Galleries,  the  exhibit  was  supplemented 
by  books  and  rare  pictures.  Among  the 
pictures  were  found  the  famous  fires 
occurring  in  Boston,  1872,  Chelsea,  1908, 
and  Chicago,  1871.  The  famous  documents 
on  display  included  the  act  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  City  of  Boston  against 
fire,  1827,  and  Governor  Sharpe's  appeal 
for  aid  to  sufferers  from  the  fire  in 
Boston  on  March  20,  1760.  Also  dis- 
played were  pamphlets  and  posters  depict- 
ing the  causes  of  fires  and  means  of  pre- 
vention. 

Interesting  to  note  was  the  book  Ye 
Olde  Fire  Laddies  by  Herbert  Asbury  which 
mentions  Washington  as  a  fireman.  George 
Washington  was  one  of  the  most  enthusias- 
tic firemen  in  America.  Mr  Asbury  says: 
"».,  Washington  was  more  than  a  buff,  as 
these  amateur  smoke-eaters  are  called; 
he  was  a  practical  and  capable  fireman, 
and  greatly  delighted  in  manning  the 
brakes  of  an  engine  and  splashing  buckets 
of  water  upon  the  roaring  flames." 

Fire  Prevention  Week  was  also  observed 
at  the  Branch  Libraries.   Posters  and 
pamphlets  showing  causes  and  prevention 
of  fires  were  displayed  at  the 
Charlestown,  Connolly,  Faneuil,  Jeffries 
Point,  Mattapan,  North  End,  Parker  Hill, 


and  West  Roxbury  Branch  Libraries. 

In  addition,  on  October  lU  at  torelve 
noon,  the  drill  team  of  the  Boston  Fire 
Department  presented  its  annual  demonstra- 
tion and  drill  in  Copley  Square  in  front 
of  the  Boston  Public  Library. 

-:h:-:hhhhkkh:- 

UO  DAYS  'TIL  CHRISTMAS 

Bought  your  Christmas  cards  yet?  If  not, 
the  Post  Card  counter,  sponsored  by  the 
Benefit  Association,  has  some  beautiful 
cards  which  could  well  be  used  as  Christmas 
cards.  Why  not  look  before  you  leap? 


Don't  forget  The  Boston  Public  Library 
Quarterly  makes  an  excellent  gift,  also. 


■SBBBKBBBS-** 

INVITATION  TO  JOIN 
ROUND  TABLE  OF  CHILDREN'S  LIBRARIANS 

To  all  who  are  interested  in  literature 
for  and  work  with  children  —  whether  they 
are  actively  engaged  in  the  field  or  not  — 
an  invitation  is  extended  to  join  the 
Round  Table  of  Children :s  Librarians.  The 
annual  dues  are  only  twenty-five  cents  and 
five  self-addressed  post  cards.   The 
treasurer,  Miss  Pauline  Winnick,  of  the 
Codman  Square  Branch  Library,  will  be  hap- 
py to  receive  your  dues  in  coin  or  stamps, 
and  even  to  address  the  post  cards  for  you. 

*BH8BBB4-SttB* 

THE  BOKLING  LEAGUE 

The  bowling  league  rolls  merrily  on  with 
a  weekly  attendance  of  forty  or  more.  The 
early  season  jitters  have  disappeared,  and 
the  averages  for  most  are  mounting.  As  of 
November  third  the  standing  shows  John  V. 
Sullivan,  Buildings  Department,  leading 
with  a  ninety-four  point  average,  closely 
followed  by  Donald  Ross,  Cataloging  and 
Classification  Department,  Circulation 
Division,  with  a  ninety-three.  Bob 
Williams,  Patent  Room,  is  in  third  place 
with  an  eighty-eight,  and  the  rest  of  the 
field  trails.  "Sullie"  came  up  with  a  one 
twenty-one  string  to  top  the  previous  high 
by  Ross  of  one  twenty.  We  aren't  very 


-6- 


happy  at  the  Fenway  Alleys.   They're  in 
poor  condition,  and  we  need  two  more  al- 
leys to  accommodate  our  eight  teams.   If 
anyone  knows  of  available  alleys  close  to 
the  Library,  please  contact  Mr  Frank 
Bruno  in  the  Patent  Room. 

SHOWER  FOR  MISS  FERRANTE 

On  the  evening  of  October  twenty-sixth, 
in  the  Staff  Lounge,  Miss  Pauline  M. 
Ferrante  of  the  Circulation  Division  Of- 
fice was  tendered  a  surprise  shower.   Her 
fiance,  Mr  Paul  J.  Vinci  of  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  presented  her  with  an  orchid 
corsage.  Lovely  gifts  from  her  many 
friends  were  of  constant  delight  as  she 
carefully  brought  them  forth  from  their 
beautiful  wrappings.  This  was  followed 
by  refreshments  featuring  a  bride's  cake 
in  the  shape  of  two  hearts  on  which  were 
inscribed  the  principals'  names.  The 
couple  are  to  be  married  Sunday  afternoon, 
November  twenty-seventh,  at  two  o'clock, 
at  St.  Clement's  Church  in  Somcrville. 

CENTRAL  LIBRARY  LOUNGE 

Those  who  use  the  Lounge  in  the  Central 
Library  will  be  pleased  to  learn  that 
plans  are  under  way  for  the  installation 
of  a  rubber  tile  flooring  sometime  during 
November.  The  present  bare  cement  sur- 
face has  not  exactly  fitted  in  with  the 
otherwise  inviting  atmosphere  of  the 
room,  and  we  have  been  especially  con- 
scious of  this  when  receptions  have  been 
held  for  visiting  librarians,  etc.   In 
the  new  floor  covering  it  is  hoped  there 
will  be  achieved  the  effect  of  a  rug  with 
a  gray-black  tone  predominating.   This 
month,  also,  it  is  expected  that  a  new 
sofa  will  be  added  to  the  none-too-numer- 
ous items  of  furniture  already  in  the 
Lounge.  It  should  raise  the  morale  of 
all  of  us  a  few  notches  to  see  this  par- 
ticular staff  facility  take  on  a  new  at- 
tractiveness. 

■JBKHBKHHS-SHf- 

FLUORESCENT  LIGHTING  FOR  BRANCH  LIBRARY 

The  West  Roxbury  Branch  Library  is  soon 
to  be  one  of  the  few  branch  libraries  to 


have  fluorescent  lighting.  For  some  time 
this  branch  library  has  had  a  lighting 
problem,  and  after  careful  study  it  was 
decided  that  fluorescent  lighting  is  the 
best  answer.  The  contract  for  this  work 
has  been  awarded  and  installation  will  be 
undertaken  shortly.  It  is  believed  that 
in  the  coming  year  the  lighting  problems 
in  several  other  branch  libraries  will 
receive  attention. 

19h9   FALL  MIMEOGRAPH  PROCESS  REVIEW 

St.  John  and  McColl,  Inc.,  authorized 
distributors  of  A.  B.  Dick  mimeograph 
products  in  this  area,  held  a  fall  review 
in  Boston,  during  the  last  two  weeks  in 
October.  Each  day  there  were  two  identi- 
cal three-hour  sessions,  with  registra- 
tion limited  to  thirty  people.  Eleven 
assistants  from  the  Boston  Public  Library 
who  cut  stencils  and  do  mimeographing 
work  were  given  permission  to  attend. 

The  sessions  were  conducted  by  Miss 
Florence  M.  Raye,  the  A.  B.  Dick  repre- 
sentative from  Chicago.  Her  program  was 
well  planned  and  was  carried  out  with  un- 
usual effectiveness.  There  were  demon- 
strations of  the  most  up-to-date  mimeo- 
graph equipment.  An  opportunity  was  giv- 
en for  each  person  attending  to  do  spe- 
cial work  on  stencils,  such  as  drawing 
pictures,  lines,  and  writing  in  long  hand. 

If  the  people  who  attended  remember 
only  that  the  degree  of  perfection  of  the 
finished  material  which  comes  through  the 
mimeograph  is  entirely  dependent  upon  the 
excellence  of  the  stencil  which  was  pre- 
pared for  duplication,  attendance  at  the 
course  will  have  been  worthwhile. 

ttiHKHHBHHHfr 

A  LIBRARY  PATRON 

A  constant  patron  of  various  depart- 
ments in  Central  Library,  Miss  Mary 
Forbes  of  Fairfield  Street,  was  inter- 
viewed in  the  Boston  Traveler  of  October 
twenty-first,  in  connection  with  the  vis- 
it to  Boston  of  Pandit  Nehru.  Thirty- 
seven  years  ago,  Miss  Forbes,  born  in 
India  where  her  father  owned  a  tea  plant- 
ation, was  seated  at  a  dinner  party  in 
Simla  next  to  Nehru.  He  had  just  gradu- 
ated from  Trinity  College  in  England. 
They  had  talked  of  his  plans  for  his 


-7- 


future,  which  were  indefinite  except  that  j 
he  wanted  first  of  all  to  serve  his  coun- 
try.  They  had  also  discussed  the  differ- 
ence in  the  way  the  English  treated  the 
Indians  in  England  and  in  India.  Miss 
Forbes  was  later  tutor  to  the  Rani  of 
Mandhi  and  was  head  of  a  girls '  school  in 
Palestine.  She  has  written  for  British 
publications  in  India  and  her  writings 
have  been  censored  because  her  interpre- 
tation of  the  American  way  of  life  "tend- 
ed to  increase  the  ideas  of  freedom  in  a 
period  of  tension" . 

19h9   BOOK  WEEK 

MAKE  FRIENDS  WITH  BOOKS  is  the  theme 
for  Book  Week,  November  13-19,  19h9. 

HUMAN  RELATIONS  INSTITUTE 

The  second  annual  Human  Relations  In- 
stitute for  Teachers  and  Librarians, 
sponsored  by  the  Boston  Public  Library 
with  the  co-operation  of  the  National 
Conference  of  Christians  and  Jews,  was 
held  in  the  Lecture  Hall  of  the  Boston 
Public  Library  on  Saturday,  November 
fifth. 

The  morning  session  opened  with  an  in- 
spiring keynote  address  by  Dr  Dennis  C, 
Haley,  Superintendent  of  Schools  in 
Boston,  followed  by  an  excellent  discus- 
sion of  new  books  in  the  field  of  human 
relations  by  members  of  the  Library 
staff  —  Miss  Edna  G.  Peck,  Chief  of  the 
Book  Selection  Department,  Miss  Pauline 
Winnick,  and  Miss  Mildred  Kaufman,  Chil- 
dren's Librarians,  Codman  Square  and 
Mattapan  Branch  Libraries.  Dr  Martin  P. 
Chworowsky,  Director,  Intergroup  Rela- 
tions Program,  Columbia  University,  pre- 
sented a  thought-provoking  address  on 
"The  Intergroup  Education  Responsibili- 
ties of  Schools  and  Libraries".  Mrs 
Muriel  Javelin  presided  at  the  morning 
meeting. 

The  afternoon  session  was  devoted  to 
the  production,  evaluation,  and  use  of 
human  relations  films,  and  film  demon- 
strations. Because  of  illness,  Mr  Louis 
de  Rochemont  was  unable  to  appear,  but 
was  ably  represented  by  Mr  Thomas  Orchard, 
Vice  President  of  Louis  de  Rochemont 


Associates,  and  the  Producer  of  "The 
Earth  and  its  Peoples",  a  new  and  pio- 
neering effort  in  human  relations  motion 
pictures.  Mr  Howard  M.  LeSourd,  Dean  of 
the  School  of  Public  Relations,  Boston 
University,  introduced  Mr  Orchard. 

At  a  luncheon  meeting,  with  Mr  Francis 
L.  Hurwitz  presiding,  Dean  Charles  W. 
Ha vice,  Chairman  of  the  Department  of 
Sociology,  Northeastern  University,  de- 
livered a  stimulating  talk  on  "Diversities 
That  Unify  Us". 

Mr  Thomas  F.  Dungan,  Submaster,  Theodore 
Lyman  School,  East  Boston, and  thirteen  of 
his  pupils  demonstrated  to  a  delighted 
audience  the  way  in  which  the  film  Sing  a 
Song  of  Friendship  might  be  used  in  a 
sixth  grade  classroom,,  Mrs  Beryl  Y. 
Robinson,  Children's  Librarian,  East 
Boston  Branch  Library,  discussed  the  ef- 
fective use  of  educational  moving  pictures 
in  the  library  before  demonstrating  some 
of  her  points  by  introducint  Farmer- 
Fisherman,  a  Louis  de  Rochemont  film  in 
Norway.  She  was  assisted  by  eleven  chil- 
dren chosen  for  unusual  library  co-opera- 
tion who  demonstrated  by  a  quiz  the  after- 
film  check-up.  The  two  presentations  in- 
terestingly contrasted  film  use  in  formal 
and  informal  education. 

Four  students  from  Teachers  College  and 
the  School  of  Library  Science  at  Simmons 
College  served  as  ushers. 

-ihbkkbbmhbs- 

A.L.A.  REGIONAL  MEETING 
AT  SY/AIvjPSCOTT 
October  12-lg 

The  major  theme  of  the  Conference  was 
The  Pub! ic  Library  Inquiry.   Inasmuch  as 
the  various  reports  published  as  a  result 
of  the  Inquiry  are  being  added  to  the 
Staff  Library  as  they  become  available, 
no  summarized  presentation  is  made  here. 

The  talk  given  by  Mr  Milton  E.  Lord, 
Town  Meeting  of  the  Air,  Around  the  World, 
was  one  of  the  highlights  of  the  Confer- 
ence.  It  is  understood  that  similar 
talks  will  be  given  at  staff  meetings  in 
the  near  future;  consequently,  it  is  not 
summarized  here. 


Several  persons  have  been  asked  to  give 
short  reports  on  various  phases  of  the 
Conference  in  which  they  were  especially 


-8- 


interested.   These  follow: 

Massachusetts  Library  Association 
Business  Meeting 

The  business  meeting  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Library  Association  was  attended  by 
a  small  group  of  members.  After  the 
routine  reading  of  the  secretary's  report, 
Miss  Gertrude  Callahan  gave  the  report  of 
the  Nominating  Committee  concerning  the 
proposal  to  place  on  the  ballot  the  name 
of  only  one  candidate  for  the  position  of 
Vice  President  and  President  Elect.  Miss 
V.  Genevieve  Boisclair  of  the  Division  of 
Public  Libraries  reported  that  applica- 
tion forms  for  certification  will  be 
ready  for  distribution  in  about  three 
weeks.  Libraries  may  request  a  sufficient 
number  of  blanks  for  their  entire  staffs, 
if  desired,  thus  eliminating  the  necessi- 
ty of  each  person  applying  individually. 
She  also  spoke  of  two  courses  being  spon- 
sored by  the  Division  of  Public  Libraries: 
a  fifteen-lesson  course  in  Reference  Work, 
beginning  October  21;,  conducted  by  Mr 
Charles  L.  Higgins,  General  Reference 
Department,  Boston  Public  Library;  and  an 
eight-lesson  laboratory  course  in  Radio- 
Audio-  Visual  Education  for  Librarians, 
beginning  October  21,  conducted  by  Mr 
Rodney  R.  Wood,  Instructor  of  the  Duxbury 
School  Department;  and  answered  the  many 
questions  which  were  asked  concerning 
them.  Miss  Louise  B.  Day  announced  that 
suggestions  for  the  Program  Committee 
would  be  most  welcome  and  should  be  gdven 
to  any  member  of  the  committee.  Miss 
Edna  G.  Peck  announced  the  Country  Dance 
which  the  Professional  Staff  Association 
sponsored  on  October  28,  and  the  recep- 
tion which  it  is  giving  on  December  2,  to 
honor  the  President  of  the  American  Li- 
brary Association,  Mr  Milton  E.  Lord. 

SORT  Breakfast 

The  8  a.m.  Staff  Organizations  Round 
Table  breakfast  was  attended  by  approxi- 
mately thirty  people,  at  least  one-third 
of  v/hom  were  from  the  Boston  Public  Li- 
brary. Arrangements  for  a  private  room 
did  not  materialize,  so  the  group  was  as- 
signed one  long  table  just  inside  the 
main  dining  room.  Because  of  the  conges- 
tion attendant  upon  feeding  a  large 
group,  the  constant  coming  and  going  past 
the  table,  and  the  fact  that  many  of  the 


group  were  interested  in  getting  away  to 
another  meeting  at  8:30,  the  breakfast 
meeting  was  not,  in  the  opinion  of  this 
participant,  one  of  the  successful  ses- 
sions of  the  Conference.  It  was  impossi- 
ble to  hear  the  short  speech  of  welcome 
at  both  ends  of  the  table  at  the  same 
time  and  there  was  no  discussion  of  the 
announced  subject  Recruiting.  What  ben- 
efits were  gleaned  from  the  meeting  by 
individual  attendants  came  only  from  con- 
versation with  those  sitting  within  hear- 
ing distance. 

A  Workshop  on  the  Use  of 
Audio-Visual  Aids 

At  the  early  hour  of  8:30  on  the  morn- 
ings of  October  13,  lU,  and  15,  the  Pub- 
lic Libraries  Division  of  the  Adult  Edu- 
cation Section  of  the  A.L.A.  sponsored 
A  Workshop  on  the  Use  of  Audio-Visual  Aids 
in  Library  Adult  Education.   The  fact 
that  53  New  England  and  New  York  Librar- 
ians attended  the  complete  series,  and  2U 
others  attended  one  or  more  sessions,  in- 
dicates that  New  England  Librarians  are 
becoming  increasingly  concerned  about  the 
use  of  Audio-Visual  media. 

At  the  opening  meeting,  Mrs  Patricia 
Blair,  A.L.A.  Library  Film  Advisor,  de- 
veloped the  subject,  The  Why  and  How  of 
Films.  Mrs  Blair  described  briefly  the 
Regional  Library  Film  Plans  in  operation 
at  the  present  time  and  also  covered  such 
topics  as  film  selection,  the  sponsored 
film,  and  film  previews.  Mrs  Javelin 
served  as  Chairman  at  this  meeting. 

Professor  Samuel  B.  Gould,  Director  of 
the  Division  of  Radio  and  Speech,  School 
of  Public  Relations,  Boston  University, 
presented  a  practical  talk  on  Recordings, 
Radio,  and  Television  in  Adult  Education. 
Professor  Gould  illustrated  his  remarks 
with  demonstrations  of  recordings  which 
might  be  used  in  a  Library  program.  Mr 
C.  R.  Graham,  Director  of  the  Louisville 
Public  Library,  and  newly-elected  first 
Vice  President  and  President  Elect  of  the 
A.L.A.,  gave  the  group  an  enthusiastic  ac- 
count of  the  Louisville  Public  Library's 
Audio-Visual  program.  Miss  Sigrid  Edge, 
Professor  of  Library  Science,  Simmons 
College,  acted  as  Chairman. 

At  the  third  and  closing  session,  with 
Mrs  Blair  as  Chairman,  Mr  John  Cory,  Ex- 
ecutibe  Secretary,  A.L.A.,  spoke  on  the 
Use  of  Films  in  the  Community,  and 


-9- 


discussed  Group  Services  Through  the  Li- 
brary.  He  then  led  a  stimulating  discus- 
sion based  on  Productivity:  Key  to 
Plenty,  and  Peiping  Family,  two  films 
contrasting  ways  of  life  in  the  United 
States  and  China. 

Kits  of  book  lists,  sample  film  period- 
icals, and  other  mimeographed  material 
pertaining  to  the  selection  and  use  of 
films  were  distributed.  A  display  of 
film  forms  and  catalogs  used  in  various 
public  libraries,  and  an  exhibit  of 
audio-visual  books  and  pamphlets  attract- 
ed wide  attention 

Music  Library  Association 
Boston-Cambridge  Chapter 

The  Boston-Cambridge  Chapter  of  the 
Music  Library  Association  took  advantage 
of  the  Regional  meeting  of  the  A.L.A.  to 
have  its  fall  meeting  at  Swampscott.   The 
joint  meeting  brought  together  music  as- 
sistants from  Connecticut  and  New 
Hampshire,  as  well  as  Massachusetts.  The 
New  Hampshire  representative  reported  on 
the  state-wide  circulation  of  records  — 
a  project  which,  owing  to  the  lack  of 
funds  has  had  to  be  temporarily  suspended. 
A  report  on  the  Julius  Hart  School  of 
Music  at  Hartford  and  on  the  public  li- 
brary at  Stamford  revealed  the  resources 
and  services  of  these  institutions. 

Professor  John  LaRue  of  Welle sley  spoke 
on  a  process  of  duplicating  music  which 
has  great  possibilities  for  quantitative 
production  of  rare  items  to  avoid  multi- 
ple use  of  the  same.  Mrs  Mary  Ankudowich 
of  Smith  College  described  the  unique 
manuscript  collection  of  Italian  madri- 
gals donated  by  Alfred  Einstein. 

After  a  business  meeting  and  luncheon 
at  the  New  Ocean  House  the  members  ad- 
journed to  the  Essex  Institute  at  Salem 
to  examine  the  collection  of  musical 
instruments  exhibited  there,  and  to  hear 
a  paper  on  Music  in  Museums,  by  Miss 
Narcissa  Williamson  of  the "Museum  of  Fine 
Arts,  Boston.  Mr  Edward  C.  Richard  gave 
a  demonstration  of  wire  and  tape  record- 
ers to  conclude  the  afternoon  session. 
Steps  are  being  taken  to  secure  members 
in  Vermont,  Maine,  and  Rhode  Island,  and 
to  secure  more  members  from  public  librar- 
ies in  the  region  who  are  meeting  an  in- 
creased demand  for  music. 


A.L.A.  Division  of  Cataloging  and 
Classification 

The  A.L.A.  Division  of  Cataloging  and 
Classification  had  a  joint  meeting  with 
the  Boston  Regional  Group  of  Catalogers 
and  Classifiers  on  Friday,  October  four- 
teenth. Miss  Marion  L.  Kesselring  of 
Brown  University,  Chairman  of  the  Boston 
Regional  Group,  presided. 

Miss  Laura  C.  Colvin,  Vice  President  of 
the  Division  of  Cataloging  and  Classifica- 
tion, brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
group  the  statement  of  the  Division's  Ex- 
ecutive Board  on  the  report  of  the  Fourth 
Activities  Committees.  Miss  Colvin  asked 
the  audience  to  send  her  their  opinions 
on  the  questions  raised  in  the  statement. 
The  opinions  will  guide  the  Executive 
Board  in  their  recommendations  about  the 
Fourth  Activities  Committee  report  at  the 
A.L.A.  Midwinter  Conference. 

Dr  Andrew  D.  Osborn,  Assistant  Librar- 
ian, Harvard  College,  spoke  on  the  Cata- 
loging Aspects  of  the  Public  Library 
Inquiry.  Dr  Osborn 's  talk  was  a  criti- 
cism of  the  Inquiry  report  by  Watson  O'D. 
Pierce  entitled  Work  Measurement  in  Pub- 
lic Libraries.  As  the  result  of  question- 
naires sent  to  libraries,  Mr  Pierce  e- 
volved  simplified  methods  of  measuring 
library  operations.  Mr  Pierce  applied 
his  method  for  two  weeks  to  three  librar- 
ies ranging  in  size  from  large  to  small: 
Newark,  N.  J.,  Montclair,  N.  J.,  and 
Larchmont,  N.  Y.  Dr  Osborn  considered 
the  choice  of  libraries  unfortunate  since 
one  library  was  not  preeminent  in  cata- 
loging while  another  was  so  publicity- 
minded  it  sought  innovations  to  add  to 
its  publicity.  The  two-week  period  was 
too  short  to  justify  the  conclusions 
drawn.  During  the  two  weeks  Newark  cata- 
loged iiOO  titles,  Montclair  223,  and 
Larchmont  7$.     Since  these  libraries  usu- 
ally catalog  10,000,  5,000,  and  1,000 
titles  annually  the  figures  obtained  dur- 
ing the  two-week  period  were  out  of  pro- 
portion. Mr  Pierce  decided  that  too  much 
time  has  been  devoted  to  the  study  of 
catalog  departments  and  not  enough  to  the 
operation  of  the  other  departments  of  a 
library.  Dr  Osborn  agreed  that  catalog- 
ers have  by  their  own  efforts  improved 
the  efficiency  of  catalog  departments. 

Dr  Osborn  concluded  that  the  report 


-10- 


should  have  been  theoretically  qualita- 
tive rather  than  quantitative.   It  is  not 
a  question  of  whether  a  department  can 
catalog  a  book  in  so  many  minutes,  but 
can  a  department  keep  abreast  of  its  work. 
In  his  sociological  statistical  study  of 
library  problems  Mr  Pierce  has  lost  sight 
of  the  fact  that  a  library  organization 
is  people  and  not  processes.  The  study 
is  not  an  important  contribution  to  cat- 
aloging literature. 

Dr  Robert  D.  Leigh,  Director  of  the 
Public  Library  Inquiry,  answered  Dr 
Osborn's  criticism  by  agreeing  the  time 
measurements  were  crude,  but  quantitative 
measurements  are  admittedly  very  helpful 
in  setting  standards. 

Division  of  Libraries  for  Children  and 
Young  People,  and  Round  Table  of 
Children's  Librarians 

The  Division  of  Libraries  for  Children 
and  Young  People  presented  three  inter- 
esting programs:   On  Wednesday,  The  Place 
of  Young  People ' s  Work  in  the  Library  and 


Community,  with  Librarians  from  Brockton, 
Leominster,  and  Greenfield  as  speakers, 
and  a  radio  program  by  a  group  of  alert 
Brockton  high-school  students;  on  Friday, 
Book  Reviewing  for  Book  Selection,  a 
thoughtful  talk  by  Miss  Mary  Silva, 
Consultant,  School  Libraries  and  Library 
Work  with  Children  and  Young  People, 
Massachusetts  Division  of  Public  Librar- 
ies; and  on  Saturday,  a  lively  discussion 
of  the  Fourth  Activities  Report,  led  by 
Miss  Mildred  Batchelder,  Division  Execu- 
tive Secretary.  Miss  Batchelder  inter- 
preted some  of  the  debatable  points,  then 
comments  followed  from  the  various  mem- 
bers of  the  symposium  group,  with  pros, 
cons,  and  questions  from  the  floor. 

The  Round  Table  of  Children's  Librar- 
ians sponsored  three  meetings  also.  On 
Friday,  a  delightful  tea  and  reception 
was  held,  in  honor  of  the  25>th  anniversa- 
ry of  the  Horn  Book,  with  birthday  cake 
and  candles,  and  greetings  from  the 
guests  of  honor.   On  Saturday  afternoon 
the  Caroline  M.  Hewins  lecture  was  given 
by  Miss  Virginia  Haviland,  entitled  For 
Profit  or  Pleasure:   the  travelogue 
storybook  of  the  nineteenth  century,  a 
skillful,  enjoyable  presentation  indicat- 
ing thorough  research.  Lastly,  and  in 
fact  the  closing  event  of  the  Conference, 
was  the  party  for  Berta  and  Elmer  Hader, 


beloved  illustrators  and  authors  of  chil- 
dren's books  and  Caldecott  medal  winners, 
a  reception  giving  opportunity  for  them 
to  meet  Children's  Librarians  from  every 
part  of  New  England, 

A.L.A.  Joint  Committee  on  Library 
Service  to  Labor  Groups 

The  well-arranged  meeting  of  the  A.L.A. 
Joint  Committee  on  Library  Service  to 
Labor  Groups,  under  the  Chairman,  Miss 
Sigrid  A.  Edge  of  Simmons  College,  was  in 
the  form  of  a  panel  discussion  with  three 
speakers  covering  Labor  and  Libraries  in 
New  England. 

The  most  interesting  speaker  for  the 
Boston  audience  was  Mrs  Charlotte  D. 
Robinson,  Educational  Director  of  the 
International  Ladies '  Garment  Workers 
Union,  A.F.L.,  who  described  her  experi- 
ence with  the  Boston  Public  Library.  The 
contact  was  made  by  Mr  Abraham  Kalish, 
formerly  in  charge  of  work  with  unions. 
The  Bostonians  were  pleased  to  hear  Mrs 
Robinson's  praise  of  Mr  Kalish' s  person- 
ality and  his  work.  Mrs  Robinson's  chief 
problem  was  familiar  to  librarians  —  how 
to  interest  people  in  reading.  As  she 
was  sympathetic  with  tired  and  busy  union 
workers,  she  set  no  time  limit  or  fines 
for  the  loan  of  a  book.   Indeed,  in  order 
to  help  union  members  more,  she  followed 
Mr  Kalish 's  suggestion  that  she  request 
the  factory  owners  to  permit  a  collection 
of  books  from  the  Boston  Public  Library 
to  be  deposited  in  the  shops  themselves. 
Three  factories  readily  consented  and  as- 
signed a  worker  as  librarian.  Mrs 
Robinson  closed  with  her  definition  of  a 
good  union  librarian  as  a  person  with  an 
understanding  of  the  workers  and  of  the 
problems  of  trade  unions. 

The  second  speaker,  Miss  Dorothy  G. 
Flynn,  Assistant  Librarian  of  the  Lynn 
Public  Library  described  the  services  to 
the  United  Electrical  Union,  the  largest 
union  in  Lynn.   Profiting  from  past  fail- 
ures, Miss  Flynn  recommended  a  bookmobile 
with  a  trained  librarian  to  visit  the 
plants  on  the  lunch  hour,  as  the  ideal 
solution. 

A  different  phase  of  labor  service  was 
presented  by  Mr  Frederic  G.  Dunn,  Super- 
visor of  Workers '  Education  Program, 
Rhode  Island  State  College.   In  ±9k5,   a 
Labor  Advisory  Committee  vras  formed  under 
the  General  College  Extension  of  Rhode 
Island.  Since  then,  evening  classes  have 


-11- 


proven  consistently  popular.  During  the 
day,  for  a  short  but  concentrated  period, 
there  is  a  "Resident  Institute"  on  the 
campus  for  union  members. 

Association  of  College  and  ' 
Reference  Librarians 

The  first  action  taken  at  the  meeting 
of  the  Association  of  College  and  Refer- 
ence Librarians  on  Saturday,  October  15> 
at  the  A.L.A.  Regional  Convention  was  the 
passing  of  tv.ro  resolutions.  One  resolu- 
tion was  to  the  effect  that  the  members 
present  wished  to  go  on  record  as  feeling 
that  the  Fourth  Activities  Committee  re- 
port should  be  accepted  as  a  guide  for 
the  Executive  Board  rather  than  taken  as 
a  course  of  action.  The  second  resolu- 
tion authorised  the  officers  of  the  Asso- 
ciation to  enter  into  discussion  with  the 
officers  of  other  library  associations 
about  the  possibilities  of  a  federation 
of  library  associations.  The  background 
for  such  resolutions  and  for  similar  ac- 
tion at  the  Far  West  Regional  A.L.A.  Con- 
ference is  to  be  found  on  pages  310  and 
311  of  the  October,  19h9   issue  of  the 
A.L.A,  Bulletin. 

After  both  resolutions  were  passed  by  a 
showing  of  hands  with  approximately  half 
those  present  voting,  and  with  no  nega- 
tive vote  being  registered,  the  meeting 
was  turned  over  to  three  very  lively 
speakers  ivho  talked  on  practical  problems 
of  the  college  reference  library  service 
pattern  in  a  down-to-earth  vein. 

Mr  Nathaniel  Goodrich,  retiring  librar- 
ian of  Dartmouth  College  Library,  admit- 
ted he  had  come  prepared  to  address  the 
New  England  College  Library  group.  His 
comments  were  quite  a  propos,  neverthe- 
less. Sharing  his  enthusiasm  for  poetry 
and  mountain  climbing  with  all  present, 
he  also  found  it  possible  to  project  to 
his  auditors  some  of  his  professional 
enthusiasms,  and  reservations,  after  a 
long  career.  Keep  libraries  beautiful, 
keep  systems  simple,  keep  morale  high, 
and  keep  book  collections  alive,  were  the 
keynotes  of  his  professional  remarks. 

Miss  Eileen  Thornton  of  Vassar  College, 
a  non-New  Englander  note,  spoke  on  the 
need  of  liaison  between  library  staff  and 
faculty,  both  for  service  purposes  and 
for  book  selection  activity.  She  made 
the  point  that  being  a  good  librarian  is 
a  career  in  itself,  with  or  without  a 


faculty  status.  Personnel  recruiting  and 
the  developing  of  a  staff  with  subject 
specialization  was  one  of  her  themes. 
Her  punch  line  —  to  the  effect  that  we 
can't  please  everyone  all  the  time  but 
that  we  could  try  —  was  delivered  with  a 
sincerity  that  conveyed  conviction. 

The  final  speaker,  Dr  D.  L.  Farnsworth 
of  Mol.T.,  spoke  on  Psychiatry  and  the 
Libraries.  He  made  available  to  the 
audience  a  list  of  some  forty  titles  of 
books  in  the  field  that  he  felt  had  a 
place  in  a  general  library  collection, 
copies  of  which  could  also  be  secured 
from  him  at  M.I.T.  In  his  comments  he 
dwelt  on  the  practical  points  of  the 
handling  of  such  books  and  the  type  of 
library  user  interested  in  such  material. 

Special  Libraries  Association 
Boston  Chapter 

In  her  talk,  How  Business  Uses  Library 
Services,  Miss  Eleanor  S.  Cavanaugh, 
Librarian,  Standard  &  Poor's  Corporation, 
New  York  City,  brought  out  the  following 
points: 

"No  business  executive  alone  can  keep 
abreast  of  all  factors  affecting  his  busi- 
ness without  tailor-made  knowledge  pro- 
vided by  specialized  library  services." 
Business  needs  a  clearing  house  for  in- 
formation to  which  it  may  turn  for  back- 
ground material,  for  current  trends,  and 
for  today's  latest  information  on  which 
to  base  tomorrow's  decisions. 

There  is  no  indication  that  the  special- 
ized information  services  to  business  men 
have  kept  pace  with  industrial  develop- 
ments in  various  areas  in  the  United 
States.  A  public  relations  program  is 
needed  so  that  we  may  more  effectively 
sell  ourselves  to  business.  We  probably 
have  not  yet  even  learned  the  correct  ap- 
proach. 

Business  today  operates  in  a  highly 
competitive  field.   It  must  develop  new 
products,  find  markets  for  them,  keep  old 
customers,  find  new  ones,  produce  and  sell 
at  the  lowest  possible  cost,  advertise, 
and  carry  on  public  relations,,  Business 
must  cope  with  problems  of  management  and 
labor  relations;  must  keep  informed  of 
materials,  prices,  shortages;  and,  on  top 
of  this,  is  constantly  harassed  by  various 
regulations  which  are  now  the  lot  of  so 
many  businesses. 

To  do  all  this  without  a  clearing  house 


-12- 


to  which  to  turn  seems  to  a  librarian  an 
impossible  task.   It  is  unfortunate  that 
public  libraries,  and  especially  those  in 
the  larger  industrial  areas  —  good  as 
they  are,  and  as  hard  as  they  try  to  give 
competent  services  —  are  so  handicapped 
by  lack  of  funds  that  they  are  unable  to 
engage  in  the  exploratory  type  of  re- 
search and  to  furnish  highly-specialized 
services  to  the  extent  which  would  be  de- 
sirable. 

We  would  not  be  too  far  wrong  if  we 
placed  on  the  librarian  the  blame  for 
this  situation,  inasmuch  as  he  has  not 
been  sufficiently  articulate  about  what 
he  can  do.  On  the  other  hand,  we  can 
place  on  the  business  man  the  responsi- 
bility for  not  demanding  such  highly- 
specialized  services  from  his  library, 
and  for  not  insisting  upon  getting  them. 
If  this  type  of  cooperation  between  li- 
braries and  businessmen  could  be  achieved; 
it  would  in  all  probability  help  library 
administrators  to  secure  more  funds  with 
which  to  carry  on  such  services. 

The  discussion  period  brought  out  (1)  a 
greater  need  for  co-operation  between  li- 
braries, (2)  a  need  for  pooling  resources, 
and  (3)  that  regional  libraries  are  prob- 
ably the  best  means  of  achieving  the 
former. 


Mr  D.  H.  Angney,  Manager,  Research  and 
Statistics,  Federal  Reserve  Bank  of 
Boston,  spoke  on  Recent  Trends  in  the  New 
England  Economy*  He  pointed  out  that  if 
New  England's  growth  and  strength  in  the 
future  depends  on  men,  research,  ideas, 
and  aggressive  action,  then  the  special 
library  has  an  important  role  in  our  re- 
gional economy.   It  is  an  important  mem- 
ber of  a  research  team  which  is  inter- 
ested in  action.  A  special  library  must 
anticipate  the  needs  of  the  other  members 
in  a  research  organization  or  business. 
Ideas  are  potent  forces  but  they  must  be 
widely  disseminated  if  we  are  to  achieve 
action.  Special  libraries  are  not  only 
the  custodians  of  ideas  in  written  form 
but  are  also  the  "routing  points"  for 
directing  the  flow  of  ideas.  "A  library 
is  not  as  popular  as  a  movie  theatre,  but 
if  it  reaches  key  people,  it  can  be  an 
effective  aid  for  selling  ideas." 


A  research  worker  must  be  conversant 
with  day-to-day  changes  in  his  assigned 
field.  In  addition  he  must  follow  the 


current  trends  of  research  activity  and 
have  the  proper  perspective  for  integrat- 
ing his  work  with  the  efforts  of  others. 
He  must  avoid  duplication  and  benefit 
from  new  ideas.   The  Federal  Reserve  Bank 
of  Boston's  special  library  publishes 
daily  News  Notes,  consisting  of  abstracts 
of  items  of  local,  regional,  and  national 
interest,  and  sends  it  to  banks  in  New 
England,  but  not  to  such  organizations  as 
public  libraries.  This  library  also  pub- 
lishes a  Quarterly  Inventory  of  Economic 
Research  which  summarizes  the  subject 
matter  of  economic  research  projects  on 
New  England,  their  dates  of  completion, 
and  where  they  may  be  obtained. 

The  most  important  single  economic 
problem  for  New  England  is  how  to  imple- 
ment and  achieve  future  growth.  This 
bank  is  actively  engaged  in  a  study  of 
man-made  obstacles  to  growth  in  New 
England  in  order  that  they  may  be  correct- 
ed. The  problems  of  taxes,  new  factory 
buildings,  sources  of  raw  materials, 
costs  of  transportation  and  electric  pow- 
er, availability  of  equity  capital,  and 
community  attitudes  toward  industry  are 
some  of  the  pressing  issues. 

A  series  of  charts  thrown  on  the  screen 
showed  the  economic  changes  in  New 
England  in  regard  to  population,  income, 
employment,  retail  sales,  and  other  eco- 
nomic data.  Mr  Angney  painted  a  rosy 
future  for  New  England,  based  upon  the 
growth  of  new  industries  and  the  presence 
of  certain  skills.  He  felt  there  was  a 
compensation  for  the  decline  in  such 
lines  as  leather  and  wool. 

BRANCH  NOTES 

East  Boston 

About  one  hundred  teachers  visited  the 
fifth  annual  art  exhibit  Tuesday,  Novem- 
ber first.   Besides  the  usual  spectacular 
display  of  street  scenes,  flower  and 
fruit  arrangements,  pencil  sketches, 
crayon  work,  etc,  there  were  new  fea- 
tures. An  interesting  display  showed  the 
adaption  of  mechanical  drawing  and  formal 
design  to  making  unusual  buttons.  Another 
exhibit  traced  the  making  of  a  stencilled 
cloth  from  the  formal  sketching  of  the 
design  to  the  stencil  and  the  finished 
hanging.  Two  hundred  and  thirty-six  pic- 
tures, the  work  of  East  Boston  students 


-13- 


from  the  kindergarten  through  the  high 
school,  have  been  on  display  since 
October  seventeenth. 

From  two-thirty  to  four-thirty  tea, 
sandwiches  and  cookies  were  served  in  the 
candle-lighted  office.  Mrs  Ada  A. 
Andelman  and  Miss  Elizabeth  M.  Gordon, 
Supervisors  in  the  Boston  Public  Library, 
poured.  Miss  Dorothy  F.  Nourse,  Branch 
Librarian,  and  her  staff  were  assisted  as 
hostesses  by  Mrs  Margaret  A.  Donovan, 
Children's  Librarian  at  the  Jeffries 
Point  Branch  Library. 

Jamaica  Plain 

An  unusual  music  display  called  OLD 
MASTERS  —  NEW  FRIENDS  is  being  featured. 
Pictures  of  composers  and  performers  in 
both  the  operatic  and  concert  field  are 
displayed  on  a  colorful  background.  At 
the  entrance  to  the  stacks  there  are  some 
excellent  color  prints  of  Schubert, 
Koussevitsky,  Toscannini,  Tchaikovsky, 
Kreisler,  Wagner  and  Rimsky-Korsakov.  On 
the  top  shelf  on  the  exhibition  case  are 
the  busts  of  Schumann,  Schubert,  Bach  and 
Wagner:  on  the  next  shelf  are  miniature 
reproductions  of  a  violin  and  a  Russian 
Balalaika  —  both  of  which  were  brought 
here  from  Europe  by  a  musician  on  one  of 
his  tours.   These  two  pieces  are  charm- 
ingly made  and  delightfully  trimmed  with 
a  mother-of-pearl  inlay. 

The  public  has  a  large  selection  of 
books  from  which  to  choose  —  fiction 
with  a  musical  background;  biographies 
and  autobiographies  of  past  and  present 
performers  and  stars  of  the  musical  world. 
For  the  more  serious-minded  there  are 
books  of  the  symphonies  and  operas  which 
explain  many  musical  mysteries  to  the 
layman . 

Mattapan 

For  two  weeks,  November  1-12,  the 
branch  library  will  be  the  proud  posses- 
sor of  a  fine  collection  of  "young 
American  originals"  —  paintings,  draw- 
ings, murals,  and  designs  done  by  the 
elementary  grade  public  school  children 
in  the  Audubon,  Martha  Baker,  William 
Bradford,  Charles  Logue,  Robert  T.  Paine, 
Pauline  A.  Shaw,  Tileston,  and  Roger 
Wolcott  Schools.   In  co-operation  with 
the  Art  Department  of  the  Boston  Public 
Schools,  the  Art  Week  is  being  celebrated 
with  the  exhibition. 


The  picture  collection  is  indeed  a 
varied  one.   The  subject  matter  consists 
of  wonderful  multicolored  designs  to 
please  the  lover  of  abstract  art,  as  well 
as  still  lifes  and  lively  scenes  for 
those  who  prefer  more  realistic  represen- 
tation.  Both  color  and  form  are  handled 
with  great  precision.  The  everyday 
scenes  reveal  the  interests  of  our  young 
artists  in  the  life  about  them;  there  are 
pictures  of  Hallowe'en  witches  and  fierce- 
looking  dogs,  of  skiers  and  dancers,  of 
snowmen  and  of  the  school  children  them- 
selves. 

Worth  particular  mention  are  the  three 
large  murals  in  the  exhibit.  Two  of  them 
were  done  by  Marjorie  Swartz,  a  first 
grader  at  the  Audubon  School;  Helene 
Feldberg,  Roberta  Kosofsky,  Carol  Levitt, 
Ilene  Perlis,  and  Lawrence  Mills,  sixth 
graders  at  Charles  Logue  School,  collabor- 
ated to  do  the  third  mural.  All  three 
murals  show  extreme  skill  in  perception 
of  movement,  besides  a  protrayal  of  per- 
spective that  is  also  admirable. 

North  End 

Films  were  used  for  the  first  time  to 
explain  the  Library  to  the  Senior  English 
classes  from  the  boys'  division  of 
Christopher  Columbus  High  School. 

Father  Thomas,  O.F.M.  brought  lii5  boys 
in  three  groups  to  the  Library.  Miss 
Ellen  Peterson  and  Mrs  Geraldine  Herrick 
gave  introductory  talks  and  then  the 
films  Find  the  information  and  Know  your 
Library  were  presented.   lot  Ice,  a 
hockey  film,  was  shown  as  a  dividend  to 
lighten  the  program.  Needless  to  say  the 
boys  were  delighted  with  it.  The  in- 
structor, the  boys,  and  the  Library  per- 
sonnel felt  that  the  use  of  films  in 
teaching  the  use  of  the  Library  was  a 
complete  success.  The  following  morning, 
the  boys  returned  to  the  Library,  to 
spend  their  English  period  on  assignments 
that  tested  their  ability  to  develop  the 
techniques  presented  in  the  films  on  the 
use  of  the  Library. 

The  program  was  repeated  for  the  girls 
on  Wednesday,  November  ninth.  Early 
Settlers  of  New  England  was  substituted 
for  Hot  Ice. 

Parker  Hill 

In  observance  of  Art  Week,  a  large  ex- 
hibit of  drawings  by  the  pupils  of  the 
schools  in  the  district  was  featured 


-Ill- 


Book  Week  exhibits  will  include:  For- 
eign dolls  and  books  with  foreign  back- 
grounds, stressing  the  theme  United  through 


books;  and  a  large  collection  of  pictures 
of  authors  of  juvenile  books.  The  high- 
light of  the  Book  Week  celebration  will  be 
a  tea  and  Open  House  on  November  fifteenth, 
from  three  to  five  o'clock,  in  honor  of 
the  teachers  of  the  public  and  parochial 
schools  in  the  district. 

Phillips  Brooks 

Recent  events  have  included  a  delightful 
book  review  evening  on  October  twenty- 
seventh  at  which  Kiss  Edna  G.  Peck  dis- 
cussed informally  new  fiction  and  non- 
fiction  titles.   The  very  active  FRIENDS 
OF  THE  PHILLIPS  BROOKS  BRANCH  LIBRARY  fur- 
nished refreshments  —  the  traditional 
autumn  cider  and  doughnuts  .  Newer  resi- 
dents of  Readville,  as  well  as  Miss  Peck's 
old  friends  in  the  community,  attended  the 
program. 

Continuing  their  activities  for  the 
season,  THE  FRIENDS  OF  THE  PHILLIPS  BROOKS 
BRANCH  LIBRARY  will  sponsor  a  morning  cof- 
fee party  at  the  library  during  Book  Week. 
On  Wednesday  morning,  November  sixteenth, 
while  pre-school  children  are  entertained 
with  picture  books,  in  this  first  of  their 
new  pre-school  story  hours,  their  mothers 
will  enjoy  contact  with  other  women  of  the 
community  and  will  have  opportunity  to 
discover  books  in  special  exhibits  ar- 
ranged for  them. 

Another  activity  currently  being  pro- 
moted by  this  group  is  an  essay  contest 
for  children  upon  the  subject:  WHAT  THE 
PHILLIPS  BROOKS  BRANCH  LIBRARY  MEANS  TO  ME  J 
On  Monday  evening,  November  twenty-first, 
at  a  regular  meeting  of  the  group,  six 
selected  essays  will  be  read  and  books 
awarded  for  the  best  in  each  of  the  three 
age  groups.  Judges  for  the  contest,  se- 
lected by  the  executive  board  of  "THE 
FRIENDS"  from  people  outside  Readville, 
are:  Mrs  Edith  H.  Bailey,  former  Branch 
Librarian,  Mr  William  B.  Harlow,  a  leader 
of  the  second  year  Great  Books  discussions, 
and  Mr  Paul  Heins,  teacher  of  English  at 
English  High  School. 

Uphams  Corner 

Special  exhibits  were  shown  in  the  Chil- 
dren's Department  during  Art  Week.   These 
consisted  of  free-hand  work  in  water  color 
and  pastels;  still  life  studies  and  child- 
hood activities.  A  panorama  of  Meeting 


House  Hill  in  color,  the  work  of  the  third 
grade  of  the  Quincy  Street  School,  was 
perhaps  the  most  outstanding  and  astonish- 
ing. Each  pupil  executed  a  section  in  the 
mural  which  showed  perfect  harmony,  design 
and  arrangement.  The  work  of  the  students 
in  the  following  schools  included:  John 
Motley,  John  Winthrop,  Benedict  Fenwick, 
and  the  Quincy  Street.  Miss  Angela 
Cannata,  supervisor  of  Art  in  the  Public 
Schools,  planned  the  work. 

Washington  Village 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  announce  the  resump- 
tion of  the  Book  Discussion  Group  for  the 
season,  l°U9-£0,  October  through  June,  the 
first  and  third  Wednesdays  of  the  month. 
It  is  even  more  pleasant  and  gratifying  to 
be  able  to  say  that  some  of  the  members 
are  veterans  and  devotees,  going  into  their 
fourth  year.  The  average  attendance  is 
eighteen,  a  third  being  men  and  articulate 
ones  (praise  be!).  As  always,  the  assem- 
bly is  composed  of  a  variety  of  types  and 
backgrounds  —  young  and  old  —  all  linked 
by,  and  animated  with,  a  common  interest 
and  purpose.  The  meetings  take  place  in  a 
cozy  corner  of  the  Children's  Room,  in  an 
atmosphere  and  attitude  that,  one  hopes, 
would  meet  with  Dr  Mortimer  Alder's  approv- 
al. 

Conducted  along  the  informal,  Socratic 
method,  the  books  discussed,  of  course, 
are  of  a  different  vein  from  the  Great 
Books,  and  therefore  are  not  as  arduous, 
being  geared  to  people  who  feel  that  Great 
Books  entail  more  time  than  they  have  to 
give.  The  books  selected,  however,  are 
worthwhile  or  outstanding,  either  from  a 
literary  or  historical  point  of  view,  This 
year  the  book  program  is  centered  on  the 
Study  of  the  novel  by  dominant  type,  such 
as  the  picaresque,  Gothic,  satirical, 
problem,  historical,  as  well  as  the  novel 
of  manners  and  the  novel  of  atmosphere, 
Defoe '  s  Roxana  was  the  first  novel  con- 


sidered, important  as  one  of  the  first 
realistic  novels  in  English  and  indicative 
of  a  very  early  and  generative  type,  the 
picaresque  novel,  in  which  the  chief  pro- 
tagonist is  an  anti-hero  or  heroine,  trav- 
elling from  one  level  of  society  to  anoth- 
er, often  satirizing  these  levels.  As  may 
be  expected,  the  discussion  of  Roxana  was 
spirited  and  challenging.  The  group,  as  a 
whole,  it  should  be  mentioned,  is  mentally 
mature  and  conversant  with  a  diversity  of 
reading,  classical  and  modern.  Above  all, 


-15- 


they  are  good  sports  and  willing  to  be 
taken  dovm  strange  paths!  Ann  Radcliffe, 
Jane  Austen,  Sinclair  Lewis,  Joseph 
Conrad,  Edith  Wharton,  are  the  authors  in 
mind  from  which  the  novels  will  be  chosen. 

At  the  second  meeting  of  the  month,  cur- 
rent events  hold  sway,  and  are  very  much 
in  favor  with  the  group.   The  topics  to 
be  considered  are  specified  at  the  pre- 
vious meeting,  so  that  there  will  be 
similarity  and  unity  in  the  reading  of 
current  events.  Our  special  textbook  and 
guide  for  the  year  is  Dr  Liebman's  Peace 
of  mind,  a  sub-topic  of  which  is  closely 
analyzed,  on  our  current  events  evenings. 

In  accord  with  a  custom  established  at 
the  inception  of  this  Discussion  Group, 
there  is  a  pleasant  half -hour,  after  the 
two-hour  session,  of  friendliness,  gen- 
eralities, and  partaking  of  the  "cup  that 
cheers  but  not  inebriates". 

West  Bnd 

Children's  Book  Week  this  year  will  be 
observed  November  13-19,  with  "Make 
Friends  With  Books"  as  its  theme.   The 
West  End  Branch  Library  will  celebrate 
the  event  both  in  the  Children's  Room  and 
in  the  Main  Reading  Room.  Original  il- 
lustrations from  the  year's  best  in 
Children's  literature  and  the  new  books 
themselves  will  be  featured.   Bookmarks, 
3s  well  as  the  latest  publishers'  cata- 
logs and  related  material  will  be  dis- 
tributed to  teachers,  social  workers,  and 
parents. 


As  in  the  past,  the  West  End  Branch 
Library  will  play  a  leading  part  in  this 
ye?.r:s  observance  of  Jewish  Book  Month 
in  Boston,  November  11  to  December  11. 
Besides  featuring  several  displays  it- 
self, it  will  serve  as  headquarters  for 
other  branch  libraries  and  Jewish  agen- 
cies, and  will  arrange  and  send  out  ex- 
hibits dealing  with  various  facets  of 
J  brash  culture. 

Miss  Fanny  Goldstein,  Librarian  of  the 
West  End  Branch  Library,  will  deliver  a 
lecture  in  the  Lecture  Hall  of  the  Boston 
Public  Library,  on  Sunday  evening, 
November  twentieth,  at  8:00.'  .  .   Her 
topic  will  be  "Sholem  Asch  -  the  Man  and 
hits  Works"  •■  The  meeting  is  open  to  the 
public.  On  Sunday,  December  fourth,  also 
in  the  Lecture  Hall  of  the  Main  Library, 


another  program  in  connection  with  Jewish 
Book  Month  will  take  place.  Several  oth- 
er programs  of  interest  are  being  planned, 
details  of  which  will  be  announced  later. 

NEW  BOOKS  IN  THE  STAFF  LIBRARY 

Baldwin,  Emma  V. 

Library  costs  and  budgets. 

New  York,  Bowker,  19hl 
Berelson,  Bernard 

Education  for  Librarianship. 

Chicago,  A.L.A.,  19U9 
Bonnet,  Theodore 

The  mudlark. 

New  York,  Doubleday,  19h9 
Burns,  John  H. 

Lucifer  with  a  book. 

New  York,  Harper,  1914-9 
Caldwell,  Taylor 

Let  love  come  last. 

New  York,  Scribner,  19k9 
Cather,  Willa 

Willa  Cather  on  Writing. 

New  York,  Knopf,  19h9 
Christie,  Robert 

Inherit  the  night. 

New  York,  Farrar,  19U9 
Dinneen,  Joseph  F. 

Purple  Shamrock. 

New  York,  Norton,  19U9 
Fitzgerald,  F.  Scott 

Portable  Fitzgerald. 

New  York,  Viking,  19^9 
Hayes,  Alfred 

The  girl  on  the  Via  Flamina. 

New  York,  Harper,  19U9 
Howe ,  George 

Call  it  treason. 

New  York,  Viking,  19U9 
Lea,  Tom 

Brave  bulls. 

Boston,  Little,  Brown,  19^9 
Lewis,  Sinclair 

The  God-seeker. 

New  York,  Random  House,  19U9 
Lord,  David 

Joey, 

New  York,  Dutton,  19U9 
McCamy,  James  L. 

Government  publications  for  the  citizen; 

a  report  of  the  Public  Library  Inquiry, 

New  York,  Columbia  Univ.  Press,  19h? 
Maclnnes,  Helen 

Rest  and  be  thankful. 

Boston,  Little,  Brown,  19h9 


-16- 


Mannin,  Ethel 

Late  have  I  loved  thee. 
New  York,  Putnam,  19h9 
Merton,  Thomas 

Seven  storey  mountain. 
New  York,  Harcourt  Brace,  19U8 
Merton,  Thomas 

Seeds  of  contemplation. 
Norfold,  Ct.,  New  Directions,  19U9 
Muntz,  Hope 

Golden  warrior. 
New  York,  Scribner,  19U9 
O'Brien,  John  A.,  ed. 
Road  to  Damascus. 
New  York,  Doubleday,  19li9 
O'Faolain,  Sean 
Irishi 

New  York,  Devin-Adair,  19U9 
Orwell,  George 

Nineteen  eighty-four. 
New  York,  Harcourt,  19U9 
Perelman,  Sidney  J. 

Listen  to  the  mocking  bird. 
New  York,  Simon  &  Schuster,  19U9 
Rogers,  Agnes 

Women  are  here  to  stay. 
New  York,  Harper,  19U9 
Savoy,  Willard  ViT. 
Alien  land. 

New  York,  Dutton,  19U9 
Sheean,  Vincent 

Lead,  kindly  light. 
New  York,  Random  House,  19h9 
Starkey,  Marion 

The  Devil  in  Massachusetts. 
New  York,  Knopf,  19U9 
Steen,  Marguerite 

Twilight  on  the  floods. 
New  York,  Doubleday,  19U9 
Street,  James  H. 
Tomorrow  we  reap. 
New  York,  Dial,  19U9 
Streeter,  Edward 

Father  of  the  bride. 
New  York,  Simon  &  Schuster,  19h9 
Taber,  Gladys 

Especially  father. 
Philadelphia,  Macrae  Smith,  19U9 
Utter,  Ethel  C. 

Parliamentary  law  at  a  glance. 
Chicago,  Reilly  &  Lee,  19U9 
Van  Praag,  Van 
Day  without  end. 
New  York,  Sloane,  19h9 
T':altari,  Mika 
The  Egyptian. 
New  York,  Putnam,  19U9 


Williams,  Ben  Ames 

Fraternity  village. 

Boston,  Houghton,  19h9 
Williams,  Charles 

Many  dimensions. 

New  York,  Pellagrini,  19U9 
Wilson,  Mitchell 

Live  with  lightning. 

Boston,  Little,  Brown,  19h9 


THE  BOSTON  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  PROFESSIONAL  STAFF  ASSOCIATION 


An  Institute  on  CURRENT  ATTITUDES  UNDERLYING  RECENT  YJRITING  OH  MAM  AND  THE 
".ORLD  IN  "nlCH  HE  LIVES,  sponsored  by  the  Association,  will  be  held  in  the 
Lecture  Hall  of  the  Boston  Public  Library  on  Thursday  and  Friday,  November  17 
and  18,  1949. 

Eight  distinguished  subject  specialists  have  agreed  to  present  to  the 
membership  and  its  guests  an  evaluation  of  current  trends  in  writing  in  selected 
fields  of  study.   In  this  way  it  is  hoped  that  the  membership  will  be  provided 
with  authoritative  estimates  of  opinion  trends  in     fields  which  will  be  of 
assistance  in  an  individual's  professional  life. 

The  program  will  be  as  follows: 

Thursday  Morning  at  9:30  A.M. 

Introductory  remarks  by  Mrs.  Sarah  7«.  Flannery,  Mr.  Milton  E.  Lord,  and 
Mr.  Kenneth  R.  Shaffer. 
Address j  Franc  is  R.  St. John,  Librarian,  Brooklyn  Public  Library, 

speaking  on  LIBR.RY  TRENDS  AND  THEIR  RELATION  TO  INTELLECTUAL 

FREEDOMS 

Thursday  Afternoon  at  2:30  P.M. 

Address t      Thomas  E.  Shortell,  S.J.,  Assoc.  Prof.,  Boston  College 

speaking  on  CURRENT  ATTITUDES  T0"\ARD  THE  LABOR  MANAGEMENT 

RELATIONSHIP. 

Address:   S.  Andhil  Fineberg,  Author,  Counsellor,  speaking  on 

CURRENT  PHILOSOFHIES  IN  RACE  RELATIONS 

Thursday  Evening  at  8;00  P.M. 

Address:   John  Lobb,  Prof.,  Mount  Holyoke  College,  speaking  on 

MARRIAGE  AND  THE  FAMILY  IN  CONTEMPORARY  SOCIETY. 
Address:   John  Brubacher,  Prof.,  Yale  University,  speaking  on 

THE  PHILOSOPHIES  OF  TODAY'S  WRITERS  ON  EDUCATION. 

Friday  Morning  at  9s 30  A.M. 

Address:  Myron  P.  Gilmore,  Assoc.  Prof.,  Harvard  University,  speaking 

on  CURRENT  EUROPEAN  HISTORICAL  VvRITERS. 
Address:   Thomas'  H.D.  Mahoney,  Ass't  Prof.,  Massachusetts  Institute  of 

Technology,  speaking  on  SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL  FORCES  AT  WORK  TODAY  IN 

AMERICA  AS  REVEALED  THROUGH  FOR' AL  V.RITIKGS. 


Friday  Afternoon  at  2j30  P.M. 

Address  j  ".aldenar  B.  Kaempf fert,  Science  Editor,  T.evr   York  Times, 
speaking  on  PRESENT  DAY  SCIENCE  AND  SCIEKTItTS  IN  THEIR  RELATION 
TO  THE  •  ORLD  AT  URGE, 

There  will  be  no  pre-registration.   Tickets  may  be  purchased  at  the  entrance 
to  the  Lecture  Hall  during  the  thirty  minutes  preceding  each  session*  Admission 
fee  will  be  the  same  as  last  years   that  is,  50/  for  a  single  and  §1.00  for  the 
entire  series. 

The  printed  program  for  the  Institute  will  be  distributed  early  next  week 
and  will  be  available  before  each  meeting.  Members  of  the  Association  are  urged 
to  be  in  attendance.  The  series  gives  promise  of  providing  information  which 
all  can  use  in  our  daily  work. 

SARAH  If.  FLAN1JERY,  Chairman 
SpecoComn.  on  In-Service  Training 
9  November  1949. 


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PROFESSIONAL,  STAFF  ASSOCIATION 


THE   QUESTION   MARK 

Published  by  the  Boston  Public  Library  Professional  Staff  Association 
Volume  IV,  Number  11 December  1949 

Publications  Committee:  Mildred  R.  Adelson,  M.  Dorothy  Brackett,  John  M.  Carroll, 

Eleanor  DiGiannantonio,  Sarah  M.  Usher,  Chairman 

Publication  date;  Deadline  for  submitting  material t 

The  fifteenth  of  each  month  The  tenth  of  each  month 


A  MESSAGE 

FROM  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  LIBRARY  ASSOCIATION  TO  THE 

MEMBERS  OF  THE  BOSTON  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  PROFESSIONAL  STAFF  ASSOCIATION 


To  the 

members  of  the  Boston  Public  Library  Professional  Staff  Association: 

As  I  have  entered  upon  my  responsibilities  as  President  of 
the  American  Library  Association,  I  have  been  greatly  cheered  and  en- 
couraged by  the  friendly  interest  which  has  been  shown  in  my  doing  so 
by  the  members  of  your  Association.  Particularly  was  this  so  in  help- 
ing me  to  get  off  to  a  good  start  with  the  very  pleasant  reception 
which  you  so  kindly  held  for  Mrs  Lord  and  me  on  the  evening  of  De- 
cember 2nd.  It  was  the  first  official  function  in  which  I  had  par- 
ticipated since  entering  upon  the  position  only  eight  days  earlier. 

A  national  professional  association  such  as  the  A.L.A.  runs 
always  the  risk  of  seeming  remote  from  its  members  by  virtue  of  the 
fact  that  it  has  to  operate  primarily  at  the  national  level.  This 
sometimes  seems  particularly  true  to  those  of  us  off  in  one  corner  of 
the  country,  whether  this  be  the  Northeast  or  the  Northwest  or  the 
Southeast  or  the  Southwest.  The  problem  is  to  find  a  ground  upon 
which  each  of  us  as  individual  members  may  have  a  sense  of  participa- 
tion in  the  affairs  and  programs  of  the  Association. 

One  of  the  ways  in  which  this  may  perhaps  be  accomplished 
is  through  a  strengthening  of  the  state  and  regional  library  asso- 
ciations in  the  areas  in  which  each  plays  its  role,  and  then  to  re- 
late the  national  association  more  closely  to  them,  and  they  in  turn 
more  closely  to  the  national  association.  This  is  a  process  which 
requires  time.  It  is  one  to  which  I  am  asking  the  A.L.A.  Executive 
Board  to  give  increasing  attention  during  the  period  immediately 
ahead.  The  state  and  the  regional  associations  must  be  put  into  a 
strengthened  position  if  they  are  to  play  an  effective  role  in  sup- 
port of  a  strong  national  professional  association.  And  we  as  in- 
dividuals must  also  help  to  strengthen  them  by  developing  a  larger 
degree  of  participation  in  their  programs  both  at  the  state  and  local 
levels.  Only  thus  can  we  as  individuals  bring  our  influence  to  bear 
upon  the  national  picture  satisfactorily  and  successfully.  Simply 
being  a  member  of  a  national  association  alone  will  not  solve  the 
problem. 


•lb.  ■  ■■ 


'"...'< 


"      . .':    .■  :1 


-2- 


In  similar  fashion  we  need  to  maintain  and  develop  our  li- 
brary activities  through  the  library  groups  which  are  directly  con- 
cerned with  the  functional  fields  or  the  type-of -library  or  the  sub- 
ject fields  in  v;hich  we  are  engaged  in  our  regular  jobs.  In  other 
words  we  have  a  role  to  play  as  members  of  the  Division  of  Public 
Libraries  or  the  Association  of  College  and  Reference  Libraries  or 
the  Special  Libraries  Association  and  the  like,  of  the  Division  of 
Cataloging  and  Classification  or  the  Children's  Library  Association 
and  the  like,  or  of  subjeot  groups  such  as  the  Music  Library  Associa- 
tion and  the  like. 

As  professional  librarians  we  can  strive  to  participate  ful- 
ly and  actively  (l)  at  the  national  level  as  members  of  the  American 
Library  Association,  (2)  at  the  state  or  local  level  as  members  of  our 
state  associations  and  local  library  groups,  and  (3)  at  the  functional 
or  type-of-library  or  subject  levels  as  members  of  the  appropriate  as- 
sociations. It  is  only  thus  that  as  individual  librarians  we  shall  be 
able  to  play  our  professional  role  to  the  fullest  degree  possible. 
If  and  as  we  do  participate  to  that  extent,  we  can  require  that  in 
their  turn  our  associations  (whether  national,  state  or  local,  or  of 
special  fields)  play  a  dynamic  role  in  relating  their  activities  one 
to  the  other  in  such  manner  as  to  bring  about  an  integrated  sum-total 
of  results.  Cne  of  the  goals  which  I  intend  to  stress  during  my  pe- 
riod as  President  of  the  American  Library  Association  is  the  breaking 
down  of  the  barriers  between  the  various  library  groups.  They  need 
to  act  together  to  an  increasing  degree  as  a  related  whole. 

I  pledge  my  best  efforts  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  de- 
sired end.  I  am  confident  that  all  of  you  will  likewise  play  your 
full  role  by  participation  both  in  the  programs  of  the  A.L.A.  and  also 
in  those  of  state,  local,  and  other  library  groups. 


The  task  ahead  is  a  large  one.  It  is  one  that  will  perforce 
have  to  continue  well  into  the  future.  It  will  require  the  combined 
action  of  all  who  are  friends  of  libraries  in  the  truest  professional 
sense. 


President,  American  Library  Association 


'  ■ 


■'   . 


-3- 


FESTIVE  THRONG  HAILS  NEW  PRESIDENT 

On  the  evening  of  Friday,  December  2, 
we  who  work  in  the  Boston  Public  Library- 
united  to  honor  our  Director,  Mr  Milton 
Edward  Lord.  The  occasion  was  his  recent 
elevation  to  the  presidency  of  the 
American  Library  Association  at  the 
Southwestern  Regional  Conference  of  the 
Association  in  Fort  Worth,  Texas,  from 
which  he  had  just  returned.   The  place 
was  the  Princess  Room  of  the  Hotel 
Somerset  in  Boston. 

For  months  plans  for  this  event  had 
been  simmering.  Calendars  had  been 
scratched,  admonitions  to  save  the  date 
were  issued  at  intervals,  committees  met, 
went  on  field  trips,  and  re-convened 
until  the  seemingly  effortless  moment 
arrived  when  we  stepped  forward  one  by 
one  over  the  deep-piled  velvet  carpet  of 
the  ante-room  at  the  Hotel  to  greet  the 
Director  and  Mrs  Lord,  with  their  son, 
Peter,  standing  beside  Miss  Edna  G.  Peck, 
president  of  the  Boston  Public  Library 
Staff  Association,  Mr  Frank  P.  Bruno, 
vice  president,  Mrs  Geraldine  M.  Altman, 
chairman  of  the  Program  Committee,  and 
Miss  Margaret  A.  Calnan,  chairman  of  the 
Entertainment  Committee. 

Those  of  us  who  have  sampled  Library 
hospitality  in  the  past  know  that  there 
is  always  in  it  vigor,  heartiness,  and 
good  spirits.   But  the  numbers  on  Friday 
night  were  impressive.  Parenthetically, 
it  should  be  said  in  fairness  to  the 
Hotel  management  that  the  fire  laws  for- 
bade them  to  provide  chairs  enough  to 
seat  everybody.  Entire  staffs  of  the 
Branch  Libraries  turned  out.  All  the 
Divisions  in  almost  all  of  their  several 
departments  in  Central  were  represented. 
Professional  colleagues  came  from  the 
State  Library,  the  Boston  Medical  Library, 
from  the  nearby  cities  of  Brockton,  Lynn, 
Everett,  Newton,  and  Quincy,  from  Melrose, 
Watertown,  Winchester,  Medford,  Somerville, 
even  from  Springfield.  Members  of  the 
Examining  Committee  were  there: 
Mr  H.  Daland  Chandler,  Mr  Samuel  Stern, 
Mrs  Thomas  H.  Mahony,  Mrs  Vincent  L. 
Greene,  Mr  William  F.  A.  Graham,  and 
Bishop  John  Wright,  as  were  our  Trustees, 
Father  Robert  H.  Lord,  Judge  Frank  J. 
Donahue,  Mr  Lee  M.  Friedman,  Mr  Francis 
B.  Masterson,  and  Mr  Frank  W.  Buxton, 
President  of  the  Board.  Retired  members 
of  the  staff  who  returned  included  Miss 


Edith  Guerrier,  Mrs  Bertha  V.  Hartzell, 
Miss  M.  Florence  Cufflin,  Mr  Lucien  E. 
Taylor,  Miss  Marion  A.  McCarthy.  From 
Simmons  College  came  Mr  Kenneth  R. 
Shaffer,  Miss  Laura  C.  Colvin,  Miss 
Sigrid  Edge,  Miss  Mary  R.  Kinney,  and 
Miss  Ruth  S.  Leonard. 

The  Director,  in  his  response  to  Miss 
Peck's  address  of  welcome,  recalled  his 
predecessors  in  office  who,  like  him,  had 
come  from  the  Boston  Public  Library  and, 
referring  to  his  globe-circling  pilgrim- 
age of  the  past  summer,  spoke  of  what 
library  people  everywhere  could  do  to 
promote  the  mutual  understanding  so  badly 
needed  in  the  world  today. 

In  the  musical  selections  which  fol- 
lowed, the  v;ell-known  trio  of  the  Circula- 
tion Division,  made  up  of  Miss  Mary 
Golden,  Mattapan  Branch  Library;  Miss 
Marion  Abbot,  Charlestown  Branch  Library; 
Miss  Winifred  Root,  Kirstein  Business 
Branch,  were  heard  in  the  following  num- 
bers:  Haydn's  minuet  in  C;  Trio  in 
B-flat,  by  Dvorak  (second  movement);  and 
a  Hungarian  Dance,  by  Brahms.  Mr  Paul 
Tibbetts,  an  exceptionally  gifted  member 
of  the  staff  of  the  Music  Department, 
Reference  Division,  who  was  ably  accom- 
panied by  Mr  Richard  G.  Appel  at  the 
pianoforte,  sang  The  Holy  Child,  by 
Martin,  and  two  English  folk-songs  ar- 
ranged by  Benjamin  Britten,  The  Sally 
Gardens  and  Oliver  Cromwell. 

With  the  conclusion  of  the  program, 
punctuated  more  or  less  often  by  the  pop- 
ping flash  bulbs  of  the  press  photograph- 
ers, not  to  mention  those  of  our  own 
Frank  Myers,  we  gave  ourselves  up  to  re- 
newing "auld  acquaintance,"  to  chatting 
with  friends  whom  we  hadn't  seen  for  we 
couldn't  remember  how  many  years,  or  just 
to  enjoying  the  fun  of  looking  at  our 
fellow  workers  in  different  clothes  and 
with  time  to  talk  to  each  other.   Gener- 
ous refreshments  were  circulating  pleas- 
antly meanwhile  and  the  Guest  Book  was 
well  on  its  way  to  being  filled  before  it 
was  time  to  say  good-night  and  to  think 
of  overshoes  and  taxis  and  of  what  the 
weather-man  was  doing. 

CHRISTINE  HAYES 

**HHHWHtiHf* 


:  r     - 


.'   I  • 


-k- 


THE  A.L.A.  PRESIDENCY  COMES  TO  THE 
BOSTON  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  A  FOURTH  TIME  J 

With  the  election  of  Mr  Milton  E.  Lord 
as  President  of  the  major  professional 
library  organization  of  the  country,  with 
a  membership  of  nearly  20,000  and  an  in- 
ternational role  of  great  responsibility, 
it  may  be  interesting  to  review  the  ros- 
ter of  men  to  whom  that  honor  has  come 
who  also  have  headed  the  Boston  Public 
Library. 

Mr  Justin  Winsor  was  elected  the  first 
President  of  the  American  Library  Asso- 
ciation when  it  was  organized  in  18?6  and 
remained  President  until  1885.  Late  in 
1866  he  had  been  appointed  Trustee  of  the 
Boston  Public  Library  and  in  1868  he  was 
asked  to  assume  the  duties  of  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Library,  and  in  that  ca- 
pacity he  directed  the  activities  of  the 
Library  until  1877  when  he  left  to  become 
Librarian  of  Harvard  College.  In  1877  he 
attended  the  first  International  Confer- 
ence of  Librarians  when  it  met  in  London. 
He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Library 
Journal.  He  became  President  of  the 
A.L.A.  again  in  1897.  Apart  from  his 
career  as  Librarian,  where  he  did  much  to 
liberalize  the  relations  between  librar- 
ies and  their  users,  he  also  did  much 
original  work,  including  the  editing  of 
the  four  volume  Memorial  History  of  Boston) Ecol 


and  the  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of 
America. 

Mr  Herbert  Putnam  was  the  second  head 
of  the  Boston  Public  Library  to  hold  the 
A.L.A.  Presidency.   He  was  first  elected 
President  in  I898.  By  that  time  the 
A.L.A.  could  claim  almost  900  members. 
Mr  Putnam  had  been  appointed  Librarian  in 
1895.  He  had  practiced  law  in  Boston 
from  1892  to  1895.  As  Librarian  he 
handled  the  problems  of  adjusting  a  work- 
ing library  to  quarters  in  an  Italian 
Palace  after  the  move  from  the  library 
building  on  Boylston  Street  to  the  monu- 
mental new  building  in  Copley  Square.  He 
left  the  Boston  Public  Library  in  1899  to 
become  Librarian  of  Congress.  He  held 
that  position  until  his  retirement  in 
1939.  He  had  been  elected  President  of 
A.L.A.  a  second  time  in  1903. 

When  Mr  Charles  F.  D.  Belden  became 
President  of  the  A.L.A.  in  1925,  the 
A.L.A.  had  over  6,000  members.  Mr  Belden, 
like  Mr  Putnam,  had  a  legal  background, 
having  graduated  from  Harvard  Law  School 


in  I898.  He  was  successively  Assistant 
Librarian  of  the  Harvard  Law  School  Li- 
brary, Librarian  of  the  Social  Law  Library 
of  Boston,  and  Librarian  of  the  Massachu- 
setts State  Library  from  1909  to  1917.   In 
1917  he  was  appointed  Director  of  the 
Boston  Public  Library  and  held  that  title 
until  his  death  in  1931.  Under  Mr  Belden 
the  book  collection  of  the  Library  grew 
from  1,157,362  volumes  to  1,631,1+22  vol- 
umes.  The  annex  on  Blagden  Street  was 
completed.  Cooperative  arrangements  with 
the  Harvard  Business  School  Library  and 
the  Boston  Medical  Library  were  worked  out. 
His  span  of  office  saw  the  establishment 
of  the  Kirstein  Business  Branch  and  the 
erection  of  several  new  buildings  for  the 
branch  libraries. 

As  Mr  Milton  E.  Lord,  the  present 
Director  of  the  Library,  assumes  the  re- 
sponsibilities of  President  of  the  A.L.A., 
he  heads  an  organization  functioning 
through  at  least  58  active  boards  and  com- 
mittees, 26  joint  committees,  and  7  divi- 
sions and  9  round  tables,  quite  a  differ- 
ent picture  from  the  days  when  103  inter- 
ested people  met  in  a  single  convention  in 
Philadelphia  for  the  first  A.L.A.  Confer- 
ence. Mr  Lord  received  his  A.B.  degree 
from  Harvard  College  in  1919,  and  has  done 
graduate  study  at  the  Harvard  Graduate 
School  of  Arts  and  Sciences  and  at  the 
e  des  Sciences  Politique  in  Paris. 
Mr  Lord  has  been  Director,  and  Librarian 
of  the  Boston  Public  Library  since  1932. 
Before  coming  to  this  Library  he  had  been 
associated  with  the  Library  of  Harvard 
University,  the  American  Academy  in  Rome, 
and  the  State  University  of  Iowa  Libraries. 
While  in  Rome  he  served  on  the  Commission 
of  Five  American  Librarians  appointed  to 
aid  in  the  reorganization  of  the  Vatican 
Library.  Since  coming  to  the  Boston 
Public  Library,  Mr  Lord  has  served  on  many 
professional  committees.  He  was  the  or- 
ganizer and  Chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  of  the  American  Book  Center  for 
War  Devastated  Libraries,  Inc.,  and  became 
also  President  of  the  United  States  Book 
Exchange,  Inc.,  the  successor  to  the  form- 
er. He  has  been  associated  with  the 
Council  of  National  Library  Associations 
since  its  beginning,  having  drafted  its 
constitution.  He  has  been  since  19U7  the 
First  Vice  President  of  the  International 
Federation  of  Library  Associations,  and  is 
Chairman  of  the  American  Committee  on 
Arrangements  for  the  International  Congress 


ft    ■  •  (:       ■■  j,- ; 


! 


-S- 


of  Libraries  to  be  held  in  the  United 
States  in  1950.  He  has  twice  served  as  a 
delegate  to  the  International  Congress  of 
Libraries  and  Bibliography,  once  in  1929 
and  again  in  1935-  He  served  as  Director 
of  the  American  Library  in  Paris  in  19U5» 
and  has  been  an  Honorary  Trustee  of  that 
institution  since  19h7.   In  19U9,  with 
leaders  of  representative  professional 
groups  of  America  he  circled  the  globe  as 
a  member  of  the  World  T-^wn  Hall  Seminar. 
Currently  he  is  also  a  Trustee  of  Simmons 
College.  Mr  Lord  is  perhaps  singularly 
equipoed  to  help  the  A-.L.A.  achieve  its 
purposes  of  "promoting*  library  interests 
throughout  the  world, . .inducing  coopera- 
tion in  all  departments  of  bibliothecal 
science. . .disposing  the  public  mind  to 
the  founding  and  improving  of  libraries", 
to  quote  from  the  A.L.A.  Charter. 
We  wish  him  well  in  his  undertaking! 


A.L.A.  CONFERENCE 

The  American  Library  Association  will 
hold  its  1950  conference  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  from  July  16  to  22,  1950.  This 
represents  a  change  in  meeting  place  and 
in  date  of  meeting. 

■iBBBBBBBBBS- 

SUCCESS  OF 

"GREENE  -S  CANDTjTSHOPPE" 

PHENOMENAL 

Boston  Public  Library  staff  members, 
taking  advantage  of  the  new  discounts  of- 
fered by  local  merchants,  have  overwhelmed 
Mr  Green  with  orders  for  candy  — 

l,it35  pounds  —  $1,068 

It  is  anticipated  that  the  BPL  will  have 
to  set  up  a  diabetic  clinic  early  in  the 
new  yeari 

*-;bbbbbbbb'- 


THE  COVER  AND  THE  ARTIST 

Now  you  know  that  cover  number  3  was  ad- 
judged the  winner;  and  it  was  by  a  deci- 
sive vote.  There  are  at  present  U32  mem- 
bers of  the  Association   Returns  on  the 
balloting  were  as  follows; 

No.  3 •>     161 

No-  2.... 67)  tied 

No.  8... 67) 

NO.  5.o, ,  ...  21 

No,  U. • • 18 

No.  6.., 12 

No.  7-. h 

Preferred  former  cover...  10 

Total* 393 

The  Committee  is  grateful  to  all  who 
submitted  designs  and  hereby  records  its 
sincere  thanks. 

The  winner  is  Miss  Mildred  R.  Somes,  who 
has  been  a  member  of  the  staff  of  the  Book 
Preparation  Department  since  19U3»  We  of- 
fer her  our  hearty  congratulations,' 

The  work  of  Miss  Somes  is  already  famil- 
iar to  staff  members,  inasmuch  as  she  has 
conceived  and  executed  many  excellent 
posters  for  various  Library  functions; 
witness,  the  last  page  of  this  issue. 

Miss  Somes  received  her  training  at  the 
Rhode  Island  School  of  Design  and  is  cur- 
rently continuing  her  studies  under  Mrs 
Polly  Nordell,  Boston  artist. 

■5BBBBBBBBB!- 

NOTED  ON  A  RECENT  PPL  N0NFICTION  LIST 

The  last  sentence  in  the  annotation  of 
Beauty  After  Forty  reads  as  follows : 


"The  whole'  theory  of  the  author  is  that 
forty  is  a  date  line  not  a  deadline  —  wake 
up  and  lie,  the  best  is  yet  to  be!"  That 
little  "v"  was  surely  needed  then,  if  ever. 

-/BBBBBBBBBf- 


-6- 


PERSONAL  NOTES 


Transferred 


Mrs  Helen  M.  Duston,  Cataloging  and 
Classification,  Reference  Division, to  the 
Rare  Book  Department. 

Resignations 

Mr  Patrick  A.  Forrester,  Binding  De- 
partment . 

Mrs  Selma  Zimmerman,  Roslindale  Branch 
Library,  to  remain  at  home. 

Weddings 

On  Sunday  afternoon,  November  27,  Miss 
Pauline  M.  Ferrante,  of  the  Circulation 
Division  Office,  was  married  to  Mr  Paul 
J.  Vinci  at  St.  Clement's  Church  in 
Somerville.  Miss  Pauline  J.  Uccello,  of 
the  Cataloging  and  Classification  De- 
partment, Reference  Division,  cousin  of 
the  bride,  was  a  bridesmaid.  A  dinner 
and  reception  were  held  at  the  Hotel 
Continental  in. Cambridge.  Mr  and  Mrs 
Vinci  are  spending  their  honeymoon  motor- 
ing to  New  York,  Washington,  and  Florida. 
On  their  return,  they  will  reside  in 
Medford. 

#-:kkhhhhbh*- 

IN  MEMORIAM 

MRS  CATHERINE  BURKE 

Mrs  Catherine  Burke  of  the  Buildings 
Department  died  suddenly  on  November  23. 
Mrs  Burke  had  been  in  the  service  of  the 
Library  since  1917  and  will  be  missed  by 
all  those  who  frequented  the  Women's 
Lunch  Room. 

RECENT  VISITORS 

Dr  Richard  G.  Hayes,  Director  of  the 
National  Library  of  Ireland,  visited  the 
Central  Library  in  late  November  in  his 
tour  of  important  reference  and  research 
libraries  in  this  country.   He  is  partic- 
ularly interested  in  microfilm  activities 
in  American  libraries  and  is  sponsoring  a 
project  to  have  all  early  documents  re- 
lating to  the  history  of  Ireland  eventu- 
ally preserved  for  posterity  through 


microfilming.   In  the  Central  Library  a 
loan  exhibit  of  Douglas  Hyde  material, 
lent  by  the  Library  of  Congress,  was  shown 
in  honor  of  Dr  Hayes'  visit.  The  exhibit 
was  opened  on  November  2lj.th  with  a  brief 
ceremony  in  which  Mr  Lord,  Honorable 
Joseph  F.  Shields,  Consul  of  Ireland,  Mr 
Martin  A.  O'Malley,  President  of  the  Eire 
Society  of  Boston,  Professor  Emeritus 
Fred  Norris  Robinson  of  Harvard,  and  others 
spoke.  Dr  Hayes  was  also  honored  with  a 
formal  dinner  at  the  Hampshire  House  on 
November  26th  given  by  the  Eire  Society, 
to  which  Mr  Lord  and  Mrs  Bouquet  were  in- 
vited. 


# 


Miss  Norah  Albanell  MacColl  from  Uruguay, 
a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Denver 
Library  School,  now  at  the  Columbus  Mem- 
orial Library  at  the  Pan  American  Union  in 
Washington,  D.  C,  visited  Central  Library 
on  November  23.  She  was  particularly  in- 
terested in  reference  activities. 

-;bs-;:--;hkhkhh:- 

WE  WELCOME  BACK 
AFTER  LONG-  ILLNESSES 

Mr  Alfred  Fairbairn,  Buildings  Depart- 
ment. 

Miss  Rose  Karaian,  Branch  Issue  Depart- 
ment. 

Mr  Thomas  J.  Manning,  Patent  Room. 

Miss  Florence  McManus,  Brighton  Branch 
Library. 

Mr  John  Mealey,  Buildings  Department. 

Miss  Ruth  B.  Sather,  Codman  Square 
Branch  Library. 

4HHHHHHHHH* 

AN  EAST  BOSTON  VIGNETTE 

A  little  boy  who  visits  us  infrequently 
came  in  the  other  day  and  asked  if  we  had 
any  baseball  stories.  Said  the  Children's 
Room  Assistant,  trying  to  think  of  a  good 
story  for  a  small  boy,  "Have  you  read 
"Steady"?  Somewhat  self-consciously  came 
the  answer,  "Yes  —  that  is  —  most  of  the 
time." 

*-;hbkkh8hb* 


-7- 


WE  SEND  SPECIAL  HOLIDAY  GREETINGS 
TO  SPEED  THEIR  RECOVERY 

to 

Miss  Anna  M.  Buckmann  (Registration  De- 
partment), 62  Forest  Street,  Roxbury  19 

Mr  John  J.  Cronan,  (Library  Storyteller) 
6^1  '.Vest  Roxbury  Parkway,  West  Roxbury  32 

Miss  Bridget  Downey  (Buildings  Depart- 
ment), 6l  West  Brookline  Street,  Boston  18 

Miss  Editha  Hwang  (Personnel  Office), 
198  Pilgrim  Road,  Boston  1$ 

Miss  Catherine  E.  Flannery  (Orient 
Heights  Branch  Library)  33  Pleasant  Park 
Road,  Winthrop  52 

Mr  William  J.  McCarthy  (Periodical  and 
Newspaper  Department),  2lr9  River  Street, 
Mattapan  26 

Mrs  Margaret  O'Connell  (Buildings  De- 
partment), Ik  Winthrop  Street,  Charles- 
town  29 

Mr  Edward  H.  Redstone  (Supervisor  in 
the  Reference  Division),  31  Linnean  Street, 
Cambridge  38 

Mr  Michael  Sullivan  (Buildings  Depart- 
ment), 75  Goodenough  Street,  Brighton  35 

MR  APPEL  SPEAKS 

Richard  G.  Appel,  Chief  of  the  Music 
Department,  spoke  at  the  first  meeting  of 
the  season  of  the  New  England  Chapter  of 
the  American  Musicological  Society  held 
at  Boston  University,  November  7,  19l;9. 

A  JAMAICA  PLAIN  GEM 

A  child  asked  for  "that  book  you  told 
us  about  at  school  —  the  one  about  the 
'stupid  butler'."  After  deep  thought  the 
Librarian  remembered  The  Barkingtons  — 
a  story  with  a  'dumb  waiter'. 


SOUTH  BOSTON  BRANCH  LIBRARY 
TO  BE  OR  NOT  TO  BE? 

Following  the  announcement  of  the 
Trustees  that  the  South  Boston  Branch 
Library  would  be  closed,  the  South  Boston 
Citizens'  Association  protested  the  clos- 
ing of  the  branch  library  and  asked  for  a 
hearing  before  the  Board.  Representatives 


of  the  group  appeared  before  the  Trustees 
at  a  special  meeting  held  on  Friday, 
December  2,  and  requested  that  the  branch 
library  not  be  closed  and  that  temporary 
quarters  be  found  somewhere  in  the  dis- 
trict.  The  new  owners  of  the  building  in 
which  are  housed  the  present  quarters ' of 
the  South  Boston  Branch  Library  have 
agreed  to  allow  the  library  to  remain  for 
an  indefinite  period  pending  further  study 
of  the  entire  situation  by  the  Trustees. 

*BBHHttBttHHf 

ALUMNAE  NOTES 

Miss  Evelina  M.  Olivier,  former  staff 
member  at  Connolly  Branch  Library,  is  now 
back  in  Boston  after  having  spent  several 
weeks  in  a  New  Brunswick  hospital  follow- 
ing an  automobile  accident  while  traveling 
in  Canada.  Miss  Olivier  is  at  the  New 
England  Deaconess  Hospital,  16  Deaconess 
Road,  Boston  15,  still  undergoing  treat- 
ment. Cards  and  notes  from  her  friends  on 
the  B.P.L.  staff  would  give  her  a  great 
deal  of  pleasure. 


Seasons  Greetings  go  to  Mr  Richard  Brown, 
who  would,  we  feel  sure,  be  happy  to  re- 
ceive cards  at  Christmas  time  from  his 
friends  in  the  B.P.L.  Mr  Brown,  who  re- 
tired in  19hl  after  long  service  in  the 
Shipping  Department,  is  at  the  Massachu- 
setts State  Hospital,  ^75  Trapelo  Road, 
Waltham  5U. 


# 


On  November  twenty-third,  Mr  William  J. 
Ennis,  Chief  of  Book  Stack  Service, 
Emeritus,  visited  friends  in  Central  Li- 
Enthusiastic  over  his  busy  life  in 


brary. 

Maine,  he  is  a  convincing  example  of  a  man 

who  knows  how  to  enjoy  his  retirement. 


* 


Miss  Edith  Guerrier,  Supervisor  of 
Branch  Libraries,  Emeritus,  Miss  Alice  M. 
Jordan,  Supervisor  of  Work  with  Children, 
Emeritus,  and  Miss  Marion  A.  McCarthy, 


Chief  of  Book  Preparation  Department, 
Emeritus,  have  all  visited  friends  in  the 


Central  Library  during  the  past  month. 


-8- 


These  three  ladies  are  excellent  examples 
of  women  who  know  how  to  enjoy  their  re- 
tirement to  the  full. 


Mrs  Dorothy  Harvey  Turner,  an  assistant 
in  her  office  when  Miss  Guerrier  was 
Supervisor  of  Branches,  is  now  living  in 
Alton,  Illinois.  Her  older  son,  Bill, 
was  married  last  January,  and  is  now  sta- 
tioned with  the  Air  Force  at  Weaver  Base, 
Raoid  City,  South  Dakota.   Her  younger 
son,  Jim,  entered  Antioch  College  this 
fall. 


On  a  recent  visit  to  the  New  York 
Public  Library,  Miss  Edna  G.  Peck  talked 
with  Mrs  Adele  Sulesky  Requena,  who  is  in 
the  office  of  the  Supervisor  of  Work  with 
Children,  Mrs  Requena  sent  greetings  to 
her  friends  in  the  B.P.L.  Mrs  Requena 
was  in  the  Director's  Office  prior  to  her 
moving  to  New  York. 


#• 


Congratulations  to  to  Sgt.  Doris  A. 
Quigley,  USMC-W,  C102  Nebraska  Hall, 
Arlington  Farms,  Arlington,  Virginia, 
upon  her  promotion  from  Cpl.J  Miss 
Quigley  formerly  worked  in  the  Office  of 
the  Trustees. 

QUARTER  CENTURY  CLUB 

A  meeting  was  held  in  the  Lecture  Hall 
of  the  Central  Library  on  Wednesday, 
November  9th,  at  which  time  the  Quarter 
Century  Club  was  reorganized,  Officers 
xvere  elected,  and  plans  for  the  future 
were  outlined.   Officers  elected  were: 
Mr  George  W.  Gallagher,  Binding  Depart- 
ment, President;  Miss  Bessie  L.  Doherty, 
Branch  Issue  Department,  Secretary;  Mr 
Robert  F.  Dixon,  Shipping  Department, 
Treasurer. 

A  dinner  and  reception  to  the  Trustees 
of  the  Library  is  planned  for  sometime 
during  January  1950. 

All  members  of  the  staff  who  are  eligi- 
ble for  membership  should  contact  Miss 
Doherty,  Secretary,  or  Mr  Dixon,  Treasur- 
er. 


PRESIDENT'S  NOTES 

The  President,  for  the  Executive  Board, 
has  only  one  line  of  thought  these  days  — 
a  large  banner-size  "Thank  You-." 

To  Mrs  Sarah  W.  Flannery,  Chairman  of 
the  19U9  In-Service-Training  Committee, 
and  her  able  committee  goes  the  sincere 
thanks  not  only  of  the  Executive  Board 
but  of  the  entire  Association.  The 
Institute  reflected  a  high  degree  of  ef- 
ficiency not  only  on  the  part  of  the  com- 
mittee but  also  those  who  gave  so  freely 
of  their  services  in  the  carrying  out  of 
the  various  phases  of  the  program.  One 
and  all  worked  hard  and  a  fine  spirit  of 
cooperation  was  evident -on  all  sides. 
Everyone,  even  those  who  supported  the 
Institute  by  their  oresence,  should  feel 
very  gratified  at  the  unqualified  success 
of  this  Institute  which  equalled  in  many 
ways  the  excellence  of  its  predecessor, 
the  19U8  Staff  Institute.   To  one  and  all 
who  in  any  way  helped  toward  this  success 
the  Executive  Board  extends  sincere  thanks. 

It  is  fortunate  that  gratitude  is  un- 
limited, for  much  is  needed  to  extend  to 
those  responsible  for  the  success  of  the 
reception  for  Mr  Milton  E.  Lord,  newly 
elected  President  of  the  A.L.A.   Inevita- 
bly the  major  responsibility  for  this  so- 
cial activity  fell  on  Miss  Margaret  A. 
Calnan,  Chairman  of  the  Entertainment  Com- 
mittee. Miss  Calnan  was  aided  by  her  very 
efficient  entertainment  committee  and  by 
several  special  committees  appointed  to 
serve  as  auxiliary  aids.  All  gave  freely 
of  their  time  and  effort,  and  the  result 
was  a  reception  which  reflected  great 
credit  on  the  committees  in  charge.  Work- 
ing with  Miss  Calnan  was  the  program  com- 
mittee headed  by  Mrs  Geraldine  Altman. 
The  fine  program  was  indeed  a  credit  to 
those  who  were  responsible  for  its  ar- 
rangement. The  Executive  Board  would  like 
to  express  its  thanks  to  everyone  individ- 
ually who  helped  in  this  project  in  any 
way.  However,  space  permits  us  to  mention, 
in  addition  to  the  committees,  only  those 
who  prepared  the  printed  matter  —  Mr 
Arthur  W.  Heintzelman,  who  designed  the 
programs;  Mr  William  B.  Gallagher  and  his 
staff,  who  printed  the  invitations  and 
programs;  Mr  James  P.  Mooers  and  his  staff, 
who  assembled  them.   Special  thanks  is  due 
the  artists  who  gave  so  generously  of 
their  talents.  The  trio  —  Miss  Mary 
Golden;  Miss  Marion  Abbot  and  Miss 
Winifred  Root  —  played  with  finesse  and 


-9- 


ability.  Mr  Paul  Tibbetts,  accompanied 
by  Mr  Richard  Appel,  won  the  admiration 
of  everyone  by  his  outstanding  vocal  a- 
bility.   The  Executive  Committee  is  both 
proud  and  grateful  to  have  found  such 
talent  among  staff  members.  Our  sincere 
thanks  go  to  one  and  all  who  performed 
with  such  a  high  degree  of  excellence. 
Probably  most  of  all  we  should  thank  the 
many  who  braved  the  bad  weather  to  pay 
tribute  to  the  man  who  has  recently  as- 
sumed the  high  office  of  President  of  the 
national  organization  —  The  American 
Library  Association.  The  best  wishes  of 
the  Association  are  extended  to  Mr  Lord 
as  he  assumes  this  great  responsibility. 


•«■ 


The  President  and  the  Executive  Board 
extend  to  all  staff  members  the  greetings 
of  the  season.  May  you  one  and  all  have 
a  very  happy  Christmas  and  may  the  New 
Year  bring  to  you  only  the  better  things 
of  life. 


At  the  business  meeting  of  the  Associa- 
tion held  in  the  Lecture  Hall  on  November 
twenty-fourth,  it  was  voted  that  the  As- 
sociation should  assume  responsibility 
for  setting  up  and  operating  a  Staff 
Canteen,  on  an  experimental  basis.  It 
was  the  feeling  of  the  members  that  the 
Canteen  should  be  operated,  not  primarily 
to  make  money  for  the  Association,  but 
rather  to  sell  food  to  staff  members  at 
just  what  the  concessionaire  charges; 
thereby  benefiting  each  individual  staff 
member  who  patronizes  the  Canteen.  What- 
ever profit  is  made  will  come  from  the 
soft  drinks  machines  or  other  dispensing 
machines  which  may  be  installed  in  the 
building. 

The  problems  involved  in  setting  up 
such  a  project  are  many.  The  Committee 
will  need  the  cooperation  of  every  member 
of  the  staff.   If  you  have  any  construc- 
tive suggestions,  please  offer  them. 
They  will  be  more  than  welcome.   If  you 
have  nothing  constructive  to  offer,  please 
withhold  comment  until  such  time  as  the 
Committee  has  had  an  opportunity  to  work 
out  its  own  ideas. 

The  Committee  is  as  follows: 

Mr  Aaron  A.  Starr,. Business  Office, 
Chairman 

Miss  Rita  M.  Doherty,  Book  Stack  Service 


Mr  Charles. J.  Gillis,  Catalogingrand 
Classification  Department,  Circulation 
Division 

Miss  Barbara  Gilson,  History  Department 

Mr  Joseph  A.  Lynch,  Book  Preparation 
Department 

Miss  Catherine  Robbins,  Director's 
Office. 

-JHHHKBRHBBS- 

PROPOSED  MEMORIAL  TO 
VETERANS  OF  WORLD  WAR  II 

In  the  October  19h9  issue  of  The 
Question  Mark,  under  PRESIDENT'S  NOTES, 
was  an  announcement  that  a  committee  of 
three  —  representing  the  Arnavets,  The 
Boston  Public  Library  Professional  Staff 
Association  and  the  Boston  Public  Library 
Employees'  Benefit  Association,  Inc.,  — 
had  conferred  together  concerning  the 
"possibility  of  the  three  organizations 
joining  forces  to  lay  plans  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  suitable  memorial  to  those  li- 
brary employees  who  served  in  World  War  LT". 
Mr*  Leonard  J.  ITacmillan,  for  the  committee, 
presented  the  suggestion  in  writing  to 
the  Director.  The  correspondence  follows: 

October  10,  19U9 

Dear  Mr  Lord, 

It  was  recently  proposed  by  a  member  of 
the  Professional  Staff  Association,  that 
the  staff  erect  a  memorial  to  the  members 
who  served  in  World  War  II  to  complement 
the  one  dedicated  to  those  who  served  in 
the  First  World  War. 

Consequently,  on  October  Uth,  Miss  Peck, 
acting  in  her  capacity  as  President  of 
the  Professional  Staff  Association,  Miss 
Goldstein,  as  President  of  the  Employees' 
Benefit  Association,  and  I  as  Commander 
of  the  Arnavets  held  a  meeting  to  consid- 
er preliminary  procedures.  At  this  meet- 
ing it  was  decided  that  any  campaign  to 
erect  such  a  memorial,  must  be  a  joint 
operation  with  the  three  organizations 
playing  an  equal  part.  Secondly,  it  was 
agreed  that  I  should  initiate  the  drive 
by  informing  you  of  the  proposal. 

Therefore,  this  letter  serves  a  two- 
fold purpose.  First,  we  wish  to  ask  your 
kind  permission  to  inaugurate  such  a  ven- 
ture.. Second,  we  beg  that  you  favour  us 
with  any  suggestions  that  you  may  have  as 
to  the  location  of  a  memorial,  providing 
permission  to  advance  our  plans  is 


-10- 


forthcoming. 

We  realize  that  it  will  be  a  matter  of 
considerable  time,  even  years,  to  bring 
these  plans  to  fruition,  but  the  present 
officers  of  all  three  organizations  will 
feel  proud  if  such  an  enterprise  can  be 
started  during  their  terms  of  office. 
Speaking  for  myself,  I  am  fully  in  accord 
with  the  principle  involved  in  such  an 
undertaking,  and  I  am  particularly  pleased 
that  the  proposal  originated  in  a  non- 
veteran's  organization  rather  than  in  the 
Arnavets.   It  seems  to  indicate  what  the 
reaction  of  the  average  staff  member 
would  be  if  approached  with  such  a  propo- 
sition. 

The  Executive  Board  of  the  Professional 
Staff  Association  asks  that  I  request 
your  answer  by  December  1,  19U9  in  order 
that  a  definite  announcement  may  be  made 
in  the  December  issue  of  the  "Question 
Mark" . 

Yours  most  sincerely, 

(Signed)  Leonard  J.  Macmillan 
Commander,  Arnavets. 

11  October  19U9 

Dear  Mr  Macmillan: 

I  have  received  with  much  interest 
your  memorandum  of  October  10th.   I  shall 
be  glad  to  have  consideration  given  to 
the  interesting  proposal  which  is  there 
set  forth  concerning  the  possibility  of 
there  being  erected  in  the  Library  by 
members  of  the  Library  staff  a  memorial 
to  those  members  who  have  served  in 
World  War  II,  this  being  a  complement  to 
the  one  to  those  who  served  in  World 
War  I.   This  is  a  very  interesting  pos- 
sibility which  will  receive  cordial  con- 
sideration. 

I  note  that  the  Executive  Board  of  the 
Professional  Staff  Association  has  re- 
quested further  word  in  the  matter  in 
season  for  an  announcement  to  be  made  in 
the  December  issue  of  the  Question  Mark. 

Yours  sincerely, 

(Signed)   Milton  E.  Lord 

Director 

P.S.  This  seems  to  be  a  happy  develop- 
ment in  that  any  campaign  in  support 


of  such  an  activity  might  well  be  a  joint 
operation  of  the  Arnavets,  the  Boston 
Public  Library  Professional  Staff  Associa- 
tion and  Boston  Public  Library  Employees' 
Benefit  Association. 

To: 

Mr  Leonard  J.  Macmillan 

Commander,  Arnavets 

Copy  to:  Miss  Edna  G.  Peck 

Miss  Fanny  Goldstein 

13  December  19U9 

Dear  Mr  Macmillan: 

A  while  back  you  wrote  to  me  concerning 
the  possibility  of  there  being  erected  in 
the  Library  by  the  members  of  the  library 
staff  a  memorial  to  those  individuals  who 
served  in  World  War  II  as  a  complement  to 
the  one  to  those  who  served  in  World  War  I. 

It  would  seem  to  be  thoroughly  appropri- 
ate for  such  a  proposal  to  be  carried 
through.  Of  course,  its  design  would 
have  to  have  the  approval  of  the  Trustees 
of  the  Library,  and  also  that  of  the  Art 
Commission  of  the  City  of  Boston.   I  am 
sure  that  this  could  be  worked  out  with- 
out undue  difficulty,  however.  Presumably 
the  location  could  be  the  north  wall  of 
the  courtyard  of  the  Central  Library 
building  in  an  appropriate  place  to  the 
west  of  the  existing  memorial  tablet  for 
those  who  served  in  World  War  Ie 

If  you  and  your  associates  wish  to  pro- 
ceed along  such  lines  as  these  mentioned 
above,  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  that  such 
design  as  is  brought  into  being  is  pre- 
sented for  approval  to  the  appropriate 
authorities. 

What  you  and  your  associates  have  in 
mind  is  a  very  desirable  development  in 
every  way. 

Yours  sincerely, 

(Signed)  Milton  E.  Lord 
Director 

To: 

Mr  Leonard  J.  Macmillan 

Commander,  Arnavets 

Copy  to:  Miss  Edna  G.  Peck 

Miss  Fanny  Goldstein 


-11- 


SECOND  SUCCESSFUL  INSTITUTE 

The  Institute,  presented  on  November  17 
and  18  by  B.P.L.P".S.A. ,  on  "Current 
Attitudes  Underlying  Recent  Writing  on 
Man  and  the  World  in  Which  He  Lives"  was 
a  great  success,  at  least  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  caliber  of  the  speakers 
who  were  present,  and  from  the  interest 
their  remarks  aroused  in  those  who  at- 
tended. The  average  attendance  at  the 
meetings  was  about  a  hundred.  A  new  de- 
parture in  this  year's  Institute  was  that 
instead  of  discussing  principles,  philos- 
ophies or  techniques  of  Library  practice 
per  se,  an  approach  was  made  to  the  sub- 
ject fields  of  the  books  with  which  we 
deal  as  librarians.   It  was  felt  that 
this  would  give  the  staff  something  they 
do  not  usually  get  through  other  of  their 
professional  associations  and  that  thus 
the  work  done  by  the  other  associations 
would  not  be  duplicated.   The  B.P.L.P.S.A. 
is  in  a  good  position  to  do  this  sort  of 
thing,  representing  as  it  does  the  staff 
of  a  large  library  with  interests  in  many 
fields. 

The  content  of  the  books  with  which  we 
deal  is  of  interest  to  all  of  us,  whether 
cataloguers,  reference  assistants,  branch 
librarians  or  children's  librarians .»  It 
is  manifestly  impossible  to  keep  up  in 
all  fields  of  knowledge  and  the  birds-eye 
view  of  the  many  important  fields  which 
the  Institute  provided  was  something 
which  held  some  interest  for  nearly  all 
of  us. 

S.W.F. 

RECENT  ARTICLES  OF  PROFESSIONAL  INTEREST 

World  shows  high  regard  for  our  informa- 
tion libraries.  Library  Journal, 
October  15,  19h9. 

"A  State  Department  exclusive  which 
tells  how  librarians  and  literature  aid 
foreign  millions  who  seek  aid." 

The  Library's  part  in  the  communicative 
arts.  Franklin  Dunham,  Chief  of  Radio, 
U.  S.  Office  of  Education.  Library 
Journal,  December  1,  19U9- 
Discusses  the  library's  responsibility 
to  act  as  the  major  distributer,  of 
books  and  audio- visual  materials. 


New  York  State  refines  regional  plan. 
Warren  W.  Coxe,  State  Division  of  Re- 
search, Albany,  N.  Y.   Library  Journal, 
December  1,  19U9- 

"This  official  believes  basic  princi- 
ple has  been  found  for  improving  public 
library  structure  through  state  aid." 

L.S.M. 

*HHBBHttHBt# 

HINTS  FOR 
CHRISTMAS  I.AILING 

Don't 

DON'T  use  fancy  papers  or  string  unless 
covered  by  heavy  wrappings.  Wrap  it  for 
safety  and  not  for  sight. 

DON'T  ask  for  it-cent  stamps  for  un- 
sealed Christmas  cards  at  your  Postoffice  — 
present  third-class  rate  is  two  cents. 

DON'T  neglect  having  a  book  of  stamps 
on  your  person  or  in  your  purse  so  that 
you  will  not  have  to  stand  in  line  to 
purchase  a  single  stamp  frequently. 

Do 

DO  place  a  duplicate  address  inside 
each  package  for  additional  protection. 

DO  write  mail  and  return  address  in 
ink — not  pencil. 

DO  be  sure  the  address  is  complete,  in- 
cluding name,  street  and  number,  anart- 
ment  if  known,  city,  zone  and  state. 

DO  insure  or  register  all  parcels,  val- 
uable papers  or  letters. 

DO  use  air  mail  to  the  fullest  extent 
where  distance  is  great. 

DO  use  first-class  mail  to  assure  for- 
warding or  return  of  all  letters  and 
cards. 

DO  bring  your  parcels  to  the  postoffice- 
in  the  morning  so  as  to  avoid  the  heavy 
business  mailings  in  the  evening. 

DO  use  special  handling  or  special  de- 
livery on  all  fragile  gifts  and  those 
which  warrant  special  attention  and  de- 
livery. 

DO  use  plenty  of  heavy  paper  and 
strong  cord  on  parcels. 

-JBBKHHHKHBS- 


-12- 


AT  CENTRAL  LIBRARY 

New  Exhibition  Cases 

The  four  new  glass  exhibition  cases 
which  we've  been  expecting  arrived  last 
week  and  are  now  in  place  in  the  four 
niches  in  the  front  lobby  of  the  Central 
Library.  The  cases,  which  are  dust- 
proof,  are  framed  in  a  beautiful  rich 
bronze,  have  three  generous  sized  shelves 
of  heavy  glass  and  are  lighted  by  means 
of  concealed  cold  cathode  tubes.  They 
will  certainly  set  off  our  exhibits  to 
great  advantage. 

New  Electric  Self-regulating  Clock  System 

There  has  recently  been  installed  in 
the  Central  Library  building  an  Inter- 
national Business  Machines  Electric  Clock 
System  featuring  an  Electronic  self- 
regulator.   The  system  has  an  accurate 
Master  Time  Control  as  director  of  the 
system.  Once  each  hour,  I.B.M.  clocks 
which  are  plugged  into  any  electric  out- 
let will  automatically  be  corrected  to 
the  exact  second.  When  completely  in- 
stalled through  the  building,  this  spe- 
cial clock  system  will  assure  a  uniform 
recording  of  the  correct  time.  At  pres- 
ent only  the  Courtyard  Clock  has  been  con- 
verted from  mechanical  to  electric  mech- 
anism and  is  now  recording  accurate  time. 
As  soon  as  funds  permit,  additional 
clocks  will  be  installed  or  converted  to 
this  system. 

CHRISTMAS  COFFEE  PARTIES 

Mrs  Ada  A.  Andelman  and  the  branch  li- 
brarians were  the  hostesses  at  an  inform- 
al coffee  party  in  the  women's  lounge 
following  the  branch  librarians '  meeting 
on  Wednesday  morning,  December  7,-  19U9* 
About  fifty  staff  members  enjoyed  the 
opportunity  to  have  a  friendly  chat  while 
balancing  a  coffee  cup  in  one  hand  and  a 
couple  of  doughnuts  in  the  other.-  One  of 
the  most  pleasant  features  of  the  occa- 
sion was  the  opportunity  to  welcome  some 
of  our  retired  co-workers,  Miss  Edith 
Guerrier,  Supervisor  of  Branch  Libraries, 
Emeritus,  Miss  Mary  E.  Ames,  Branch 
Librarian,  Emeritus  (Fellowes  Athenaeum 


Branch  Library) ;  Mrs  Edith  H.  Bailey, 
Branch  Librarian,  Emeritus  (Phillips 
Brooks  Branch  Library) .   The  consensus  of 
opinion  is  that  these  informal  gatherings 
are  very  pleasant  and  should  happen  more 
frequently. 


-:s- 


On  Wednesday  morning,  December  lli,  fol- 
lowing their  monthly  meeting  the  Chil- 
dren's Librarians  were  hostesses  at  a 
similar  function.  Although  the  group  was 
not  as  large  as  in  the  previous  week), 
the  same  festive  spirit  pervaded  the 
women ' s  lounge . 

BRANCH  NOTES 

Brighton 

In  the  second  week  of  its  three-week 
celebration  of  Book  Week,  a  poster  con- 
test was  held  in  the  Children's  Room, 
Children  in  the  neighborhood  from  grades 
three  to  eight  were  invited  to  submit 
posters  based  on  the  theme  of  Book  Week 
,TMake  Friends  with  Books".  On  Monday, 
November  21,  79  posters  were  on  display 
and  ready  for  their  judges,  who  were  to 
be  the  boys  and  girls  who  came  to  the 
Library  throughout  the  week.  No  names  of 
"artists"  were  in  sight  and  each  poster 
could  be  identified  only  by  the  number 
which  was  assigned  to  it.  Each  voter  had 
four  votes  —  one  for  the  best  poster  in 
each  of  the  following  groups  — *  fifth 
grade,-  sixth  grade,  and  Junior  High 
School.  Each  ballot  had  to  be  signed  — 
repeaters  beware  J  A  padlocked  ballot  box 
was  provided  and  the  elections  were  on.- 
By  Monday  morning  of  the  following  week 
the  results  were  known  and  blue  ribbons 
were  attached  to  the  prize-winning  post- 
ers.. On  the  following  evening,  November 
29,-  an  Open  House  for  the  parents  of  the 
children  who  had  submitted  posters  was 
held.  The  response  was  overwhelming  and 
the  Children's  Room  was  bursting  at  the 
seams  as  more  and  more  proud  parents  came 
through  its  doors.  Posters  were  viewed 
and  exclaimed  over  by  parents  and  friends, 
displays  of  new  books  and  Newbery  and 
Caldecott  medal  books  were  examined,  and 
book  lists  were  distributed.  The  Chil- 
dren's Librarian,  Miss  Evelyn  Levy,  gave 
■i!--third  and  fourth  grades, 


-13- 


a  short  talk  and  Miss  Elizabeth  M.  Gordon, 
Deputy  Supervisor  in  Charge  of  Work  with 
Children,  after  an  informal  talk,  awarded 
the  four  prizes  —  books,  of  course. 

The  evening  ended  with  conversation, 
cider,  and  cookies. 

Connolly 

Today  the  Branch  will  be  the  scene  of  a 
gay  Christmas  party  when  the  Jamaica 
Plain  Women's  Club  presents  its  fourth 
annual  Christmas  party  for  the  children 
of  the  district.  It  is  expected  that  two 
hundred  boys  and  girls  will  attend  the 
party,  which  will  feature  movies,  carol 
singing,  and  even  Santa  Claus  himself. 
Santa  will  arrive  with  a  gift  and  a  bag 
of  candy  for  each  child,  providing  a  fit- 
ting climax  to  an  afternoon  which  it  is 
hoped  every  child  will  enjoy. 

Jamaica  Plain 

History  in  the  making  is  the  caption  of 
a  poster  which  calls  attention  to  a  dis- 
play of  historical  novels.  Since  Ameri- 
can history  is  an  intriguing  subject  and 
since  the  public  has  always  enjoyed 
reading  history  in  the  form  of  a  good 
novel,  the  circulation  of  these  books  has 
been  gratifying. 

North  End 

The  Staff  held  its  annual  Christmas 
party  on  Thursday,  December  8,  so  that 
Miss  Tyyne  Saari  could  attend.   Two  days 
later,  Miss  Saari  left  to  spend  the  holi- 
days in  Florida.  She  and  her  family  are 
planning  a  celebration  for  her  father's 
75th  birthday. 

Parker  Hill 

Christmas  Week  activities  will  start  on 
Friday,  December  17,  with  a  Christmas 
Story  Hour  and  "Brunch"  for  Miss  Hagerty 
and  the  Special  Class  of  the  Martin 
School.  After  refreshments  have  been 
served,  individual  guests  will  entertain 
with  holiday  songs  and  recitations.   The 
program  will  conclude  with  carol  singing 
by  guests  and  staff,  and  the  awarding  of 
a  gift  book  to  Miss  Hagerty  for  the  class. 

On  Monday,  December  19,  the  film  show- 
ing for  children  at  h  p.m.  will  include: 
Christmas  rhapsody;  Little  Child; 
Children  of  Holland;  Mother  Goose  stories. 
At  7:30  p.m.  the  adult  film  program  will 
feature:  Pearl  of  the  Orient;  Peonle  of 
Hawaii;  Wings  to  Hawaii. 


Christmas  carols  will  be  sung  by  the 
Boys'  Choir  of  the  Mission  Church  in  the 
Lecture  Hall,  on  Tuesday  evening,  December 
20,  at  8  o'clock.  The  program,  under  the 
direction  of  Mr  Rodolphe  E.«  Pepin,  Mission 
Church  organist,  will  be  open  to  the  pub- 
lic. 

Mrs  Phyllis  Barclay,  former  Children's 
Librarian  in  the  Boston  Public  Library, 
will  be  the  storyteller  at  the  Christmas 
Story  Hour  on  Wednesday,  December  21,  at 
U:l5  P»m.  Children  in  grades  3-6  will  be 
invited  to  attend. 

Teachers  and  pupils  of  the  Thomas  Dwight 
School  will  present  their  Christmas  pro- 
gram in  the  Lecture  Hall  on  Thursday  morn- 
ing, December  22,  at  10  o'clock.  The  in- 
vited guests  will  be  the  parents  of  the 
children. 

The  annual  staff  Christmas  luncheon  on 
Friday,  December  23,  will  wind  up 
Christmas  Week  festivities. 

Phillips  Brooks 


A  community  group  in  Readville  met  at 
the  Branch  Library  on  Monday  evening, 
November  28,  to  hear  Miss  Patience  Bowen, 
a  long-time  neighbor,  give  a  most  delight- 
ful account  of  her  recent  trip  to  Europe. 
Miss  Bowen,  who  has  spoken  here  before 
about  her  earlier  travels,  pleased  this 
group  with  a  vivid  picture  of  Ireland's 
scenic  beauty  and  historic  interests.  She 
will,  by  request,  return  in  January  to 
continue  the  account  of  her  trip,  covering 
this  time  her  travel  in  England  and  France. 

West  End 


The  Branch  Library  has  been  very  busy 
this  past  month  planning  and  holding  pro- 
grams in  celebration  of  Jewish  Book  Month. 

Mr  Yudel  Mark,  eminent  Yiddish  scholar 
and  educational  consultant  for  Jewish 
schools  in  New  York,  spoke  at  a  Yiddish 
program  held  at  the  Mattapan  Branch  Li- 
brary on  Sunday  evening,  November  27. 

On  Sunday  evening,  December  k,   Miss 
Marie  Syrkin,  author  of  BLESSED  IS  THE 
MATCH,  was  the  principal  speaker  at  a  pro- 
gram held  in  the  Lecture  Hall  of  the 
Central  Library.  Dr  Harry  Savitz  spoke  on 
THE  SYMBOLISM  OF  THE  HEBREW  UNIVERSITY. 
The  musical  portion  of  the  program  con- 
sisted of  songs  by  Mrs  Ernest  Roussos, 
accompanied  on  the  cello  by  Miss  Mildred 
Kravitz,  both  members  of  the  staff  of  the 
West  End  Branch  Library,  with  Mrs  Hyman 
Shrier  at  the  piano. 


-ll+- 


Mr  Charles  Angoff ,  author,  of  Y/HEN  I  WAS 
A  BOY  IN  BOSTON,  was  honored  at  a  recep- 
tion and  tea  at  the  West  End  Branch  Li- 
brary on  Saturday  evening,  December  10. 
Mr  Angoff,  a  former  resident  of  West  End, 
was  representative  of  the  many  Jewish 
authors  of  yesterday  and  today  who  were 
among  the  distinguished  guests  attending 
the  event.  Mr  Charles  Angoff  was  inter- 
viewed by  Miss  Fanny  Goldstein  on  Station 
MAC  on  Wednesday  afternoon,  December  Ik. 
at  U:15  p.m.  on  THE  IMPACT  OF  THE  JEWISH* 
WRITER  ON  AMERICAN  LITERATURE. 

A  radio  symposium,  SOME  GREAT  JEWISH 
CLASSICS,  will  be  aired  over  WNAC  on 
Saturday  afternoon  December  17  at  U:30p.m, 
The  distinguished  members  of  the  round- 
table  will  be  Rabbi  Abraham  J.  Klausner 
of  Temple  Israel,  Boston,  Rabbi  Judah 
Nadich  of  Temple  Kehillath  Israel, 
Brookline,  and  Rabbi  Dudley  Weinberg  of 
Temple  Ohabei  Shalom,  Brookline.  Miss 
Goldstein  will  act  as  moderator. 

West  End  will  hold  its  annual  goodwill 
Hanukah-Christmas  party  this  evening  at 
the  branch  library. 

-x-:kbf,h«bhb;- 

DEPARTMENT  NOTES 

Mr  and  Mrs  William  Javelin  entertained 
twenty-six  members  of  the  Open  Sheld  De- 
partment, including  husbands  and  fiances, 
at  their  home  on  the  evening  of  November 
11.  Mr  Paul  Delahanty,  part-time  assist- 
ant, delighted  the  group  with  his  feats 
of  magic,  and  the  Javelins  showed  color 
slides  of  their  last  summer's  trip  to 
Williamsburg,  Charleston,  New  Orleans, 
and  points  en  route. 

*HHBBBBHBHf 

NEW  BOOKS  IN  THE  STAFF  LIBRARY 
Fiction 

Asch,  Sholem 

Mary 

New  York,  Putnam,  19k9 
Brady,  Leo 

The  edge  of  doom 

New  York,  Dutton,  191+9 
Chase,  Mary  Ellen 

Plum  tree 

New  York,    Macmillan,  191+9 


Frankau,  Pamela 

Willow  cabin 

New  York,  Harcourt,  191+9 
Gallico,  Paul 

The  lonely 

New  York,   Knopf,   191+9 
Green,   Henry 

Loving 

Viking, 
B.,  jr. 


19k9 


New  York, 
Guthrie,  A. 

Way  west 

New  York,  Sloane,  191+9 
Lampell,  Millard 

The  hero 

New  York,  J.  Messner,  191+9 
Ogilvie,  Elizabeth 

Rowan  Head 

New  York,  Whittlesey,  191+9 
O'Neal,  Charles 

The  three  wishes  of  Jamie  McRuin 

New  York,  J.  Messner,  191+9 
Peters,  Arthur  A. 

The  world  next  door 

New  York,  Farrar,  Straus,  191+9 
Sinclair,  Upton 

0  shepherd,  speakl 

New  York,   Viking,  191+9 
Stone,    Irving 

Passionate  journey 

New  York,  Doubleday,  191+9 
Upson,  William 

"Hello,  Mr  Henderson" 

New  York,  Rinehart,  191+9 
Welty,  Eudora 

Golden  apples 

New  York,  Harcourt,  191+9 
Wilkins ,  Vaughan 

Once  upon  a  time 

New  York,   Macmillan,   191+9 

Non-fiction 

The  Association  of  American  Library 
Schools 

Directory  2nd.  ed. ,  191+8 

Seattle,  Univ.  of  Washington,  191+9 
Benchley,  Robert 

Chips  off  the  old  Benchley 

New  York,  Harper,  191+9 
Brown,  John  Mason 

Morning  faces 

New  York,  Whittlesey,  191+9 
Gunther,  John 

Behind  the  curtain 

New  York,    Harper,   191+9 


-15- 


Hottes,  Alfred  C. 

Flower  garden  for  the  amateur 

Forest  Park,  111.,  Midland  Publishers, 

(19U9) 
Leighton,  Isabel,  ed. 

The  aspirin  age 

New  York,  Simon  &  Schuster,  19h9 
Mauldin,  Bill 

Sort  of  a  saga 

New  York,  Sloane,  1°U9 
Rogers,  Will 

Autobiography 

Boston,  Houghton,  19U9 
Roosevelt,  Eleanor 

This  I  remember 

New  York,  Harper,  19h9 
Smith,  Lillian  E. 

Killers  of  the  dream 

New  York,  Norton,  19h9 
Steegmuller,  Francis 

Maupassant:  a  lion  in  the  path 

New  York,  Random,  19U9 
Toombs,  Alfred 

Raising  a  riot 

New  York,  Crowell,  19U9 
Tully,  Grace  G. 

F.D.R.,  my  boss 

New  York,  Scribner,  19U9 
7/aldron,  Gloria 

The  information  film;  a  report  of  the 

Public  Library  Inquiry 

New  York,  Columbia  Univ.  Press,  19U9 

4HHHHHHHf-H-fr 


SOAP  BOX 

To  the  Soap  Box  Editor: 

There  are  questions  in  the  minds  of 
some  members  of  the  staff  about  State 
Certification  of  Librarians,  e.  g. : 

1)  Is  it  advisable  for  Boston  Public 
Library  staff  members  to  apply  for 
State  certification? 

2)  Is  a  State  Certificate  of  value  only 
to  those  who  plan  to  seek  library  em- 
ployment outside  of  the  Boston  Public 
Library? 

3)  What  value  does  the  certificate  have  to 
justify  its  fee? 

h)   Will  a  State  Certificate  of  Librarian- 
ship  be  a  prerequisite  in  the  Boston 
Public  Library  for  appointment  or  pro- 
motion in  the  future? 

5)  Why  is  the  position  held  on  August  19U8 
considered  the  basis  for  application? 


6)  Why  is  July  19^0  the  deadline  for  ap- 
plying without  examination? 

May  we  have  some  authoritative  informa- 
tion that  will  clear  the  air I 

Sincerely  yours, 
(G.  S.  H.) 

The  Publications  Committee  hopes  that 
these  questions  may  be  answered  at  the 
Officer  Meeting  on  December  15.  If  they 
'are  not,  it  will  attempt  to  have  answers 
appear  in  the  January  issue. 


To  the  Soap  Box: 

Remember  the  old  Library  Life?  That 
was  printed  and  bound.  Why  should  not 
The  Question  Mark,  gaining  stature  with 
every  issue,  be  accorded  an  equal  courte- 
sy? 

Library  Life  makes  fascinating  reading, 
as  well  as  preserving  a  valuable  record 
of  staff  activities.  Maybe  fifty  years 
hence  the  staff  might  like  to  know  what 
was  going  on  way  back  there  at  the  middle 
of  the  century.  Our  Question  Mark  in  its 
present  format  will  never  last  fifty 
years.  What  can  we  do  about  it?  Some- 
thing, surely! 

FORWARD  LOOKER 

AN  ADVOCATE  FOR  THE  INTERESTS 

OF  POSTERITY 


To  the  Soap  Box: 

In  the  October  19h9  issue  of  The 
Question  Mark  the  "Soap  Box"  carried  an 
article  on  the  poor  lighting  conditions 
of  the  service  stairway  connecting  stacks 
four  and  five  in  the  annex.  The  day  fol- 
lowing the  publication  of  The  Question 
Mark  this  stairway  was  equipped  with  new 
lights  and  the  stairs  were  properly 
marked.   It  would  be  nice  if  The  Question 
Mark  could  claim  credit  for  this  much 
needed  improvement.   However,  this  cannot 
be.  Even  the  B.P.L.  electricians,  speedy 
as  they  are,  could  never  have  completed 
that  job  in  two  hours  I  The  work  was  evi- 
dently planned  and  completed  between  the 


-16- 


time  the  letter  was  submitted  and  The 
Question  Mark  published.  To  the  Division 
of  Business  Operations  goes  the  credit. 
Who  was  responsible  for  having  the  work 
done  is,  in  the  long  run,  immaterial. 
The  fact  that  it  is  done  is  what  counts. 
•The  writer  of  the  letter  to  the  "Soap  Box" 
wishes  to  say  to  those  responsible, 
"Thank  you  for  anticipating  my  comments." 


■H- 


Dear  Editor: 

A  great  deal  of  the  Christmas  mail  that 
circulates  through  the  building  is  strict- 
ly intra-mural .  This  generally  causes 
heavy  loads  not  only  on  the  U,  S.  Post- 
office,  but  also  on  the  Records,  Files, 
and  Statistics  Office  here  in  Central. 
This  year  there  is  the  additional  consid- 
eration of  an  increase  in  mail  rates. 

Therefore,  may  I  suggest  that  the  As- 
sociation play  Postoffice  this  year?  A 
large  box  could  be  set  up  in  the  Staff 
Library  some  days  prior  to  Christmas  for 
the  reception  of  staff  mail.   Then  sever- 
al volunteer  postmen  could  sort  and  de- 
liver the  mail  to  the  separate  depart- 
ments.  Incidentally,  branch  people  who 
wished  to  send  cards  to  friends  in 
Central  might  also  make  use  of  the  serv- 
ice. 

I  might  add  in  closing  that  this  idea 
originated  with  the  bashful  Mr  Andrews  of 
the  Branch  Issue  Department,  but  since  he 
was  too  shy  to  appear  in  print,  I  have 
been  persuaded  to  act  as  amanuensis. 

Yours , 
(signed)  Eamon  McDonouth 
General  Reference  Department 


# 


To  the  Soap  Box: 

Among  the  recent  announcements  of  va- 
cancies to  be  filled  is  one  of  compelling 
interest  —  Deputy  Supervisor  in  the 
Reference  Division  —  inasmuch  as  the  re- 
quirements have  been  changed  since  the 
vacancy  was  announced  19  May  19U8  and  not 
filled.  At  that  time  the  first  paragraph 
read: 

"The  passing  of  the  requisite  Promotion- 
al Examinations  for  any  Department  in  the 
Reference  Division." 

The  revised  version  omits  this  qualifica- 
tion by  examination  only,  thus  eliminating 


persons  who  may  have  passed  examinations 
in  the  Reference  Division  while  working 
in  the  Circulation  Division,  to  prepare 
themselves  for  promotion  in  either  Divi- 
sion, 

The  baffling  question  is  why  the  posi- 
tion is  restricted  to  members  of  the 
Reference  Division  (and  there,  Kirstein 
Business  Branch  is  excluded!).  This 
would  seem  to  be  discriminating  against 
a  portion  of  the  staff,  among  whom  it  is 
very  possible  that  there  may  be  some  who 
have  satisfactory  personalities,  superior 
educational  backgrounds,  adequate  knowl- 
edge of  the  Central  Library  building  and 
of  reference  tools,  an  intelligence  capa- 
ble of  learning  the  contents  of  our  spe- 
cial collections  and  other  information 
pertinent  to  the  position,  years  of  ex- 
perience in  working  directly  with  the 
public,  and  judgment  sound  enough  to  cope 
with  emergencies.  — -  in  addition  to  hav- 
ing passed  the  necessary  examinations. 

Obviously,  if,  as  is  allowed  in  an  al- 
ternate qualification,  a  person  holding  a 
pertinent  position  outside  the  Boston 
Public  Library  and  possessing  knowledge 
of  the  field  were  chosen  for  the  position, 
he  would  not  only  have  to  learn  about  our 
special  collections,  but  would  also  have 
to  familiarize  himself  with  the  building, 
learn  our  rules  and  acquaint  himself  with 
our  personnel  —  and  would  not  have  passed 
our  examinations. 

It  can  be  recalled  by  all  that  not  too 
many  years  ago  a  chief  of  a  reference  de- 
partment was  promoted  to  an  important 
supervisory  position  in  the  Library  Sys- 
tem —  an  entirely  different  field  from 
that  in  which  she  was  working.  Was  hers 
a  special  case,  or  should  all  other  staff 
members  be  given  similar  opportunities 
for  advancement? 

BAFFLED 

*8HHHHH*"K-3Kt 

The  Members  of  the  Publications  Commit- 
tee wish  for  all  members  of  the  staff  of 
the  Boston  Public  Library  a  Blessed 
Holiday  Season! 


■ 


1 


/edn  26  da  u .  nft  c  moon  • 
DECEMBER  -21- 1949 


''vf/  "V 


from 


7 


J    OCIQCK 


in  the 


WovnmA  Lounqe 


COMMITTEE  FOR  CHRISTMAS  TEA 
for  the  Central  Library  Staff 

Helen  Schubarth,  Chairman 


Barbara  P.  Cotter 
Mary  F.  Daley 
William  DiRosario 
Eleanora  V.  Fiorio 
Barbara  Gils on 


Julia  M.  Manning 
Lucy  M.  Manzi 
Ruth  V.  Marshall 


Francis  G,  Myers 
Annette  L.  Sherman 
Mildred  R.  Somes 
Gertrude  Stuhl 
Elizabeth  G.  Todd 


7  December  19h9 

BOSTON  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


BOSTON  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


3  9999  06314  605  2