A' Historica[ Skutch

Hut'hir,; P.'b[i" Lib" ary

I

THEHUTCHINSoNPUBtIcLIBRARY

At the beginning of this century t!: city o{ Hutchinson hod no

public librcrry. In 1g0l the lRro*.rri* Club hcrd ct collection of 500

volumes which the "i"U

wished to present to the city os o gucleus

for o free ;;Lli. librciv. The gift wos occept"d- uv h{crvor Hcrrsha,

who Gppofuted the foliowing well-known iesidents of Hutchinson

to serve os o Librcrri-il"id- "i rrustees: Mesdo*pt A L. Forshcr'

I \V. \Mincrns, I W.* Hodq.s,_ ] A. Fontron, Fred ccrrpenter, Dr'

Miner, \M y. Ivlorgcxrr,-tM. i. woodnut, F. w. Bcrrton, Fred cooter,

cmd }lisses Bessie purrrrv (now-Mtr i"hl F Foltron) crnd Dcrmie

Bigger. It is such on eCIsy rnutter ic vrcrlk into the public library'

ncwcrdoys, to bo'ow cr book oi two; but it wcrs no eosv tcrsk which

these twelve l''ornen i; Hutchinson shouldered in 1901 to mcrke cI

pr-rbiic librcry f"l the- .iiv. Mcxny were the tecs cnd other socicll

functions which hcxd to be plcrnned crnd executed to rcrise funds

;iih *hich to cdrry on the work of the liitle iibrcrrv-

The rcom in which the new librcrry functioned wos over the

New s of f ice locoted crt thcrt time ecrst of the crlley on Shermcln

between Mclin ond Wolnut. Afterwcrrd the librory wq1s moved tolorger quorters over the Fire Depcrrtment on Wesi Sherm;;.In 1902 the librcrry wCIs fopl outgrrowing these suqrters, ondsteps lffere token to procure q librcrl' building. Mr. i. A. Bunker,9 public spirited citizen of Flutchinson, offered oi o qift to the

"rr*u,three lots of the corner of Mcrin crnd Fifth Streets fJr ct librcrry site.Th*- gift Yqs occepl"d.by the city, <rnd CIn CIppeol was sent to Mr.Andrew C.ornegie for finonciol ossistoncg to- put up o building invrhich to house the youlg librcry. In due r.orop Mr. Carnegierespond.d. by pledging $ 15,000, with vrhich the older porf__thefront of the present

_ librory-\^/os built. The new hb;;y wos{ormcily opened on }cnuory _1 9, I 904, j u st three yeers crf ter theorgonization of the Board of Trustees.

It beccrme necessCIry to vote CI tox levy for the support of theinstitution, for in CIccepting the money from lvlr. Cornegie, the cityo{ Hutchnson promised to mc'ntcrin the bgilding for o

-libiCIrt orrjio support it properly for librory service. Foilure to do this #ould

rncrke the property revert io the Ccrnegie Corporotion. The guestionhss been clsked CIs to how the Ccrrnegie people know "uvhether ornot the city of Hutchinson is keeping its promise. The Ccrrnegie

9gtporqtion rn'orks in very close connection with the AmericcnI-,ibrary Association, 'arhich Association, by th; ;oy; ;; veryinstrumentol in promot_ilg to Mr. Cornegi. the ideo of ["ifai"glibrqries oll over these United Stotes. i""f. v.or the A. t.. A. sendsreport blonks which the libroricrn fills out, giving the particulors ofthe mointenCInce o{ the buildingf, olso in" omount of service thelibrary gives to the cornmunity. it is then returned to the A. L. A.Hecdqnorters in Chicaso wheie it i= il;;i "" fii.,

-or.a the Corr,"gierepresentative, mCIy, olcl does, obtcrin informqtion of ony time, qsto whct t\"^ Qcrrlegie Librories CIre doing

By 1916 the librcry hcrd oqain o,ttqrown its housing. Eorly intho veclr Mr. L. E. Fontron, crt thct time Loyo, of Hutchinson, wentto New York to consult AnCrew C"!1"c*' i; ,Ln;ra t" -;--qift ofrncnev with which to construct CIn oddjtion to the-ljbrory building.It/r' Ccrrneqie r^rQS sufficiently interested to pledge Gnother $15,000which built the present recrdi"g room, the some being completed in1916.--'vu.^^vvvlll

The library has grown from the 500 volumes in l g0l to4a'75a volumes at present. Not o11 of this number ore circulcrtingbooks; omonq the number clre bound-- periodicals, mcny dcrting

bcrck to lg04__cr few much ecrrlier. These constituie o very imporiont

pcrrt of the re{erence fcrci}ities of our'librcxry, ond with on excellent

collection of other ref erence books, orrd s huge collection of

unbor_ind pl.i"ai""r-, ;;; iul"r.nce deportment is superior to the

other public librcrries,- ouiside of \Mi"hito Pui:lic Librcrry, in the

westerr. poii of Kor"r=o.. Not only do we core ior the crdr-ilt inquiries,-but cne hos only to ;; i"t" the- iibrcrry on on o{ternoon during the

school terms io r^."iiru whct cin enormous crmouni of re{erence

vrork is done {or the -schocls

crnd colleges of Hutchinson. Cur- bq?q

funds co not crllow rru to buy os mCIny yecrrbooks os lA/e should

hcrve; by dint of rigid economy qod, p-erhops, shcrving the, fictionj.st o bit, we monoge to keep icrirll'-'rbi} up-to-dcrte- Thre reference

clc,ocrrtment ""ru.l {6r moie ih.rr, 9.0c0 inquirig=. lcst yeor.

""t-Til;Fu-biic Librcrry rnointciins three biclnch librcrries in schocls

in the ""ti;i"g- Ji=iricts c{ the city where ihe children ccrnnot

possibly go to tl.p mcrin hbrcxry-:-so ihe librcry goe_s to' the children'

The chilclren's libroricn qoes f or o hcl{ clcxy ecxch v'reek to these

brcrnches -i;

rsio oLorrt 75 ,per ceni o{ the books crt the brcrnches

were odult books; these were c_rcrducrlly returned to t!.u rncrin

librcrry orra i*plo"*J with suitcrut* iuvenile books. Al ihcrt time

there v\ios cr coil from Grondview for 26 primers ond priqclry books;

it took scme time to, tiri* demcnd io be filled, but +'he present

coiiection of such books numbers 350 +L^ c.-^.-r{In 1930 the ,uoiiig "nirity-"j

rhq children in the Grondview

ond Lincoln brcrnches v/os quite low; the fourth grcrders could recld

only the very eosiesi of the pri*"rv books. No# the fourth grode

youngsters or* reodrnq= thu b""t= suitcrble {or thclt grode; reoding

cxbiliilr jn both schcols is now clveroge.Eoriy in 1g3g a brcrnch *;= ;=i;biished crt Ave. A school- The

first gicrde tecrchu. i**clrkeC thcrt the reoding crbility of her first

grade, pupils hcrd il;;;y;.a. s0 pur ce.nt since tt u librcrrv h.,s been

instcxltecl. . She crttribi.ro,-ed thrs t"- 1t e fcct thcxi the li.yrcry supplies

l:coks .iuhich the children mcty tcrke home to reod' {-^* +ho

Iibrcry of lg0l tc iis present wcrk. Thre circr]lcrtion of hooks' {irsi

recorcec in 1904, ;;;;n.+ 14 vorumes ecrch dov; in 1938 the

public librcrrv pul i;i; tde homes of H'tchinson CI dcrily cverGge

,oI .7s4 books crnd #;"drcols. This mcrkes the stcrf{ hendle more

thcrn 1400 vciumes dcrily, os th; books which go out must be

.*itnt""d clnd checked in'

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This is o very simple outline o{ the v,rork of the public librcrry;the detcrils involved in the vcrrious deportments, to lieep the woikup to stqndard, is for from simple, clnd requires people who dreeducated {or the purpose to do the work effectively-.

IAW GOVERNING IIBNAilES1933 Supplement to Revised Stotutes of Konscrs

I2-1201-Estoblishment; Tox Levy. Thcrt upon the writtenpetition of twenty-{ive per cent of the resident toxpoyers of onycity, presented to tbu governinq body thereof , such governingbodl' sholl cquse to be submitted to the locol voters of iuch city-,of the first gity election thereafter, or, if the petition so requests, crtg speciol election to be ccrlled for thot purpose, the qubstion ofthe estoblishment and mcintenCInce of o free public librcrry ondreclding room, the governing body shcrll onnuclly therecrftei levyc tcx in such sums os moy be by resolution of the directors of th;free llbrcr,t' designcrted, not to exceed one mill on the dollor on ollicrxable property in such city subject to the tox, to be leviecl ondcollected in o like lrlclnner with the other tcrxes of soid city and tobe known cls the librory fund: Provided, Thot in cities havinq cr

populotion of more thcrn forty thousond (40,000) clnci less thcnone hundred twenty thousqnd ( 120,000), the cnnuql tcx levyherein provided sholl not exceed one-hcrlf mill on the clollcrr of olltaxable property in such city; thot in cities hoving q population ofmore thcrn one hundred tv"'enty thousand (120,000) populction, thecnnucl tox levy herein provided sholl not exceed one-fourth ofone mill on the dollor of oll tcrxable property in such city.

IN A DEMOCRACY THE PUBIIC TIBRANY HAS A IUST CTAIMTO TAX SUPPOnT, BECAUSE-

Educotion is the {oundotion of <r democracy.Educcrtion is lcrrgely dependent on books.Bcoks GS o r'':iedium for educcrtion should be r'rvail-crbie tc c:ll clqsses of peopleThe pr rblic librcrry is the ogency provided by lawfor book service free to the people.It is the ONLY CIgrency so provided.The public librory, therefore, shouid be maintcrinedi:y the tax o{ the people.

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SOME INTERESTINGFACTS AND FIGURES

Received FromYear CitY Tax

Appropriation

1921 $ 14,028.24

rg22 14,i39 58

i 923 13,096.20

1924 13 ,022.39 ,

1925 13,333 78

1926 13,815.63

lg27 12,525 92

1928 14,208 36

1929 13 ,7 38.30

1930 13,999.97

1931 14,71 5 64

1932 1 5,0 58.24

1933 12,67 3.70

1934 9,72A 57

i935 11,872.89

1936 12,1 53.46

1937 12,652.48

1938 12,807,48

Circr-rlation PoP.

76,054 27,016

91,32 1 23,298

106,559 23,2,98

1r7 ,448 23,298

r2B,0B3 ?3,298

139,458 26,265

1 49 ,82',/ 26, B 1 0

1 37 ,64?, 28,0 54

176,160 27,803

193 ,01?-, 27 ,897

2rr,525 28 ,097

237 ,g7B 27 082

236,648 29,27 4

2r1,832 29,673

2r2,2E9 32,794

213,285 32,17 B

208 ,677 33,404

23r,587 32,500