The following letter from Miss Mary Booth to the Illinois Library Association was to have been read at the annual meet- Miss Booth was President of the As- HOTEL PETROGRAD, 33-35 RUE CAUMARTIN. Paris, August 25, 1918. Dear Members of the Illinois Library Recently a cablegram came from The programs will not be long nor heavy, and will be so arranged as to provide ample time for visiting places of interest, in professional, educa- tional and artistic lines in the city. open its parlors for the entertainment of visitors on Sunday afternoon. The librarians and library trustees Reservations for rooms at the Ho- A. IN FRANCE. letter telling of my work in Paris. Leaving the Hostess House of the dent's palace. A soldier, with fixed bayonet is on guard, pacing back and forth and nearby is a regular policeman, also on guard. We turn down the street on the side of the presi dential residence and a short walk of half a block brings us to the headquarters of the American Library Association, 10 Rue de l'Elysée. You cannot mistake the house as there are two dignified plates with the words, American Library Association, in gold letters on a black background, fastened on the building between two pairs of windows. On the first story above the entrance are fastened an American and a French flag. Step through the heavy doors into the court and you see the main entrance to the building, which was formerly the residence of the papal legate. The Y. M. C. A. has taken over the house and the A. L. A. has leased the ground floor and basement. The other floors are occupied by the educational, religious, musical, entertainment and library departments of the Y. M. C. A. Going up a short flight of steps two more signs with American Library Association on them show unmistakably the right door. When you open the door you will think you are in a real American public library. In front is the loan desk with a room on either side, one for reference and cataloging, the other a reading room, while behind the three runs a narrow gallery where the books are shelved. It took some faith to see a library in the confusion for the novels had been piled on the floor of the reading room, the French novels in the reference room, while the non-fiction was being sorted in the stack room. As soon as possible the non-fiction was classified and put in its proper place; the French books have been classified and the novels have been arranged on the shelves alphabetically by author. Next Thursday, August 29, a real American public library for the Amer ican Expeditionary Force will be opened, where the real American books, given by the people of the United States, will be circulated. It is planned to make this the library center for France. The work falls into two main divisions; the library here in Paris for all the Americans, and the work for those outside of Paris. Most of these latter will be reached by the boxes of fiction and of non-fiction which are sent, on request, to the Y. M. C. A., Red Cross, Salvation Army and Knights of Columbus centers. Should any soldier need a certain book he may write to headquarters and have it mailed to him. Should doubt exist in any one's mind as to the need for this service, he should be in headquarters for a day and see the continuous procession of educational secretaries, canteeners, heads of Y. W. C. A. hostess houses, all coming to ask for books for the soldiers with whom they are stationed. Many are so eager for the books that they carry away those most needed, and some come in taxicabs for the regular boxes which they take with them as personal baggage, thus being sure of quick delivery. Major Andrews, formerly of the American Ambulance, recently arranged for service for the many units of those driving ambulances under his charge who are working with the French army and so are deprived of much that is done for the soldier in the American Army. the last of May and until the last I began working with the A. L. A. few weeks I have been working in the warehouse where the books have been housed until the headquarters were secured. Here hundreds of cases of American books are received. Many have been brought over on the decks of transports and have been used by the soldiers while on the ocean; others have been brought as cargo, and are packed as they left the United States. These books have to be un packed and sorted into fiction and non-fiction. A good selection of fiction has been made for the library in Paris and one title of each book of non-fiction, as it comes in, is also kept. In the warehouse the non-fiction is arranged alphabetically by authors, so that if a request for any particular The book comes in it can be filled. fiction is kept unalphabeted. When a requisition is received for one box of fiction the box is filled with available novels and a few non-fiction added, as a history of France, one of the United States, a book or two of poetry and a book or two on the war. Sometimes a requisition comes in for four cases of fiction and two of nonfiction. The four cases are packed with novels only, and the non-fiction is chosen from the alphabeted stock. If the box is for an aviation camp we try to send books on aviation, aviation engines, wireless telegraphy-attempting, as far as the state of the stock permits, to send books that will be especially suitable. Sometimes for special demands the fiction is selected, when a request came to supply the hospitals of Paris, the stock of novels was searched to find cheerful books with good print and in good condition. A special effort was made in selecting the box sent to the American fund for French wounded, for distribution to the American soldiers in French hospitals. The boxes for the hospital trains were also selected, as were also the boxes for the front trenches and for General Pershing's headquarters. In this connection it may be interesting to record that recently a request has been received for some one to go to the general headquarters and organize the library there. One box of specially selected books was packed for the use of a colony of W. A. A. C's who are now doing record work for the American Army. This last week an entertainer came in looking for short funny stories. The Toaster's handbook and the section on wit and humor gave him what he wanted; he spent one afternoon copying the material and came back. the next day with a fellow entertainer, who wanted longer selections, which he found in some books of recitations. Recently Miss Mary Lawton visited the library in search of material to enrich her program. We have supplied the Paris district with books, sent some to Italy and to Gibraltar, prepared packages for use on the small boats of the United States, besides sending to many parts of France. So far 1,715 cases of books have been received from the United States. From May 1 to June 13 about 24,000 books were sent out and around 45,000 from June 13 to July 31. A few weeks ago I spent some time classifying and cataloging the books of the Red Cross Medical Library in Paris. Mr. Burton E. Stevenson, of Chillicothe, Ohio, is in charge of the work here. Mrs. Stevenson is also helping. We have, in addition, on our regular staff, Mrs. Potter, of Oakland, California, and Miss Fullerton, of New York Public Library, both from the New York State Library School, and Mrs. Palmer, wife of Frederick Palmer, who has written a number of war books. Mr. Stillman, of New York State, is in charge of the warehouse in Paris, and Mr. Daggett, of a state normal school library in Missouri, is in charge of the warehouse at Gievres. The district around Tours is in charge of a librarian assigned from the Y. M. C. A. My thoughts will be with you during the meetings on October ninth and the days following. I send heartiest greetings to each one of you, knowing that without the hard work. you have done, and will continue to do, the work over here could not be carried on. Sincerely yours, MARY JOSEPHINE Booth. |