1955 Annual Report, Harris County Public Library

BOOK STOCK On January 1, 1955 there were 64,325 books in the library belonging to the County. During the year 7,641 books were purchased, 51 were recovered and 443 books were donated. This made our total addition 8,135. There were 362 books missing in the 1954 circulation, 346 books were lost and paid for, and 1,404 were discarded and deducted. This brought our total deductions to 2,112. December 31, 1955 the number of books in the County Collection reached a total of 70,348. At the beginning of the year there were 4,390 books belong¬ ing to the individual branches, to which 419 have been added as gifts to these branches during the year. This brings the total books, not belonging to the County, to 4,809. Adding this to the County Collection it makes the total number of books available to County borrowers, 75,157. CIRCULATION There were 609,727 books loaned to the people of Harris County in 1955. Of this total our branches circulated 329,293, and our bookmobiles circulated 280,434. It is interesting to note that 470,668 were juvenile circulations, and 139,059 were adult circulations, showing that we circulated four times the number of books to children that we did to adults. There were 1,053 special requests mailed to the branches besides those which were carried out in collections. Our records show that 6,430 people applied for library cards during the year. SPECIAL NEWS FROM THE BRANCHES Baytown. The Friends of the Library had their annual drive for funds for the library in February. Mrs. G. E. Vaught was chairman, and the drive was quite a success. This money is used to purchase books which supplement the collection belonging to the County. Channelview. On June 15th Channelview Library com¬ pleted its first year of service to the community. The local 4 Pilot’s Club, which sponsored this library, was awarded the Certificate of Merit by McCall’s Magazine for the success of its project. The citation appeared in the August issue of the magazine, and on the night of August 22 at a special dinner, the award was presented to the Club by the Fashion Editor of the “Houston Press.” Crosby. Mrs. Idell Anderson, who had been librarian at Crosby for twelve years, resigned for personal reasons on January 31. She was succeeded by Mrs. Marjorie Heironimus. The library is looking forward to having new quarters in 1956, which will be located in a new air conditioned building to be constructed by Mr. Roy Anderson, an attorney in Crosby. Fairbanks. Shell was spread over the ground in front of the library and a culvert laid down. This has provided a parking space for library patrons who formerly had to park on the roadside. Highlands. Mrs Cornelia V. Davis, Librarian for nine¬ teen years, had to resign in January due to ill health from which she never recovered. Her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Pat Davis, succeeded her and held the position until August 31. She was then succeeded by Mrs. Vivian Wolfe who is the present librarian. North Houston. An open house was held at the library on the evening of February 1. This was sponsored by the Library Board in order to announce changes in the hours, and to renew interest in the library. The Sunnyland Home Demonstration Club, donors of shrubs and plants set out in the yard, met on the morning of April 27 and gave the yard a good “spring cleaning.” Mrs. Julia Jones who was the first librarian, resigned in May. She was succeeded by Mrs. Lenore McCall, who has had a most successful year. Spring Branch -Memorial. This, our newest branch, was opened during the summer at the requests of a number of people from the community. St. Francis Episcopal Church, 5