News Letter of the Los Angeles County Public Library January 1958

              Vol .. 11 No .. 7
--THE LIBRARY
IS HONORED
NEWS L E T T E R
LOS ANGELES COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
322 S. BROADWAY P.O. Bax 111 LOS ANllELEB 53, CALIF"ORNIA
January 1958
Oi.lr Teclin ca Services Division had t e onor atur ay a ter­noon,
January 11, of playing host to the Los Angeles Area Group
of Catalogers at the first of their two 1958 meetings ~ held in
the Division's Branch Catalog Section~ eighth floor Ferguson Building'" 307 South
Hill Street. Ninety-one persons, including members and their guests~ attended .•
Regular business included a welcoming of the newly installed
officers, a reading of the financial report by the new Secretary-Treasurer,
Richard Rankin, cataloger in our Technical Services Division., presentation of
other reports and introduction of new members.
The program feature was a talk by Mrs. MacQuarrie in which she
recounted the full story of the Book Catalogs ~ She told of their inceptiontt
inspired she said, by the desire to give each branch librarian ~ and all pa~rons ~
information on the complete book stock available in the system. She listed and
described all steps taken in the compilation and production of the volumes ~
She told of the various refinements that have been made on the original
experiment and referred to the growing interest in the Book Catalogs by the
library world, manifested by an increasing number of letters of inquiry and
visits by librarians from other areas, States, and even countries ~ for first
hand observations.
A moment of deep pride for the Library came when the Area Group! s
new chairman., Charlotte Oaks, of the Pasadena Public Library,announced the .
organization has nominated Mrs. MacQuarrie for the 1958 Margaret Mann Citation.
The Citation is an American Library Association Award given
annually to the li brarian who is adjudged to have made the most distinguished
contribution of the year in the fields of cataloging and classification.~
Nominations closed January 1. The Award winner will be announced at the Al.A
Conference in San Francisco, July 13-19.,
Mrs. Beryl Martin, bead of our Branch Catalog Section ~ was
introduced as a member of the Group ~ s new official familyo She has been
appointed a member of the Social Cormnittee ~
Following the program the audiencer in groups of twenty ~ toured
the catalog "assembly line" where descriptive talks were made and demonstrati ons
given of the major steps involved in producing each catalog volume#
Mrso Ilah Lewis explained the control card, subject-heading
coding and the preparation o~ the monthly cumulative supplements; Mrso Madaline
Ohnick, the key punch machine; Charlene Hoff exhibited the second edition of
the Adult Author Catalog and the key puch cards and masters used in its pre­paration;
~1rso Martin displayed and explained the Subject and Title volumes,,
showing how the cards are punched to bring out reference and analytic notationso
She also described the various uses that may be made of the Subje~ volumes.
Mrso Dora Sanford exhibited the masters from which the multilithed pages of
each Catalog are made and explained methods used for proofing themo Frances
Alexander discussed the £hildren~s Book Catalofs9 calling attention to the
subject headings and annotations used to appea to juvenile readers~ Mrs.,
Ann Verdugo explained the final stage0 the assembling and binding of each
Wh~o I
' Mrs .. Martha Harris was in· charge of· an e:xltll:iit -slfowi'ng exampre-s·
of work of similiar nature done :in other librarieso These included a volume
of the New York State Llbrary Checklist in Social Science~9 a subject index
for use by all New York libraries for inter-library loan purposes: sheets from
the book catalogs produced and used by the King County Library (Washington);
and the procedure manual, prepared for product~on of book indexes, by the
Cape Provincial Library Services, Capetown, Soijth Africa0 in which ~owers~
Samas cards, "British equivalent of the ~BM cards are used0
A question propounded for study was the feasibility of some
central agency producing book catalogs for many librarieso
UBBARY WEEK Bookmarks0 posterss le~flets and a booklist calling attention
PLANS MABB to National Library Week11 March l(>...220 are now being prepared
for distribution to all branchese- The bookmarks strive, with
brief slogans0 to ·present cogent reasons for patronizing librarieso The posters
call attention to the importance of family group reading,. The leaflet features
the first book purchased by the Library wnen it was established forty-six years
ago, Louisa May Alcott 0s Little Womeno Brief facts about the book and the
growth of the collection are reeountedo The booklist11 T}le Family Reads Together,
is being revised by Mrs ., Hope Amstell" Childrenvs Book Selector, with a foreword
by Mrs .. Mary Rogers Smith11 Coordinator of Work with Childreno The forewotd
stresses the importance or-reading in the development of a child~s inde~endent
taste and judgement.
REPORTS FROM ~he Library is about ·to shift into high gear under its re-
TWO REGIONS organization program,1 " Mrs .. Terry11 Regional Services Chief
. . Ubrarian0 t old the gro~ps at t;wo Regional Meetin~ this month,
expla1n1ng that the new work routines and ptocedures occasioned by
regionalization have now been set up in all of the eight districts. She said
the basic work of strengthening r?ference collecti6ns in all regional head­quarters
has been done, ass.,-rting special funds ,.Jere allattee to two regions
where reference stock was weakt. . She also said the book fund to be requested
in next year's budget is approx~mately one-third .g reater than last year's ..
Gn Calvin Tookert Regional Librarian ~ Region VIII (West Covina)
called his group of branch staffs together, January 9 for an evaluation of
accomplishments achieved so far and discussion of the next problems to be faced:1-
Mrs~ Vesta Bruneri Regional Librarian Region VII (El Monte)
held a round table discussion for her branch librarians and staff members on
January 17,. The theme of her meeting was "Have we done all we could with t he
materials at hand? ..
WEST COVINA The new0 small ~ compact registration cards were exhibited and
explained by Librarian Tooker~ Main intere st centered on a
discussion of efforts to lessen waiting time for request books. It is hoped ~
Mrs ~ Terry said ~ that before the first year under regionalization ends ~ the
majority of requests can be filled or answered within an approximate four-
-_ weelL.p_etlod. he_p~Q.S.S.ibilliy: drew man laudatory: comments ,~
Branch staffs were reminded that if t he plan is to function
they must be as ready to release a "recalled" book as they are anxious to
receive a requested one ~ When a requested book is in the region, not on
loan or ~missing'\ waiting time should entail no more than two weeks. she said ,~
"
When the regi on forwards the request to Central an additional
two weeks must be allowed for the staff there to notify the patron whether the
book is being "recalled'\ whether the Library is "considering" buying i t 11 is
buying it but hasn et received or processed it yet or whether the Library has
decided not to buy it ~
EL MONTE Regional Librarian Bruner's meeting featured a talk by Mrs ..
Macquarrie on the economics of book repair and rebinding,. She
explained and described t ypes of books most apt to reappear as reprints at a
price lower than the costs of rebinding~ She listed as factors which render a
book "unfit" for rebindingr poor quality paper, tears down the spine of the
volume and ttineradicable" spotting,,. She s<iid the most damaging (it cannot
be removed) and one of the most frequently appearing spots are imprints of
rouged lips. She di~played a "Western" ~ illustrated, in which every cowboy
picture had been practically obliterated with lip prints., The book had to be
withdrawn,.
Mrs ., Beulah Wadleigh= book mender~ Technical Services Division ~
who has been cleaning and repairing the Library ' s''shabbies" for the last
t wenty years displayed the tools she uses and demonstrated their use ~
Bere ts a part of what she said:
~, "Pencilled underlinings ., strangely enough fbund most frequently
in books used by college students ~ is drudgery to remover but can be and are:·
before the book is sent to the bindery ~ •~ ! s~rape off a lot of gum that has
been parked on book covers ~ Alcohol and energine sometimes help ~ ~e There is
no sure way to remove crayon marks~ though occasionally nail polish remover
helps, ., ,, I wish library readers would not mark their pl.aces with pennies or
other coins,. That always springs the back and the book has to be rebound, .. ,~ I
can remove most food and fruit stains with bleach ~ but there is nothing that
can help a book t hat has been used as a coaster- The water r i ngs are there to
stay~ tV
- 3-
ITE!r5 FROM THE
CORNER OFFICE
Harold 11.. Hamill,
City Librarian.
Mro Henderson left by train January 25 for the American
Library Association's annual Midwinter meeting in Chicago.
B'e plans to return February 3o His traveling companions are
Los Angeles City Librarian, and Howard ~L Rowe, San Bernardi•o
Mr0 Henderson and Mre Geller met J~uary 6 with the Torrance
Board of Library Trustees and the City Manager to discuss formulation
of a master plan for libraries in Torrance. The meeting was also attended by
Mrso Dorothy Jamieson, Regional Librarian of that area~
Mr0 Henqerson's annual report of County Library affairs .
of last year received mention in the January issue of the Wilson Library Bulletin
in the section for Extension Librarians under the heading An Idea BearsFruft.. ·
The ~rticle . was writt.en by the_sec.tion editor~.- Gre.t.ehe.n Knie. .f Schenk. who ~­succeeded
Mr. Henderson as County Librarian in Kern County in 1937.
ALA MEMBERSHIP Mr. Geller9 who is sub-chairman of the Membership Committee
DRIVE OOTL!NED of MA. Southern California Area9 reminds staff members who
are eljgible to join that this is an important year to be­come
accredited members of the national groupo His statement follows:
"First. because the Association is embarked::upon a mucli!
broadened program as a result of its reorganization. and second, because of the
Federal appropriation for the stimulation of Uhrary service9 especially in
rural areas. Both will have an effect on all public libraries. The importance
of library service is in the forefront of public attention. Assistance of
.ALL librarians is needed for the moral and finan.cial support of the program.
• I
~e annual meeting of the American Library Association
will be held in San Francisco this yeart July 13-19(>' Membership is a re-quirement
for attendance at the convention~~ ·
TW.O GUESTS FROM~
FOREIGN 1.AN>S
Please contact Mr., Geller for membership information and blanks.
'.l'Wo ·librarians from foreign eountries0 South Africa and India9
visited the l!.ibrary this month, one to study the Rook
Catalogs, the other0 our methods of book preservation and careo
They were Theo Friis, Director of Library Services0 Capetown~ South Africa, and
Baidyanath Bo Chaudhuri0 Technical Assistant, National Library of India~ Calcutta.
librarian Friis spent January 30 until late in .tie evening9
in the Branch Catalog Section, observing all pha·ses of the preparation and pro­duction
of the catalog volumeso His library is engaged in a similiar project0 ·
So far they have put on key punch cards all of their titleso Their next step
will be to make up their book catalogso · Mro Friis said their collecti~a is
app~oximately the same as ourso le was directed to us by Ralph M.. Dunbar,
Director of the Ubrary .Services Branch of the U0 S0 Office of Education& an
agency of the Department of BealthQ EducatiQn and Welfareo The Branch was
established last April to further Federal ~id to libraries.
-4·--
Gn Calvin Tookert Regional Librarian9 Region VIII (West Covina)
called his group of branch staffs together, January 9 for an evaluation of
accomplishments achieved so far and discussion of the next problems to be fa ced~
Mrs~ Vesta Brunert Regional Librarian Region VII (EI Monte)
held a round table discussion for her branch librarians and staff members on
January 17. The theme of her meeting was "Have we done all we could wi t h t he
materials at hand? ..
WEST COVINA The new,, small~compact registration cards were exhibited and
explained by Librarian Tooker~ Main interest centered on a
discussion of efforts to lessen waiting time for request books ~ It is h oped ~
Mrs ~ Terry said~ that before the first year under regionalization ends ~ the
majority of requests can be filled or answered within an approximate four-
-_ wee..k_p_erirul.., J e J>~Q.S.Sibi li ty drew many: laudaton comments,. ~ ~-~------
Branch staffs were reminded that if the plan is to function
they must be as ready to release a "recalled" book as they are anxious to
receive a requested one$ When a requested book is in the region ~ not on
loan or ~missing"" waiting time should entail no more than two weeks,, she said ..
'-
When the region forwards the request to Central an additional
two weeks must be allowed for the staff there to notify the patron whether the
book is being "recalled'\,. whether the Library is "considering" buying i t 11 is
buying it but hasnet received or processed it yet or whether the Library has
decided not to buy it ~
EL MONI'E Regional Librarian Bruner's meeting featured a talk by Mrs ~
Macquarrie on the economics of book repair and rebinding ,~ She
explained and described types of books most apt to reappear as reprints at a
price lower than the costs of rebinding., She listed as factors which render a
book "unfit" for rebindingr poor quality paper'? tears down the spine of the
volume and ttineradicable" spotting"' She said the most damaging (it cannot
be removed) and one of the most frequently appearing spots are imprints of
rouged lips. She di~played a "Western'\ illustratedt in which every cowboy
picture had been practically obliterated with lip prints., The book had to be
withdrawn.-.
Mrs ~ Beulah Wadleigh ~ book menderf Technical Services Division,
who has been cleaning and repairing the Library ' s"shabbies" for the last
twenty years displayed the tools she uses and demonstrated their use ~
Here fs a part of what she said:
~- "Pencilled underlinings "' strangely enough f()und most frequently
in books used by college students, is drudgery to remove,r but can be and are'.'
before the book is sent to the bindery,, .. ~ I s~rape off a lot of gum that has ·
been parked on book covers ~ Alcohol and energine sometimes help. ~ e There is
no sure way to remove crayon marks~ though occasionally nail polish remover
helps , ., 0, I wish library readers would not mark their pbces with pennies or
other coins,,. That always springs the back and the book has to be rebound"',, .,!
can remove most food and fruit stuins with bleach ~ but there is nothing that
can help a book t hat has been used as a coaster~ The water rings are there to
stayf> ·~
Mr~ Chaudhuri visited on January 6. He was completing a
four month-tour of Arerican Librariesic here as a guest of the Department of
State and the Library of Congress~ to study especially the latest methods of
book preservation and book-bindingt but interested also in administrative
organizationt buildings and equipment~ and problems relating.to map storage
and classification~ The climate of India is hard on archivesv he saidi and air­condi
tioning is non-existant~
MENI'AL HEALTH il mental health bibliography listing forty-seven titles'I!
BOOK LIST POPULAR prepared by Nellie Frost ~ Regional Librarian, Region VI
{Montebello) and Mrs~ Frances F',, Williams& Montebello
Branch Librarian~ has attracted unusual attention among readers in t hat area~
The list was compiled from books in the branch collection* The volumes went
on special displ ,ay at the branch three weeks ago~ Public response was
_ immedi.a._t.e.., i..n.c.e h.e.JLr.e_quesu_ f.or~the.... titles ha.v been s_o_ steady- that there ·
is no longer any display; none of the books are on the shelves and a waiting
list has been accumulated,,. Mrs .. Williams attended the January 28 meeting of
the Montebello Coordinating Council and distributed copies of the bibliography
by request.,.
BREAKFAST
ANNOUNCEMENT
Mrs$ Smith has chosen May 6 for the Spring Book Breakfast
(r11at. is a Tuesday instead of the traditional Wednesday.,)
It will be given at the Statler Hotel" One author guest
has already been selected and has agreed to be thereT Mrs ~ Frances Clarke Sayers~
Mrs ~ Sayers is also a librariant one of the most prominent in children"s work
in t he country. Formerly superintendent of work with children at the New York
Public Library, she isJDw teaching children ~ s literature in the English Depart­ment
at UCLA. She is noted for many inspiring talks she has given, pleading for
children"s literature that is poetic, imaginative and intuitive,, rather t!:an
factualt based on experience ~ 9'r notable address Lose Not the Nightingale
was the highlight of a recent Al.A convention.
NEW WEST GARDENA The Board of Supervisors this month approved a ten-year
BRANCH READY SOON lease on a building now under construction at 15709 Crenshaw
Boulevard ~ part of a new shopping center near El camino Collegei
. -to serve as quarters for the new West Gardena branch library" The' building is
a one-story structure with 4000 square feet floor area,, It will be ready for
occupancy approximately April l "' calvin J .. Phill¥s1: Maintenance Division Chief~
and his shop crew have practically completed the shelving and futniture for the
new branch. The Regional Librarian for the area, Mrs ~ Dorothy Jamieson ~ is now
assembling the book collection~
The new library will replace the Moneta branch which has long
operated in cramped, inadequate quarters and will render service to the residents
of West Gardena and surrounding County territoryc
LIBRARY WILL Archi tects Risley & Gould, who are designing the new library
SPARE THAT TREE branch building for the city of Bell,3 are now sketching
changes in the pre Ii mi nary plan so as to preserve two fifty­five-
year old cedar trees that otheriwse would have had to come down. The
community did not want to choose between library or trees, The residents wanted
both~ The trees are doedars ~ an East Indian species of cedar, whose name means ~
in the Hindi languagey '~imber of the Godse"
-5-
All of Mrs ~ Sweenyts and Mrs$ Arnold rs fifteen years
have been spent at their respective branches, Mrso W~lliamson was branch
librarian at San Antonio until it closed a year ago ~ On receipt of her
pin she said she had been predisposed in favor of libraries at a very early
age" recalling how"' as a small child in Pi ttsburghc Pennsylvania. she had
of.ten been patted on the head Jay Andrar Carnegie.; steel magnate and libr ary
'angel" when he passed her on the street. "He usually removed a white carnation
from his buttonhole and gave it to me~ ~ she said ~
CHERIO, GRACE
HAVE FUN
Two Departments of County government combined to honor
Mrs$ Grace Cullare accountant and statistician in the
Library's Business Management Division ~ when she retired
from County service January 31 ~ The Auditor :s office joined with us in
giving her a farewell luncheon and a set of gold clubs ~ the latter to enable
---hel'-t-o- enj-oy he'l'-f'utu-re- 1-e-i-s-u"l'e ·-n- t-he manner of her- be-st -li-ki-ng,. --~~--
Mrs ~ Cullar has been close to the Civic Center (government
center) since the very moment of her birth~ She was born in the family home ~
long since razedj) at Bunker Hill and Temple Streets. She entered County
government May<t l925,, as a comptometer operator in the Auditor :s office .. She
was an accountant there when she transferred to the Library five years ago,.,
During the year 1943 she was a 2nd Lieut., in the WACS ~ stationed at Fort
Devon:- Massachusetts? in charge of personnel records~
NEW "FRIENDSt'
CLUB SET UP
Mr .~ Geller met :: by invi tation t with the newly organized
Friends of the Manhattan Beach Libraries? (there are t wo
branches in that comrnunity),January 29, to help them write
their constitution and by-laws«- At present there are twenty-five members
in the groupt all members of the two parent clubsQ ieptunian and Dolphin ~
which sponsored the new organization .~ As their first activity they are planning
a membership drive ~ according to the Secretary, Mrs ~ Earl Burke0
Mr, Geller was asked to speak on National Library Week#
or provide another comparable speakerr for their first open meeting planned for
early March..,
The Manhattan Beach Friends are the third official "Friends"
group in the syste~ The others are the Claremont and La ~tiradJa Friends ~
scours TRAIN
AS BRANCH AIDS
Miss Charity Craig", Manhattan Beach branch libr~rian ~
reports an interesting project in progress at her branch
under the direction of Mrs" Vera B:aker ~ third assistant~
With the cooperation of the South Bay Girl Scout Council, Mrs~ Baker is
giving a training programi fitting them to serve as library aids .~ They are
specializing in shelf- reading.r shelvingr. and magazine care~
Mrs ~ Ann Mitchell 0 second assistant in charge of work with
children, reports t he Saturday morning story hours have been regularly
at tracting "large groupsn of pre-school(' through third grade children,, Older
girls often come ~ she said ~ and older boys also ~ though the boys seem
reluctant to join t he group and busy themselves at the book shelves., "Howeverr"
she added!) "they chuckle and laugh in all the right places 0 no matter how
occupied t hey appear to be~ .
--7-
MRS .. WRIGHT
GIVES TALK
Mrs .. Helen O'C Wright spoke on contemporary fiction
writers and their work to the San Fernando Cosmos Club
at the group's regular January meeting0 Copi~s of
outstanding fiction
and appraised.
recently added to the Library's collection were reviewed
MRS. SMITH TO DISCUSS
CHIIDREN'S LITERATURE
at the Betsy Ross Schoolo
of literature in the life
lEO POLITI WRITES
TO COMPTON CHILDREN
Mrs. Smith will talk on children's literature to
members of the Culver City branch of the Association for
Childhood Education at the group's February meeting
She has been asked to discuss the place and influence
of the child.
The Children's room at the Compton branch is displaying
an illustrated letter recently received from Leo Politi
and "Pedro"i one of his fictional characters. Mrs.
Sarah L. Moody, children's librarian at the branch read ~edro of Olvera Street
to her Chrisimas Story Hour audience. The children wrote a letter to Politi
thanking him for creating the booko It was signed with thirty names. The letter
was his reply.,
NEW PRE LIBRARY: As a member of the Advisory Conunittee of Librarians
CI.ASS TO SIART working with the East Los Angeles Junior CQllege in
the prograrmning of its pre-library science courses,
Mrso Wright calls attention to the new class, spring semester, which starts Ftb ...
iruary 5. Registrations may be made beginning February 30 5;30 to 8:30 p.m0 -
Classes will be held on Wednesdays from 4-6 p.m.
A similar class is being offered on Mondays, 4 to 6
p.m. at Valley Junior, College in Van Nuys':
ALESIA ARNOLD Mrs .. -Alesia Arnold, South San Gabriel branch librarian,
GIVES TALK represented the Library this month at two public
gatherings in her community, the January 16 meeting of
the John Marshall Elementary School PTA; and dedication of the Richard Garvey
Sr,, Memorial Auditorium on January 220 . -
. At the PTA meeting Mrs. Arnold gave a brief history
of the South San Gabriel branch, which -was established June, 1916 in the Garvey
School house, and11 after several moves, opened in its present quarters, a leased
building, constructed under our supervision, in December, 19530
Following her historical account, Mrs. -Arnold
reviewed twelve books from the children's collection at her branch. She was
a specially invited platform guest at the Auditorium dedication. The building
is on the site formerly occupied by the school which housed the original branch.
UW:cw