Harris County Public Library Scrapbook (1941-1948)

3- U-v'b Where Are the Books? CWov^e\e The same Houston that contributed so handsomely to the building of a new cruiser, is failing on a new and simpler war job. Less than a week remains of the Victory Book Cam¬ paign which opened February 8, and the local citizenry still lags far behind in the effort to collect reading material for its fighting men. With a goal of 45,000 originally set, only a little over 13,000 volumes have been collected. Why? Directors of the drive, A. W. V. S. members, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, librarians, department stores, oil companies have worked hard to facili¬ tate the collection of Victory books, but the reading public won’t “give.” A few misguided persons have used the drive : as an excuse to clean out their attics. What good are ancient, У rat-chewed newspapers, or primers, or 1899 editions of the Book of Knowledge to the boys in the fox holes of the Pa¬ cific islands or trainees in hundreds of camps? They need new: books, interesting books, some means of and relaxation and escape from the grimness and horror pressure of this war — for a few minutes at least. If you have enjoyed the last novel or mystery or Western, pass it along to these boys who are fighting half-way across the world, so that in years to come, you’ll have a chance to sample more of the world's literature in your own way and time — under the conditions of freedom. Daily Sun 3-12-45 119 Books Given For Petty Show The Victory Book show in the Peliy city hail last night was a huge success. Miss Gene Pope directed the Robert E. Lee High School Foot- Lights Club in presentation of a style show entertainment fea¬ tured by boys wearing girls’ costumes, and girls wearing boys’ models. A. C. Cnrleton, chairman of the Pelly Civic Club’s committee in charge of the drive, said Pelly city officials and club of¬ ficials expressed appreciation to Miss Pope and her students for the fine entertainment which was a big success. The fete drew a full house and netted 119 books and cash contributions of $6. 150 which will be used to buy victory books for distribution to service camps. . . . — BUY WAR BONDS & STAMPS Daily Sun 3-12-43 Victory Book Matinee At Texan On Saturday The “Victory Book matinee” at the Texan theater at 10 a.m. Sat¬ urday is the next in the series el- of events for the collection of books to be sent to seivice men. on the- fighting fronts. The matinee is being presented by East Texas Theaters, Inc , and H. E. Brunson, in coopera¬ tion with the retail merchants committee of the Goose Creek Chamber of Commerce, headed by Abe Rosenzwebg. iro- | A good book, suitable to be (sent to the libraries maintained [for service men, will admit any ant, rclnld to the showing of the iris' [Dead End Kids in “Smart Alec.” Вес 1 Cheap books and magazines will Will not be accepted. ... — BUY WAR BONDS & STAMPS am- I _ ___ i in Г irhilc anet igns. i by nsby. Hol- .11 be Vera Babe acts Little «tors ntcris Ross and voods- BooE mVe Leaders Sing “Praise Lord, Pass New Editions ” More Than 20,000 Volumes Collected From Houstonians, but More Needed for American Fighting Men. “Praise the Lord and pass the tiew editions” is the latest version of the popular war song, according to Victory book campaign officials quoting Sgt. John R. Forbes of Napier Field, Dothan, Ala., and the National Red Cross Courier. For more than*20,000 books have been collected in Houston and Har¬ ris County during the local drive to obtain reading matter for men in the armed forces which ends Mon¬ day. Reports to the steering commit¬ tee, headed by Mrs. Malcolm B. Whitehead, which had its final meeting at the public library Sat¬ urday, were given by librarians and drive committee heads. Mrs. Reba Anderson, county li- ] brarian reported 2000 books al¬ ready collected and $52 in cash to be used to purchase Victory books. The Navy Mothers have collected approximately 300 books during the past week through Girl Scout pickup services as a result of tele¬ phone calls from residents, accord¬ ing to Mrs. G. S. Morris. The best collection of volumes, offering the kind of reading material the men in the service want most, have come from Houston Heights, re¬ ports Mrs. Mary Alice Hamilton of the Houston public library. A large Daily Son 3-12-43' GIVE A BOOK JN SPITE of repeated appeals, Tri-Cities ft People still have failed to give the expect- I od number cf bo: ks to be sent to service men X i j in the Victory bo >k campaign. This failure to respond is a little difficult [j to understand. The people of this commu- Ц nity have bought their share of war bonds К and stamps, they have given liberaliy to war и chest funds, they have taken the rationing | ' j program in their stride with a. minimum cf Ш griping; in fact, they have shown themselves to be ready to back up their army, navy and | air force in a dozen different ways. Кйг f Hut along comes this eolleetio l of books ® ' i in order to bring a little pleasure and com¬ fort to the men who are doing the fighting, and what happens? ■ We fall down, that’s what. The opportunity to give a book is more I j personal, in a way, than buying bonds or got- l ting in scrap metal or any of those things. I A bool: is something that goes right direct S to the men, s one thing that helps to relieve I the strain of var ar.d to provide genuine I j [ pleasure in circumstances where pleasa.it mo- . I merits are few and far between. Won t you get out a book now and take it £ to some store in the Tri-Cities— .one of your j very best books. Only the best is good enough l for this purpose. ' Daily Sun 3-24-43 Book Review Club Hears Mrs. Ilfrey Upton Sinclair’s “Wide Is the Gate” was reviewed by Mrs. W. L. Ilfrey today at the regular j meeting of the Book Review club at Goose Creek branch library. Mis. Paul Cater will review “I Remember, I Remember,” an au¬ tobiography by Andre Maurois at tlic April 14 meeting at Bay- town Community house. Attending today's review were Mesdames George H. Shipley, a guest, O. A. Brown, Cater, J A Snyder, Thomas H Hale, S в’ Hickerson, A. F. Lockhart, O. H. Dawson, G. A. Lillie, Rov Elms, D. C. Kelly, Hugh Echols, Jr., J. N. Chatfi^ld, and Ilfrey. ... — BUY WAR BONDS & STAMPS supplied by the Fourth Service Command. о о о Library Notes box of books was collected at Kin- Books Go With Troops. kaid School in a “Soldier Book Parade” during the drive. о о о Books to Be Placed. Miss Julia Ideson, chairman of Victory books accompany every overseas unit, to all points of the compass, and wherever they go they serve as morale boosters. There is also a need for more good local placement of books, will be in bQOks in base hospitals and other charge of placing some of these j Victory volumes on Victory ships, and Mrs. Whitehead and Mrs. Japhet will investigate the reading needs of near-by camps, coast 1 guard stations and flying fields as far south as Port Aransas. Boy Scouts made theip final pickups from department stores Saturday under the direction of Glenn Rice of Scout headquarters. The quality of the books col¬ lected has been unusually good, Mrs. Whitehead said, only a small percentage not being suitable. In answering the question; “Do these books really reach our fighting forces and are they used?” she re¬ ferred to an article from the Li¬ brary Journal by Sergeant Forbes who described the Napier Field li¬ brary as a typical victory book li¬ brary since 5000 of its 7000 vol¬ umes were supplied through the 1942 victory book campaign. In one week the staff reported that men have borrowed some 700 j books, ample evidence that the sol¬ diers use them. Another example of the popularity of good-quality books is indicated by the borrow¬ ing in only two days of more than 60 books from a traveling library institutions for convalescent sol¬ diers. Victory books sent to the sick or wounded are carefully chosen in order to eliminate read¬ ing matter that is depressing or sad and ■‘to emphasize the cheerful, en¬ tertaining note. ‘Keep those books coming” is the plea of soldiers, sailors and marines — and campaign directors.,1 The War Department has set a goal) of over 5,500,000 books with an an- j r.ual addition of 1,000,000 more.1 Men at the fighting fronts all over the world enjoy the traveling li¬ braries made available by a spe¬ cial service department of the army, but it’s up to the victory book campaigns to supply them. More than 6,000,000 volumes were distributed in 1942. It is hoped that the 1943 drive will at least equal this with the emphasis on quality first, quantity second. Your Humble branch of the Harris County Public Library is here to serve you both educa¬ tionally and with pleasurable fiction. For instance, Mrs. Deckard, the efficient and pleasant Libra¬ rian tells us that reference books of all kinds including the Ency¬ clopedia Brittannica and a new^ Comptons are available"? Then] there is a new book out titled ' “Texas, A World In Itself] written by Geo. S. Perry the; author of “Hold Autumn in Your Hand", which won the National book award in 1941, is proving very popular. This book about Texas and Texans is, cleverly written and illustrated and appeals to people who know and love the Lone Star State. A study of the shelves of your library will reveal many books — some of them old and tried friends who invite you to a second reading. You will meet new friends on the shelves friends who will not only help you pass the hours but who will give you new interests and new ideas- , ■ II ■