B.F. Jones Memorial Library: Forged in Steel
Terri Bogolea Gallagher
1
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
3
Abstract
4
Introduction
5
Library History Literature
6
A Library is Born in Aliquippa’s Steel Town
7
Snapshot
12
The Jones Family Founder and Steel in Aliquippa
16
B.F. Jones Memorial Library – Researched then Built
19
The Architecture
24
The Carnegie Connect
32
The Unveiling
35
Library Today
38
Conclusion
39
Appendices
41
Bibliography
52
2
ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure
1. Postcard of B.F. Jones Memorial Library
8
2. Aliquippa, Pa., Franklin Avenue
14
3. Postcard of Jones and Laughlin Aliquippa Works
15
4. Construction begins at B.F. Jones Memorial Library
21
5 . Robert Aitken’s Bronze Sculpture: B.F. Jones
26
6. Interior, Circulation Desk Circa 1930
27
7. Interior Adult Reading Room
28
8. Benjamin Franklin Jones Portrait
29
9. Elisabeth Horne Portrait
30
10. Story Room
31
11. Original Floor Plan
35
Tables:
Appendix I: Library Expenditures
41
Appendix II: Statistics for 100 Libraries
42
3
ABSTRACT
This library science historical study examines the establishment of the B.F. Jones
Memorial Library, a Pennsylvania public library in the 1929 steel mill town of Aliquippa. The
study is in part the story of the birth and gift of a single mill-town library, but it is part of the
larger story of the philanthropy of the times and of small-town, early twentieth-century
experience. The author considers the creation of this library in context of its philanthropic
founding as a non-Carnegie library, the library’s architecture as a National Historic Place and its
detailed planning and cost of approximately $465,000 for the time period. The setting is the
close of the 1920s era, in a factory-built town, occupied largely by immigrants and first
generation Americans, perched on the precipice of Black Friday’s Crash and the Great
Depression. Also considered are the library’s relationship to the steel industry and a study of the
key figures involved. The author hopes this Ohio River steel-town’s library story will stoke the
furnace of further historical analysis of other village library stories and, especially, of the
treasures within their walls.
4
When I was little, we couldn’t see the stars in the night-time sky because the furnaces of the
mill turned the darkness into a red glow.
We went to school across from the mill. The smokestacks towered above us and the smoke
billowed out in great puffy clouds of red, orange and yellow, but mostly the color of rust.
Everything _ houses, hedges, old cars _ was a rusty, red color. Everything but the little bits of
graphite and they glinted like silver in the dust. At recess, when the wind whirled these sharp,
shiny metal pieces around, we girls would crouch so that our skirts touched the ground and kept
our bare legs from being stung.
Anna Egan Smucker, No Star Nights
Three little girls stood outside the library. They were about ten years old and had been
peeking in the windows. They were filled with questions about the new building. They wanted to
know when the library would open. One declared she was going to come to the library every day
once it opened.
William Moreland to Elisabeth Horne, letter
INTRODUCTION
In February 1929, B.F. Jones Memorial Library, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, opened to the
public in its sculpted stone, bronze, ornamental wrought iron and curlicue plaster splendor.1 This
western Pennsylvania public library, which rose on main street in the factory-built steel mill
town, is an example of twentieth-century philanthropy, a sample of non-Carnegie library
experience in Carnegie home country and a model of library planning, classical architecture and
fine art detail of the day. The library was gifted to Aliquippa by Elisabeth McMasters Jones
Horne, daughter of Benjamin Franklin Jones, co-founder of Jones and Laughlin Steel Company,
one of the world’s top steel producers for nearly a century.2 Horne spared no dimes in building
the library in Aliquippa, spending approximately $465,000 to memorialize her father in a time
when the Great Depression’s bread lines lurked only spare months away and the town’s
The researcher would like to offer heartfelt thanks to the staff of the B.F. Jones Memorial Library, especially Library
Director Mary Elizabeth Colombo and District Consultant Rebecca Long for help and free access to the library’s
archives and Donald Inman for his expertise on Jones and Laughlin Steel and access to the Beaver County Industrial
Museum materials.
Anna Egan Smucker, No Star Nights (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989). 1.
William Moreland to Elisabeth Horne, letter, December 17, 1929. Nearly three years of almost weekly
correspondences between Moreland and Horne concerning the library’s construction are in the B. F. Jones Memorial
Library archives.
1
“Our New Library Open to Use Today,” Aliquippa Gazette (Aliquippa, PA), February 5, 1929.
2
David H. Wollman and Donald R. Inman, Portraits in Steel (Kent, Ohio: The Kent State University Press) 1999, 1.
5
steelworkers—many immigrants— labored “the long turns” in hard-scrabble conditions for a
new life.3
LIBRARY HISTORY LITERATURE
In many ways, Aliquippa’s library story echoes the creation of many small town libraries
of the early twentieth century in the time preceding and following the Depression years. Library
literature unveils that “ladies of the club” were often the impetus behind the creation of the early
twentieth-century library. In her historical account of the creation of the Winterville Public
Library of North Carolina, Heather Anderson credits the survival of the public libraries to
wealthy benefactors and the modern public system to women’s clubs.4
During this time, libraries were funded by philanthropists often for combating social
vices of the era and founders became convinced that the public library was an excellent place for
“the promotion of good manners and morals,” according to Goedeken.5 Donors—whether club
ladies or corporate kingpins—also had the ability to influence the library’s mission and content.
Libraries were key in creating community identity and culture across social, cultural, and ethnic
groups.6 The creation of a library was also often seen as a reflection of the town’s progress. 7
Literature by Elizabeth Hubbard also maintains that monied donors and community support were the
foundations of public library development in the early twentieth century.8 Libraries were born of
private philanthropic initiative and towns across the nation prospered from the library spread.
3
Account officer to Elisabeth Horne, Library Statement, Itemized Disbursements, letter, August 6, 1929. Long turns
are double shifts.
4
Heather Anderson, History of the Winterville Library. North Carolina Libraries Online. 65, (Spring-Summer
2007); 6-11. http://www.nclaonline.org/NCL/ncl/NCL_65_1-2_Spring- Summer2007.pdf]
5
Edward Goedeken, The Literature of American Library History, 2003-2005. Libraries & the Cultural Record, 43
(4). 447. doi: 10.1353/lac.0.0038
6
Suzanne Stauffer, In Their Own Image: the Public Library Collection as a Reflection of its donors. Libraries and
the Cultural Record. 42 (2007) 387-388, Academic Search Complete.
7
Daniel Ring, “Men of Energy and Snap: The Origins and Early Years of the Billings Public Library,’ Libraries of
Culture, 36 no. 3 (Summer 2001) 397.
8
Elizabeth Hubbard, “Library service to unions: A Historical overview.’ Library Trends, 51 no. 1 (2002). 5.
6
According to Hubbard’s study, wealthy men provided what tax revenues could not in the
founding of libraries.9
When examining the literature about library growth for this era and the decades around it,
it became evident that library expansion occurred across the United States. Goedeken cited that
Charles Seavey’s research showed that during the Great Depression, new libraries were founded
in almost every state.10 His research allows that during hard times, resources were mined to
create libraries where they never existed before.11 Libraries took on the role of social agency and
political activist during this period and the ALA worked diligently against the anti-tax movement
to enable libraries to keep doors open.12 Luyt poignantly describes the time: “It was a time when
Americans starved to death in their homes and unemployment figures skyrocketed to around one
quarter of the population.”13 The proliferation of the American Public Library in what Seavey
described as the “teeth of the Great Depression,” demonstrated the importance of the institution
here in America.14
A LIBRARY IS BORN IN ALIQUIPPA’S STEEL TOWN
Aliquippa’s public library story was painted in the national pattern, especially for small,
northern industrial towns, but was also brush stroked with individuality in architecture and
planning that would make it remarkable both in its time and today. Both “ladies of the club” and
a wealthy benefactress had a part in creating the B. F. Jones Memorial Library, a facility that
Hubbard, “Library Service’, 10.
Goedeken, “The Literature of American Library History,” 447.
11
Goedeken, “The Literature of American Library History,” 448.
12
Brendon Luyt, “The ALA, Public Libraries and the Great Depression. Library History. 23 (2007) 85.doi:
10.1179/174581607x205626.
13
Luyt, “The ALA, Public Libraries, 85.
14
Charles Seavey. “The American public library during the Great Depression,” 52 no. 8/9 (2003) 375. Proquest
Research.
9
10
7
would be touted in national magazines and draw 9,000 people to the mill town streets for its
opening in 1929.15
Figure 1: Postcard B.F. Jones Memorial Library. Used by permission, Mark Delvecchio Private
Collection.
However, the opulent B.F. Jones Memorial Library was not the first effort at forming a
library in the industrial river town, today called Aliquippa (and known as Woodlawn until 1928).
In 1921, through the work of the Woman’s Club of Woodlawn and a house-to house canvass
collecting $2,791 and change in donations, the first town library was born.16 The Woodlawn
Woman’s Club’s stated mission was to be ‘both civic and literary.” The library was the club’s
literary effort; a well-baby clinic and Christmas for the poor in the mill town were the primary
civic missions of the 29 members.17
The public library opened in a room in the town’s municipal building, atop the fire
department. It was so well-received with its donated, borrowed, and bought texts, including some
in Polish, Italian, and Hungarian for the vale’s large immigrant population, the library expanded
15
“Over 9.000 Visit New Library During Dedication Event, Aliquippa Gazette, February 5, 1929.
Woman’s Club of Woodlawn, meeting minutes, 1920; Historical Images Project, B.F. Jones Public Library,
http://www.bfjoneslibrary.org/libraryinfo.htm
17
Woodlawn Gazette, “Story of Woodlawn,’ Franklin Publishing (1924) 9; part of the B.F. Jones Memorial Library
Pennsylvania Collection.
16
8
to two rooms within two months.18 The borough provided utilities, furniture, and janitorial
services. The council was asked by the club for more support. They committed to an annual
contribution in 1921 and the council still appropriates an amount of support to this day.19
By 1926, the library had outgrown the stacks and charge desk in the borough space too.
The ladies of the club began sleuthing out a new home.20 The Woman’s Club members were
considering a project remodeling a house on Franklin Avenue in town, owned by the Woodlawn
Land Company, a Jones and Laughlin subsidiary. Mill Officer William Moreland heard about the
quest. Moreland had an idea. He asked Tom Girdler, mill superintendent, for a week to look for a
benefactor to build a new library for Aliquippa.21
Moreland was the long-time private secretary of the by-then deceased B.F. Jones, cofounder of Jones and Laughlin and nationally-known industrialist. From his secretarial duties,
Moreland had risen to vice-president in the business that shipped its steel on the rails along and
on the rushing current of the Ohio to all corners of the earth. 22 Besides his mill duties, Moreland
had become a liaison between the Jones family—or merely “the family” as many called the
Joneses—and the company and others.23 Moreland promptly wrote to Elisabeth Horne, one of
the founder’s daughters, about the town library’s dilemma.24 Horne replied that she would be
interested in exploring the need and planned a trip to Aliquippa.25
Woman’s Club of Woodlawn, monthly report, Feb. 8, 1921
“Council Asked to Levy Tax For Library,” Woodlawn Gazette, March 8, 1921; B.F. Jones Memorial Library
Annual Reports, through 2009.
20
William Moreland, Typed Account, Library History for Himmelwright’s Retirement, June 22, 1950.
21
Moreland, Account of Meeting Woodland Land Company, 1926
22
Wollman and Inman, Portraits, 85.
23
Wollman and Inman, Portraits, 93.
24
William Moreland to Elisabeth Horne, letter, April 10, 1926. Nearly three years of correspondences concerning
the library are located in the B.F. Jones Memorial Library archives.
25
Horne to Moreland, letter, April 14, 1926; Moreland noted that Horne also replied in telegram that day, “I think
favorably of your proposition; will write.’’
18
19
9
A part-time resident of Sewickley Heights in nearby Allegheny County, Horne made a
visit to her family’s and Aliquippa’s steel kingdom, a town hemmed by the river and the
sentinel-like Pennsylvania hills.26 At this juncture in 1926, Horne’s brother, B.F. Jones Jr. was
manning the company helm (he would pass away in 1928 before the library opened).27
On the visit, Librarian Susan Himmelwright explained to Horne that the current library
could no longer accommodate the needs of the community, which was home to 27,000 people,
mostly mill families and a large immigrant population.28 Escorted on her walk-about by a cadre
of Moreland, B.F. Jones III, F.E. Fieger, Granville Lewis and Architect Brandon Smith, Horne
was captivated by the idea of a memorial for her father and a gift to the town that his vision built.
That day, Horne informed Himmelwright of her intentions.29 The wheels of a many-car
locomotive began churning. With her deep Jones and Laughlin Company ties, Horne had access
to experts in finance, business, planning, and law. Research was gathered about building a public
library. It was to be a building of cost and culture, perhaps beyond the imagination of many of
those sharing rooming houses in the Aliquippa mill’s residential plans and those who came to the
library to find texts in their native tongue and translations to their new one.
Horne’s father’s right hand man, Moreland, would become Horne’s own point man for
the library project. On Nov. 5, 1926, representatives of Elisabeth Horne were present at an
informal meeting of the Borough Council.30 The announcement was that the Mrs. Horne wished
to gift the town with a library. The building was to be located on the town’s main street, Franklin
Avenue, and cost projections were $200,000. (This amount would more than double by the time
26
Moreland, Typed Account Library History, June 22, 1950
“Benjamin Franklin Jones, Jr. Steel Leader Expires,’ Pittsburgh Post Gazette, January 2, 1928.,
28
1930 United States Census
29
Moreland, Typed Account Library History, June 22, 1950
30
Woodlawn meeting minutes, November 5, 1926.
27
10
the library checked its first book out to a patron).31 The proposal stated the library would be
deeded to the borough without condition except as to maintenance. Representatives to the agog
council were told the library would hold 25,000 to 40,000 volumes when completed, separate
rooms for adults and children, and that plans were to make the library “one of the most beautiful
and complete buildings of its size in the country.”32
In a letter to the burgess and members of Woodlawn council dated Nov. 9, 1926, written
from Pittsburgh, PA, Horne followed with a formal offer stating she was interested in “the
general progress and advancement” of the Borough of Woodlawn and that the current library was
inadequate for the usage, “garnering more usage than libraries of its size throughout the state.”33
Horne offered that it would be a personal privilege to purchase a plot of ground on
Franklin Avenue and, erect a library building (she supplied a detailed plan and Architect
Brandon Smith’s watercolor of the proposed building with the offer letter) subject to minor
alterations needed upon construction.34 Upon completion, the deed would then be conferred to
the Borough of Woodlawn as a free gift. The conditions were the property would be known as
the B.F. Jones Memorial Library of Woodlawn in perpetuity. The library was to be a free, public
and non-sectarian library.35
The letter also delineated the library’s administration for operation. It is evident that the
mill administration would be involved, as it was in almost all aspects of the town living at this
time period. A memo with the first suggested board would be issued from company
headquarters.36 According to Horne’s provisions, the library and property were to be
31
Horne, Disbursements, Aug. 6, 1930
Horne to Woodlawn Borough Council, letter, November 5, 1926
33
Horne to Woodlawn Borough Council, letter, November 9, 1926
34
Horne, November 9, 1926.
35
Horne, November 9, 1926.
36
F.R. Fieger to R.J. Wysor, Jones and Laughlin Interdepartment Correspondence, July 26, 1926.
32
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administered by a nine member board, one to be appointed by the mill president, two council
members including the president of council and other member chosen by council, two school
district representatives including the superintendent of schools, president of the women’s club
and three residents at large appointed by the board members. Addendums were even made for
board vacancies. Codicils for mill ownership transfers and Jones family retraction from the
company were covered in her offer. Without mill advisement, Horne would be the assignee or in
the case of her death, other B.F. Jones offspring and, at their absence, the closest kin. Horne’s
detailed offer was not out of character. Horne and entourage demonstrated such attention to
detail and planning throughout the next three years of the library project.37
On Nov. 15, 1926, Ordinance 301 of Woodlawn Borough, formally accepted Horne’s
offer of a public library.38 (On Jan. 26, 1928, Ordinance 365, again accepted the offer _ the
library was already in progress _ with identical terms except for term change of B.F. Jones
Memorial Library of Aliquippa because of the town’s name change from Woodlawn.39 )
The B.F. Jones Memorial Library was coming to Aliquippa.
SNAPSHOT OF THE TOWN
To understand the impact a library could make to the town of Woodlawn and later
Aliquippa, it is imperative to look at the town’s history, progress and composition. About 19
miles north of Pittsburgh, Woodlawn’s early history dates back to pre-Revolutionary times. The
fertile river bottom land area was at the convergence of Shawnee, Iroquois and Delaware country
and was used for trade purposes. The name Aliquippa, which became the official town moniker
during the library’s erection and stands today, is derived from an Iroquois queen of that name
37
Horne, Nov. 9, 1926; B.F. Jones Memorial Library Bylaws, Nov. 16, 1926
Woodlawn Borough Ordinance 301, Volume 3, Page 290, Nov. 15, 1926
39
Aliquippa Borough Ordinance, 365, January 26, 1928.
38
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whose name also christened the town rail station.40. The area has the claim of visits by LaSalle in
1659, frontiersman Christopher Gist and a twenty-year-old George Washington. Development
was slow for the area in the frontier years. Until the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad built a
station in 1877, the area remained primarily farm land, much of it owned by John MacDonald
and his sons.41 The rail company leased a woodland area between the railroad and river and
named it Aliquippa Park, an amusement park of “rollercoasters, razzle dazzle shows and other
concessionaires and a bathing beach.”42 The whistle stop park flourished for 25 years but with
little settlement growth. The town’s true boom didn’t come until after 1905.
In 1905, the steel industry came to town as Jones and Laughlin purchased the McDonald
Tract and several other farms on the river plain beneath the surrounding rolling hills. Here, Jones
and Laughlin would build a steel mill that in decades later would extend to more than six-miles,
700 acres of factory and employee 11,000 workers.43 Two years after Jones and Laughlin came
to town, the borough would be organized on Dec. 5 1907.44 In the following two decades, the
population would explode; street cars, busy stores, restaurants and taverns would grow as jobs
and steel production rose like the smoke that permanently billowed and huffed over the town. In
1929, Jones and Laughlin profits would reach 20.8 million as the Depression hit $18 million of
deficits would accumulate.45
By the 1930 census, right after the library’s opening, the town snapshot showed a total
population of 27,116 including 15, 241 males and 11,875 females, 24,716 whites and 2562
40
Woodlawn Gazette, Story of Woodlawn, 1924.
Woodlawn Gazette, Story of Woodlawn, 1924.
42
Tom M. Girdler., “Bootstraps,” New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1943. 167. Girdler was the superintendent of
J&L Aliquippa works, where he worked from 1914 to 1930. Bootstraps is his autobiography.
43
“Welcome to the Aliquippa Works, pamphlet Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, 1979.
44
Woodlawn Gazette, Story of Woodlawn, 1924
45
“Business: Family’s Fourth,” Time Magazine, April 13, 1936.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,756010-2,00.html#ixzz12TSETlYd.
41
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negroes. Of the over 27, 000 residents, nearly 20,000 were immigrants or had immigrant
parents.46 During this time period, nearly every worker in the town worked in steel, a Jones and
Laughlin-owned business or organization, or a service that catered to the workers like the Greek
restaurants or taverns along Franklin Avenue and neighborhood streets.47 Aliquippa was not the
only local town with a bloodline of molten steel. More than 40 percent of Beaver County’s total
population was employed in the steel industry.48
Families were growing in Aliquippa when Horne came to visit. In the decade from school
year 1919-1920 to school year 1928-1929, student enrollment rose in Aliquippa from 2,292
students to 6,611.49 In addition, night school for the large foreign-speaking population was a
need. In 1923, 196 men and women attended the Americanization night schools at the Logstown
school and 68 at the Jones school.50
Figure 2: Aliquippa, Pa. Used by permission, Don Inman Collection, Beaver County Industrial
Museum.
46
1930 United States Census.
Charles Rumford Walker, “Steel: the Diary of a Furnace Worker,” Atlantic Monthly Press. Reprinted with preface
and afterword, edited by Kenneth J. Kobus, Warrendale, PA: Iron and Steel Society, 1999.
48
1930 United States Census
49
H.R. Vanderslice, “The All-Year School in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, The Elementary School Journal (1930). 576.
50
Woodlawn Gazette, Story, 1924.
47
14
Mill Superintendent Tom Girdler in his autobiography, Bootstraps describes the town in
the decade surrounding the library’s building: “There were thirteen major groups. The Italians
had their hill; the Serbs, another. There were many Slavic people. There were many Negroes.” 51
Girdler relayed a conversation with William Latimer Jones at the time of his hiring. W.L. was
the nephew of B.F. Jones and an officer for Jones and Laughlin. 52 A quiet, soft-spoken man,
according to Girdler, they discussed the deplorable conditions of many other industrial towns.
W.L. Jones said:
Around our Aliquippa Works, we have a blank page. We’ve bought the land.
When the plant is fully built the men who work there will constitute with their
families, the population of a good-sized town. We want to make it the best
possible place for a steelworker to raise a family. 53
Figure 3: Postcard of the mill. Used by permission of B.F. Jones Memorial Library.
51
Girdler, Bootstraps, 172
Wollman and Inman, Portraits, 57.
53
Girdler, Bootstraps, 166
52
15
THE JONES FAMILY FOUNDER AND STEEL IN ALIQUIPPA
William Latimer Jones’ idealistic attitude and the Jones’ family philosophy of civic duty
were learned at the knee of founder B.F. Jones. The patriarch offered major support to
Pittsburgh hospitals—Allegheny General, Passavant, and Mercy— the arts and education
including Boston’s Bibliophile Society, and scientific manufacturing research.54 From the
humble roots of a canal clerk, he became the chairman of the National Republican Party twice,
met with presidents, and was the president of the National Steel Association for 18 years.55
Such civic obligation, in addition to daughterly admiration, may have induced Elisabeth
Horne to build a library in memory of her father and gift the town.56 The Joneses traditionally
“had feelings for the people” and were open to company funds improving the community from
building pools to helping the local Boy Scouts troop.57
B.F. Jones is credited with unveiling the sliding pay scale in Pittsburgh industry. His steel
companies while not a stranger to labor unrest were managed without the tragedies of Carnegie’s
Homestead-Pinkerton clash.58 Jones was said to know the names of his workers and their family
members’ names; when one of the workers bedecked smokestacks at his mill with a royalappearing crest, Jones ordered the insignia altered to hats. He was a purveyor of democracy and
as one business acquaintance of 60 years called Jones: “kindness personified.”59
Jones himself would not live to see the Aliquippa Works emerge from the riverbank (he
died three years earlier) but it was his vision of a large site where easy river access was available,
“History of Allegheny County, Genealogy and History” Volume 1 (Unigraphic.) 1889. 233-236 ; W.T. Mossman,
Biographical Sketch of B.F. Jones, Jones and Laughlin Steel, n.d. 4-5.
55
“Canal Clerk to Steel Magnate,” Pittsburgh Press, Jan. 21, 1931.
56
“Full text addresses from Library Opening,’ Woodlawn Gazette, Feb. 5, 1929
57
Girdler, “Bootstraps,’ 175.
58
Wollman and Inman, Portraits, 15.
59
Butler, Joseph, “Recollection of Men and Events: An Autobiography,’” ( Putnam and Sons: New York.) 1927.
336-337
54
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in addition to rail, which brought steel to Aliquippa.60 Of Welsh, English, and Scots stock and
Presbyterian, Jones was a devoted husband to Mary McMasters, their children, siblings, and
nephews and other family members.61
His governance was viewed as paternalistic, most likely as in a kind but just father but
the steel mill’s role gathered a more dictatorial side as the years progressed and the founder’s
rule faded. The company owned the mercantile, the land, the banks, influenced politics and
news, laid out the town’s housing plans and sold the homes. “But, paternalistic, as it undoubtedly
was, when I recall how well we realized the vision of The Family, I am proud to have a part in
the making of Aliquippa.62 A new American town was born and it was a good town, although
born out of a boom.”63
As the library building was coming to fruition, the Jones family, due to the aging of
family members and none to take the reins, was losing its operational role but not its financial
role at Jones and Laughlin, especially with the death of Benjamin Franklin Jones Jr., in 1928.
Rumblings of dissent and unionization were roiling at the furnaces. The town was referred to as
“Little Siberia;” not Girdler’s utopian steel town, for the company’s control and the large eastern
European population who had witnessed repression before.64 Pro-union organizers concurred.
Aliquippa is a dark town. Even Bill Foster’s organizers couldn’t get near it back
in 1919. Company and city police barred the roads and watched the railroad
stations. When strangers couldn’t account for their time, they were hustled to jail
overnight and then out of town.65
“Canal Clerk,” Pittsburgh Press, 1931
Genealogical Chart, Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation Archives, MSP33, John Heinz History Center,
Pittsburgh PA; Copy of Will of Benjamin Franklin Jones,St. B.F. Jones Memorial Library archives.
62
Girdler, Bootstraps, 166.
63
Girdler, Bootstraps, 169.
64
James Green, “Democracy Comes to Little Siberia: Steelworkers Organize in Aliquippa, PA 1933-37, Historical
Collections and Labor Archives, Penn State, 1993.
65
Eric Leif Davin, “Blue Collar Democracy: Class War and Political Revolution in Western Pennsylvania, 19321937, University of Pittsburgh, 269.
60
61
17
One of the most vivid historical accounts of mill life from the time period is from the
1922 inside account of Charles Rumford Walker, a World War I vet and Yale graduate. In 1919,
Walker arrived in Aliquippa, which in his published account he named the fictional town Bouton
to protect identities, and went straight to work at Jones and Laughlin to learn out about the steel
trade. In later years, Walker admitted his story was about the Aliquippa Works. Walker
portrayed the life in the town from getting a job and starting as the lowest worker in the Pit to the
relationships between ethnic groups, “the mill Hunkies” to the hell of working the “long turn.”
He called the administration at Aliquippa fair for the most part but the long “turns’ and dangers
in the mill a challenge.66
This is the town that Elizabeth Horne would tour with William Moreland to decide if
Aliquippa needed a library and if the town was the site to memorialize her father. Her gesture of
a public library gift was not unusual in an industrial town. Historically, labor had a strong
connection with public library history. Workers have long been viewed as the foremost recipient
of the benefits of the public library.67 Library development has targeted workers for both
educational purposes as well as in the area of “social control.”68 Public libraries have mentored
and advocated for organized labor, as well as been sources of worker outreach, programs and
joint services. Libraries have focused on laborers as both the individual and the work force. In
the early 1900s, the education movement in labor was a focus for libraries which evolved toward
union issues.69 It has long been perpetuated that libraries could have an equitable effect on class
disparity and act as oil on water by offering literacy and knowledge to cure labor unrest.70
Walker, “Steel: The Diary,” 1922.
Ann Sparanese, “Service to the Labor Community: A Public Library Perspective. Library Trends. 51(2002) 19,
Library Literature and Information Full Text.
68
Sparanese, Service to the Labor Community, 23.
69
Sparanese, Service to the Labor Community, 20.
70
Sparanese, “Service to the Labor Community”, 23.
66
67
18
Documentation cannot confirm that this was Horne’s intention—to still ripples of labor—but the
gift most probably influenced the climate and the sentimentality between Aliquippa and the
Jones family.
B.F. JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY IS RESEARCHED AND BUILT
The Jones family members were proponents of the adage, “Rome was not built in a day.”
Extensive investigation and planning went into Elisabeth Horne’s public library gift.
Architect Smith and Liaison Moreland were charged with creating a library of beauty and
use that did not smack of paternalism.71 A.O. Wilson Company of Pittsburgh was chosen as
general contractor. Maitland Wilson, son of the company’s founder, would be well-appreciated
for his efforts in making the building a reality that Horne would present him with a watch for his
work.72 Moreland approached the building of the library with the detail of a scholarly researcher:
he gathered his own library of resources about libraries including Bostwick’s The American
Library, library budget literature, library equipment company brochures, and a 100-library
analysis of libraries across the United States.73 Moreland would study how libraries in all areas
of the country were financed, how much they would cost to build, numbers or employees and
even how they were insured and their relationship to schools.74
An architect was selected by Horne: Brandon Smith of the Pittsburgh firm of
Bartholomew and Smith who had toured Aliquippa with Horne on her visit. Smith was chosen,
not by competition as many library architects were chosen of the time for library projects but by
71
Smith, Original Voided Description of Library, n.d.
Account Officer, Library Statement, Aug. 6, 1929; Paid Receipt, Hardy and Hayes Company, Pittsburgh, January
21, 1929.
73
B.F. Jones Memorial Library Archives, a file contains a list and many of the items and books Moreland used for
his research.
74
“Statistics of 100 Libraries,’ Compiled by S.E. Weber, Charleston, WV, pre-1926.
72
19
reputation as “the ablest great house planner” Pittsburgh had ever known.75 Like Moreland,
Smith was expected to do his homework. Brandon Smith is known for designing the Edgeworth
Country Club House and Sewickley Heights homes of Benjamin Franklin Jones, William
Latimer Jones, Rhea Beck and other wealthy Pittsburgh socialites; he had a reputation as an
“eclectic for blending classical elements and the use of light and airiness for function.”76
Scouting visits were made by Horne’s brigade to other libraries to glean input to the
Aliquippa project. Stops included public libraries in: Gary Indiana, April 23, 1926; Kenosha,
Wisconsin, April 24, 1926; Milwaukee, Wisconsin April 24, 1926; Erie, May 13, 1926;
Williamsport, PA, May 14, 1926; Johnstown, May 15, 1926.77
After the information was gathered, Moreland continued to oversee the building of the
library with intensity of a new parent. Weekly reports and photos were sent to Horne so she had
a handle on the progress as she traveled between residences and vacation spots from Park
Avenue, Palm Beach to Deep Creek, Maryland.78 At the arrival of a telegram, Moreland was
available to board a train to New York to consult on the profile of the bronze cast of his former
boss, Benjamin Franklin Jones, or offer opinion on a library problem for Horne.79
The physical work on the memorial library began in 1927. Lots were conveyed from
Woodlawn Land Company to Horne: lots 293, 295, 297, 299 in addition to lots 281, 283, 285,
287, 281, 299 were marked for the building of the library on Franklin Avenue. The building was
staked out by Architect Smith and A.O. Wilson.80 A ground breaking ceremony was conducted
on July 18, 1927. The cornerstone was laid in November. Work would continue for the next year
Abigail A. Van Slyck, “Free to All, Carnegie Libraries and American Culture 1890-1920,” (Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1998) 82.
76
Don Miller, “Sewickley Heights House Makes A Dramatic Comeback, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, January 29, 1995;
Joyce Gannon,“Million Dollar Millstones,” Pittsburgh Post Gazette, May 5, 1996;
77
Statistics for 100 Libraries, Weber, pre-1926
78
Moreland to Horne, letter, December 23, 1929, weekly photos mentioned
79
Moreland to Horne, telegram, March 26, 1928.Mo
80
Moreland to Horne, letter, July 18, 1927
75
20
and a half. Horne would be apprised of projects through Moreland but signed the check herself
through the Union Trust Company account assigned specifically for the library.81
Figure 4: The library is built across from company houses. Used by permission of B.F. Jones
Memorial Library.
The work remained steady for the building of the library as laborers, craftsmen, artists
and consultants frequented the site, perched on a rise across from a line of company-built
residences. Family businesses provided some of the wares. Steel was provided by Jones and
Laughlin. Interior decor items were provided by the Joseph Horne Company, owned by Elisabeth
Horne’s in-laws. (Horne married, had children with and divorced the son of the Pittsburgh
department store owner, Joseph Horne. She remained an heir to the Horne fortune.)82
The only minor glitches were a drainage reroute and a delay in some of the stone arriving
but for the most part, planning and detail led to a fluid project. The original projection of costs
rose but correspondences reveal that Horne’s plan to make the library the best overruled most
cost considerations. That is not to imply free spending; Moreland, Horne, Smith, and accountants
81
82
Checkbook and Ledger, B.F. Jones Memorial Library archives.
Copy of Will of Joseph Horne, B.F. Jones Memorial Library, 1893.
21
kept track of dollars. Correspondences debated contractor or artist choice. The choice of the
renowned Oscar Bach was such a case for discussion on the wrought iron work.83 A few local
tradesmen applied for subcontracting work.
Skilled stonecutters, carvers, casters and plasterers, who were more artists than tradesmen,
were required for much of the exterior and interior decorative work on the library. Final costs for
the building, property and contents are estimated at $465,000. Horne earmarked $17,000 for
books; a Robert Aitken bronze statue of B.F. Jones Memorial alone cost $27,500.84 (See
Appendix A for cost breakdown.)
In addition, Jones and Laughlin donated a technical book collection valued at $5,000 and
Horne’s siblings donated miscellaneous items from a refrigerator and subscriptions of Harper’s
and Godey’s to accent pillows. At the time of the library opening, newspapers and publications
estimated the library’s cost at $465,000 to a half million dollars. Librarian Susan
Himmelwright, interviewed several times, was not specific on the dollar amount in initial press
coverage.85
Himmelwright, who would serve as the head librarian at B.F. Jones Memorial Library
through its birth until 1950, was involved heavily in the collection process for the new library
and was well respected by Moreland, Horne, the Jones and Laughlin corporate offices, and
colleagues in librarianship.86 According to the visitor’s records of the ALA archives,
Himmelwright journeyed to the ALA office in 1929. Documentation only tracks the visit not its
purpose; however, Himmelwright was a researcher too. The ALA also has possession of
suggested reading quotations and lists from B.F. Jones Memorial Library about the time of
83
Moreland to Horne, letter, May 18, 1928.
Accountant to Horne, Disbursements, Aug. 6, 1929; Additional typed account expenses, B.F. Jones Memorial
Library Archives.
85
Muswigan, Marie. “Beautiful Aliquippa Library Shrine to Steel Man’s Memory,” Pittsburgh Press, Feb. 1, 1929.
86
Himmelwright to ALA and Himmelwright to Borough Council, letters,
84
22
construction.87 Himmelwright was adamant in insisting on ALA standards and membership for
the library as well as supplying Smith’s plans for the library and project information to ALA.
She served on Commonwealth Libraries state planning committee in the early 1930s with a
group of other “eminent librarians.”88
From the start, Susan Himmelwright is recommended strongly to remain head librarian due
to her professionalism.89 The start-up collection for B.F. Jones would include 7, 151 books
transferred from the Woodlawn borough facility in addition to the books purchased with Horne’s
$15,000 and the technical collection donated by Jones and Laughlin. The Carnegie Institute was
consulted on collection choices.90 In 1929, the library would register 8,737 borrowers. In
Himmelwright’s 1937 report, when analyzing the books borrowed for the year, she broke down
by classification books circulated from most to least: fiction led, followed by books for little
children, sociology, useful arts, travel, science, literature, history, biography, fine arts,
pamphlets, religion, philosophy, philology, general, and periodicals. Books from the technical
collection and foreign titles were still important to the circulation numbers in the 1930s at the
Aliquippa library.91
By this time, the library had also opened two school book stations in the town’s schools.
Himmelwright through her programming stresses an alliance with Aliquippa schools. In 1928,
high school students were placed in a formal training program to become library aides.in the new
library. Students visited the library for regular school programming. Mother Goose story time
was popular when the library opened. In 1930, when Horne delivered a story hour, more than
ALA Library, University of Ililinois at Urbana Series 85/7/6 and 29/5/2 visitor’s log.
Pennsylvania,State Planning Committee,Commonwealth Libraries, Preliminary report, 38,
http://www.ebooksread.com
89
Moreland, Library History, 1950
90
Moreland to Horne, letter, September 28, 1929.
91
B.F. Jones Memorial Library annual report s1934-1937.
87
88
23
300 school children attended. The benefactress was delighted.92 Himmelwright, who would
remain head librarian until 1950, is a visible library advocate, even authoring several library
columns in the local Evening Times.93 Himmelwright was also very conscious of the connection
between the company, Horne, and the library’s success.94 Throughout this process and years, she
balances the politics of the position. Other than collection and staff, Himmelwright’s role with
the building of the library included furniture consultation with Moreland.
THE ARCHITECTURE
A 19-year veteran of the Jones and Laughlin Tin Mill—a section of the Jones and Laughlin
plant— visited the library before it was open to the public. He was part of a work crew putting
the final touches— light replacement, weather tighting—on the building before the doors were
opened. Moreland wrote that the man was “carried away” by the beauty of the building. He
relayed to Horne that the tin mill worker said that no one could imagine the building’s beauty
unless they saw the inside of the building in person.95 Besides the social significance of the
library, the architectural design, engineering, and accoutrements that remain impressive today at
the Aliquippa Library and were the key to its selection as a National Historic Place.96
The architecture and design of B.F. Jones Memorial Library is primarily credited to the
classical and sometimes offbeat vision of Brandon Smith, along with a splash of color
consultation by New York Color Architect Nora Thorpe.
The lines of the library are classical. The T-shaped Library is built of Indian limestone
structure of restrained Italian Renaissance Design.97 A one-story structure approximately 132 by
92
Horne to Moreland, letter, 1930.
Himmelwright newspaper columns, Evening Times, 1945.
94
Himmelwright to Jones and Laughlin offices, letters, 1927-1929
95
Moreland to Horne, letter, January 29, 1929
96
National Historic Place Listing for B.F. Jones Memorial Library, Department of the Interior,
http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/pa/Beaver/state.html
97
Brandon Smith, Description of Architecture, n.d. B.F. Jones Memorial Library archives.
93
24
72 feet with a full basement, the building showcases four ionic columns supporting recessed
colonnades on the façade of each of two wings of the library. Each wing also boasts three thirtypane window, as do the building sides.98 Entablatures showcase detailed spiral carving. A twoflight stairway approaches the main entry_ a double doorway of bronze, wrought iron and
glass.99 The ornamental gutter-eave or cheneau is detailed cast bronze. Below the cheneau, the
words- Philosophy, Biology, Astronomy, Fiction, History, Science, Painting, Music Sculpture,
Drama, Poetry and Romance are carved and beckon to those who enter to learning. Library
buildings themselves—as Rayward and Jenkins discussed concerning libraries during times of
war, revolution and social change—infer substance, physical presence, solidity, permanence and
continuity.100 A library building is often housed to “evoke awe, even reverence.”101 The authors
referred to the library as symbolic of stability and organizational identity. 102 With the B.F. Jones
Memorial Library, Smith achieved this aim from threshold to exits.
Inside the library, the entry walls are finished in Kasota stone, a limestone quarried in
Minnesota while the floor is travertine imported from Italy; the ornate foyer ceiling is an Italian
reproduction.103 A bronze statue of B. F. Jones himself, cast by New York artist, Robert Aitken,
sits on a foundation of Vermont marble. The commissioned statue of the steel magnate cost
$27,500 at the time of its creation.104
98
Smith, Description, n.d.
National Historic Place Application, 1978
100
W. Boyd Rayward and Christine Jenkins, “Libraries in Times of War, Revolution and Social Change,” Library
Trends. 55 (Winter 2007) 362, Academic Search Complete.
101
Rayward and Jenkins, “Libraries in Times of War” 363.
102
Rayward and Jenkins, Library in Times of War,” 363.
103
Smith, Description, n.d.
104
Addendum to Horne Library Expenditure Statement, June 1940
99
25
Figure 5: Bronze Statue of B.F. Jones. Used by permission of B.F. Jones Memorial Library.
Aitken’s dossier includes an award winning memorial sculpture to writer Bret Harte, a
monument to Admiral Dewey, a sculpture of architect Cass Gilbert, and pediment sculpture at
the main entrance of the Supreme Count Building (in which the author included his own
likeness).105
Near the sculpture, the stairwell extends to the basement and what was used as the
exhibition room and lobby on the lower floor. The stairs have a bronze stair rail and center
panels modeled by the president of the General Bronze Company; this company furnished the
bronze work and the owner wanted something of his own creation in the memorial building.
Bronze door frames, birds, flower, book, and torch motifs are showcased as ornamental work.106
David Bernard Dearinger, “Painting and Sculpture in the National Academy of Design,” (New York; Hudson
Hills Press, 2004). 10.
106
National Historic Register Application, 1978.
105
26
Figure 6: The Circulation Desk 1930. Used by permission of B.F. Jones Memorial Library.
The lobby spotlights another rare work of art: screens made of hand wrought iron with
bronze medallions by Oscar Bach, named in Smith’s description as one of the leading wrought
iron craftsmen in the United States of the time.107 Medallions on one side of the screen depict the
iron and steel industry; the other side portrays the world of a child. Wall medallions of imported
Italian marble are also highlighted in the lobby. Light showers the lobby from a Smith trademark
skylight high above the circulation desk. The ceiling is ornamental plaster created by the skilled
workman of the Joseph Horne Company; colors are chosen by Nora Thorpe.108
107
Smith, Description, n.d.
Smith, Description, n.d.; Nora Thorpe, letter, n.d. Nora Thorpe of New York.was the ‘color architect” on the
project.
108
27
Figure 7: Adult Reading Room. Used by permission of B.F. Jones Memorial Library.
The adult reading room features Renaissance style ornamental plaster and travertine marble
floors. Walls are constructed of manufactured stone made in the Pittsburgh area.109 The room
focal point is a portrait of Benjamin Franklin Jones by Theobald Chartran painted in 1892 and
presented as a gift to the library by his daughter-in-law, Mrs. B.F Jones Jr. Chartran was a
French academic painter of celebrated Americans and also painted Senator Matthew Quay,
another western Pennsylvania famous figure, and millionaire Charles Schwab110
109
110
Smith, Description, n.d.
“Senator Quay Painting,’ New York Times, May 31, 1902
28
Figure 8: B.F. Jones Portrait. Used by permission of B.F. Jones Memorial Library.
The reference room of the library features cast stone, Cretan, which is carved after casting
by artists and was first popularized during the Norman Renaissance.111 The Junior Reading
Room of the library received special attention by the architect because of Horne’s interest in
children.112 Faux plaster beams are painted to look like gum wood, and polychrome terracota
copies of the Andrea della Robbia Bambino works found in the Foundling Hospital of Florence
are represented.113 A polychrome terra cotta fountain is also highlighted. A plaster frieze above
Bach’s wrought iron screen exemplifies music, tragedy and comedy.
111
National Historic Places Application, 1978
Brandon Smith, Unofficial Original Version General Description, n.d.
113
National Historic Places Application, 1978
112
29
Figure 9: Elisabeth Horne. Used by permission of B.F. Jones Memorial Library.
Another key point of the room is Elisabeth Horne’s portrait by Alfred Hoen, Dutch painter
who painted society portraits in American and France. A map of Fairyland imported from
England is also showcased. The doorway between the room and the children’s story room
features an ornate frieze of the world of a child. 114
The story hour room, which today is the library director’s office, contains a series of leaded
glass windows illustrating nursery rhymes. The stained glass was leaded by Henry Hunt of
Pittsburgh, a premier glass artist of city churches, at the cost of $675. The Miss Muffet window
even sports the intricate spider in stained glass work. The fireplace is built of Cretan and Norman
lines; the floor is tiled with insect patterns.115
114
115
Smith, description, n.d.
Library architectural biography, B.F. Jones Memorial Library, current
30
Figure 10: Children’s Story Room. Used by permission of B.F. Jones Memorial Library.
The architectural detail of the library continued in the basement of the library with Doric
styles, glazed terracotta and an alcove with statuary and gum wood attributes, the only wood
décor in the building. A large exhibition room to accommodate crowds, staffroom, kitchen, work
room, furnace room, fan room, and elevator completed the building and provided ample work
space for employees and preparation of collection materials. The ventilation system was
designed to cleanse the outside air before pumping it through the rooms of the library. Outside, a
fenced garden added more beauty and sculpture for library visitors. Smith’s designs were lauded
by The National Historic Register review as a blend of form and function.
31
Smith himself praised the workers:
In its construction, there was an unusual spirit amongst the workmen, each trying
to put his best into his part of the work. When it was finished and they came to
see the work of their hands, the plasterers, the painters, the stone masons – each
felt they had never done so good a job as this.116
THE CARNEGIE CONNECT
Documents do not draw a direct link between the Carnegie movement and the erection of
the B.F. Jones Memorial Library. However, for this time period, just following the Carnegie
national library campaign, and this period in western Pennsylvania steel history, it would be
impossible to claim that there was no connection by the Jones family and the company to
Carnegie and his movement.
The elder B.F. Jones knew Andrew Carnegie when he was a boy. Carnegie worked as a
telegram runner when a lad. B.F. Jones, already a steel leader in the smoky city, was the recipient
of young Carnegie’s deliveries. Carnegie claimed that he learned Morse code so he could take
Jones his messages because of the generous 25 cent tip.117 In addition, both men were steel
barons based in the city of Pittsburgh. Both had Presbyterian roots in the town where the three
rivers met. They had neighboring summer homes, both today confusingly labeled Braemar, in
Cresson, PA118 In the past two decades, Jones’ Queen Anne mansion has become the target of a
preservation crusade. For years, the Jones abode was mistakenly thought to have been the
Carnegie home by locals; next door, the smaller, still-inhabited Carnegie cottage site was
probably the true Braemar. However, both buildings utilize the name today. When Carnegie
wrote Triumphant Democracy, a signed copy was kept in the Jones family library of B.F. Jones.
116
Smith, letter, n.d.
Wollman and Inman, Portraits in Steel, 29.
118
Patricia Lowry, “Industrialist Benjamin Franklin Jones’ Summer Cottage Dodges the Wrecking Ball as another
emerges from the Shadows,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 31, 2010.
117
32
It is on the shelves in the director’s office of the B.F. Jones Library today, inscribed “To my
friend Benjamin Franklin Jones with genuine respect and admiration, Andrew Carnegie.”119
In matters of librarianship, documentation of the connection is not so forthcoming but
merits exploration. The Carnegie campaign exemplified what such wealth could accomplish for
librarianship; the Joneses did this on an individual scale. Library history in the early twentieth
century and library philanthropy cannot be examined, even for non-Carnegie libraries, without a
look at the Carnegie story. Perusal of the scads of studies of the Carnegie effort— when Steel
King Carnegie girded the construction bills of new libraries from America’s metropolises to
whistle stops— is integral to understanding the times and precedent set. In 1919, of the 3500
public libraries in the nation, Carnegie cash had built more than half.120 Preeminent Carnegie
historian and architectural expert Abigail Van Slyck penned the influence of the Carnegie library
program reached far beyond the 1,679 Carnegie-built American public libraries themselves.
Carnegie’s philosophy, writings, and beliefs spurred other philanthropists to found and support
libraries, at the local level.121 The industrialist’s discovery of how this could be done more
adeptly—especially in library design and architecture—was embraced by public library founders
and builders to come.122 The Carnegie model redefined the role of the public library and its
adaptation as information deliverer; this too, concluded Van Slyck, served to ground the
philosophy of librarianship of the future.123 Van Slyck stated that Carnegie’s gauntlet was
picked up and wielded by others; Carnegie gloried in the imitation.124 One could not help but
think the Jones project would create such sentiment.
119
Andrew Carnegie, Triumphant Democracy, Inscription, dated: January 18, 1894, New York.
T. Jones, Carnegie Libraries across America: Public legacy, New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1997, 3.
121
VanSlyck, “Free for All,” 216-217
122
Van Slyck, “Free for All,’ 218.
123
Van Slyck, “Free for All,’ 219.
124
Van Slyck, “Free for All,’ 218.
120
33
In 1969, library historian George Bobinski wrote that historians had not evaluated
Carnegie’s library gifts in-depth for their significance to library development.125 He compared
references to Carnegie’s philanthropy as that of noble benefactor to egotist and many roles in
between. In Bobinski’s work, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Director Ralph Munn’s concept is
presented: Carnegie prodded library development and promoted the library movement but also
constructed small town libraries with a dearth of services and little support.126 This does not
seem to be the case with Horne in the few years that she lived following the erection of the
library. She remained ever-present with communications and even a few visits for tea and
storytime.127 Bobinski also highlighted the opinions of European William Munthe who coveted
for Europe the American Carnegie movement with its stacks for all classes and a library in nearly
every town, great and small.128 Bobinski himself stated that Carnegie validated the library as an
institution, spurred on other library benefactors and rooted the tenet of local government
responsibility for public libraries.
Libraries were not gifted by Carnegie without the promise of the town’s ongoing fiscal
support.129 Elisabeth Horne’s gift too came with the agreement that ongoing support would
come from the council and town coffers.130 However, it is not documented whether this
stemmed from belief that the mill dollars would always pour into the town till or the Carnegie
philosophy of communities standing on their own feet.
While the well-known Smith’s drawings and design with unique touches could not be
mistaken for copies of Carnegie architect’s renderings or plans, the overall floor plan did adopt
125
George Bobinski, Carnegie libraries: their history and impact on American public library development.
Chicago: American Library Association.1969, 183
126
Bobinski, Carnegie Libraries, 186.
127
Moreland to Horne, April 2, 1929. Correspondence continued until Horne’s death Jan. 10, 1932.
128
Bobinski, Carnegie Libraries, 185.
129
Bobinski, Carnegie Libraries, 191.
130
Horne to Woodlawn Borough Council, letter, 1926.
34
some of the Carnegie features. In the twentieth century, newly built public libraries were often
Carnegie-influenced plans of symmetrical buildings, marked by trends of the modern time riven
with classical and Renaissance detailing.131 Open plans, children and adult reading areas with
central delivery desk for oversight were the preferred blueprint. Many of these early twentieth
century buildings and their architecture endure today and now symbolize libraries to the
American people.
Figure 11 : Original Floor Plans. Used with permission of B.F. Jones Memorial Library.
THE UNVEILING
The Carnegie style may have even insinuated itself into the well-planned and orchestrated
unveiling of the library also. Memoranda from the Jones and Laughlin Company and mill
archives sent Librarian Himmelwright copies of the Homestead and Southside Carnegie opening
programs to be used for reference in creating the B.F. Jones publication for the grand gala. In
addition, a Carnegie Art program sported typeface preferred by Horne. The company tracked
131
Van Slyck, Free for All, 218; George Axelrod, The Colonial revival in America ( New York: W.W. Norton
& Company, 1985) 94.
35
down the Philadelphia printer used at the Carnegie event and informed Himmelwright of Horne’s
choice.
After that, the library opening became B.F. Jones original.
The debut of the library included a private showing by invitation only and then the grand
opening event. Himmelwright was responsible for invitation lists, guided by Horne and
Moreland. The program, preserved in the state library and B.F. Jones Library archives,
delineated event speakers: Willis King, mill officer and nephew of the founder, Mill
Superintendent Girdler, Borough Solicitor W.D. Craig and William D. Evans, general counsel
for Jones and Laughlin Company.132
King, Jones’ relation who joined the Jones and Laughlin and Company in 1869, was the
first speaker for the day and reviewed Jones’s heritage, career and family. He remarked on
Jones’ dedication to the best things: social, domestic, and national. King agreed the memorial
library lived up to Jones’ “high ideals and lofty aims.”133 Craig accepted the gift of the library
from Horne whose comment was that she hoped the community’s joy in receiving it could only
equal her joy in giving the library.134 William D. Evans commented on the importance of
libraries and the hope they offer the young. He also made disparaging comment on the fleeting
fashion of fiction or the “fiction problem,” a common social commentary for the day.135 Girdler
welcomed the crowd and complimented the library. The Rev. Clarence Edward Macartney of
Pittsburgh, a prominent Presbyterian minister, delivered the invocation and blessing.
A flag-raising and the “B.F. Jones March,” specially written for the occasion and played
by the Harding High Marching Band, were part of the ceremony. The headlines of the Aliquippa
132
B.F. Jones Memorial Library Dedication Program,
Full Text Addresses, Aliquippa Gazette, February 5, 1929
134
Full Text Addresses, Aliquippa Gazette, February 5, 1929
135
Full Text Addresses, Aliquippa Gazette, February 5, 1929; Ring, Men of Energy, 406.
133
36
Gazette front page on February 5, 1929 proclaimed over 9,000 attended the opening events. The
opening of the library garnered above-the-fold- coverage and headlines in Pittsburgh Sun
Telegraph, Pittsburgh Press, Evening Times, and Aliquippa Gazette as February dawned.
Architectural attributes and master art works were main subjects of the newsprint.
Western Pennsylvania readers were not the only ones regaled with the success story of
the mill-town library; the opening of the doors of the B.F. Jones Library also earned national
press coverage. Library Journal in July 1929 devoted a two-spread article to the library opening
authored by Susan Himmelwright.136 The librarian focused on the building’s design and
planning but peppered real-life stories of visiting children, one who wondered if the story room
chimney was where Santa arrived. The details of the unveiled B.F. Memorial Library were also
featured in Carnegie Magazine, which Moreland forwarded to Horne.137 Horne was affronted
because her portrait by Hoen was featured without her permission by the Carnegie
publication.138
The Quotarian, the national publication of the Quota Club, also published a story about
the library scribed by Himmelwright that year. The story included physical description and a
peek at library usage: During National Book Week, more than 1200 Aliquippa tykes
participated in the Mother Goose story program.139 Company publication for Yawman and Erbe
Manufacturing, Library Equipment also featured B.F. Jones on its cover and an inside two page
spread announcing that the company products were used at the library and estimating building
costs at one half million dollars.140
Susan Himmelwright, “Aliquippa’s Beautiful New Library,” Library Journal, July 1929, 591-592.
Carnegie Magazine, “B.F. Jones Memorial Library,’ March 1929.,
138
Moreland to Horne, letter, March 29, 1929.
139
Himmelwright, Susan, “Individuals in Quota,” The Quotarian, circa 1930p. 11.12
140
Library Equipment, Beautiful Aliquippa Library –Shrine to Steel Man’s memory, March 1929, 3
136
137
37
In 1932, the library again caught the nation’s eye when it was showcased in June 1932 in
Architectural Forum. The premise of the story was that libraries should combine the aesthetic
and functional. The article featured photos of thirteen national libraries besides B. F. Jones
Memorial Library including: the Folger Shakespeare Library, Haishe Memorial Library, San
Pedro Park Branch Library, Alexander Sanger Branch Library, Greenwich Public Library,
Richmond Public Library, West Toledo Branch Library, Winchester Public Library, Dunbar
Branch Library, Palos Verdes Public Library, and Bexley Public Library.141
THE LIBRARY TODAY
Following much of the hoopla of the library opening, Moreland expressed that he was
instituting a hands-off approach with the library to give Himmelwright and the staff the freedom
to run the library as it should be.142 That has been happening for 80 years. Today, a mill worker
from the 1930s may look at the exterior of B.F. Jones Memorial Library and think that little
changed in those decades. Patrons still go in and out of the brass doors on a daily basis. Children
attend several storytime activities each week.
But a glance down the Franklin Avenue to the Wye near the plant tunnel reveals the town
has undergone vast change to include empty storefronts, abandoned buildings and empty lots.
Girls in the Aliquippa schoolyard no longer avoid mill dust. Smoke does not billow. Stacks and
mill buildings are gone. A barren moonscape—interrupted by a new jail and drywall plant—
stand where thousands came, tin lunch pails in hand, to work the long turn.
In a stroke of what could be labeled prophecy, William D. Evans, counsel for
Jones and Laughlin steel, addressed the opening ceremonies of the B.F. Jones Library,
141
142
Edward Tilton, Library Planning and Design, Architectural Forum ,(56 no 6 June 1932) 573-604.
Moreland to Horne, letter, March 29, 1929.
38
that long, long after these great mills and factories are stilled and abandoned, even
long after this beautiful structure has crumbled and passed away, the priceless
treasure which it contains will live on, because they are the embodiment of
everlasting truth. 143
The stilled mills came sooner than everyone in Aliquippa hoped. In 1984, the Jones and
Laughlin name ended with a merger of LTV Steel. That business would enter receivership in
1986.144 The town of 27,000 is now 11,000. Foreign born residents amount to only 342; about
881 speak a language other than in the home.145
Inside, the library, though, the works of Bach, Hoen, Hunt, Chartran, and countless stone
and plaster artisans still awe the patrons. Horne’s oil overlooks the Young Adult area; Oscar
Bach’s gates open to a computer kiosk.146 A recent flood has changed the basement, a brightly lit
children’s area has emerged, splashed in color. One must wonder what Nora Thorpe would add
from her palette. Foyer and fountain are now preschool area and the lecture room is a children’s
library.
The library serves as a district headquarters. On the library home page, library employee
Cindy Murphy has scribed in a Historic Images project.
The collapse of the American steel industry has changed the face of this
area. Most of the Aliquippa Works has now been torn down and the Aliquippa
area, like many other American rust-belt towns and cities, continues to struggle
for a new identity. Yet, there remains a great sense of pride and historical interest
by the area residents.147
Like Himmelwright, Murphy and her co-workers believe the B.F. Jones Memorial
Library is part of that pride as well as part of the hope for the town’s future.
143
Full Text of Addresses, Aliquippa Gazette, February 5, 1929.
Wollman and Inman. Portraits, 285. 288.
145
United States Census 2000.
146
Computers made possible by a Gates Foundation Grant.
147
Cindy Murphy, Aliquippa Historic Images Projects, http://www.bfjoneslibrary.org/aboutaliquippa.htm
144
39
CONCLUSION
This analysis of the establishment of the B. F. Jones Memorial Library in Aliquippa is a
window to a small town library’s history, architecture, philanthropy, and industrial heritage as
the 1920s came to a close. Philanthropy made resources available that town coffers were not
capable of funding, especially when financial disaster loomed. A library’s history is often woven
closely with the town’s history. A library gave dreams to girls in the school yard and veterans of
the tin mill. Labor and public libraries are bound with ties. Architectural treasures and priceless
art works are tucked in the libraries of small villages and vales across the land if one cares to
look.
The archives at B.F. Jones Memorial Library still hold much of the town’s story and the
steel industry’s story to be examined. More than 400 letters from B.F. Jones final years,
telegrams from the White House, a local history photo collection and oral town history await
exploration.
In a history of the Erie Public library, Adam Blahut quoted Peter Dobkin Hall’s sentiment
that the more fundamental an institution is to a town, the less likely society is to examine it.148
Change is long overdue for library history. The author hopes this Ohio River steel-town’s library
story will stoke the furnace of further historical analysis of this library and other village library
stories and, especially, the treasures within their walls.
148
Adam Blahut, A Study of the Founding of the Erie Public Library, 2005, 79.
40
Appendix I:
Table 1: Financial Statement of Library Expenditures149________________________________________
Service
Company
Disbursement
General Building Contract
A&S Wilson Company
$299,072.23
Architect's Commission
Brandon Smith
$21,076.95
Furniture and Equipment
Remington Rand
*
Furniture and Equipment
Yawman and Erbe Manufacturing
*
Furniture and Equipment
Art Metal Construction Company
$15,725.93 * combined
Books
$15,000.00
Decorating Interior
Joseph Horne Company
*
Decorating Interior
Norah Thorpe Advisory
$10,968.79 * combined
Wrought Iron Screens
Oscar Bach
$6,750
Lighting Fixtures
Beaux Arts
$5,620
Shrubbery
Ezra Stiles
$1,048.63
Wrought Iron Fence
Moore Metal Manufacturing
$680
Leaded Glass Window
Henry Hunt
$620.00
Marble Benches
C. Francini
$605
Miscellaneous
heating, lighting, janitor
$537.47
Insurance
$514
Watch for Maitland Wilson
Hardy and Hays
$204
Electrical Work
W.P.Klein
$203.00
Marble Discs Wall Medallions
Iron City Marble
$147.60
Dedication expenses
Invitations, Decorations
$141.70
Chelsea Clock
Hardy and Hays Company
$135
Toys for Children's Room
Kaufmann's
$113.15
Water Meter
Woodlawn Water Company
$80
Electric Light Bulbs
Jones and Laughlin Steel
$73.57
Portrait handling
J.J. Gillespie Company
$47.75
Waxing linoleum
C.B. Townsend
$33.16
U.S. Flag
A. Mamaux & Son
$20.00
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Total
$379,418.09 150
149
Accountant to Horne, Disbursements, May 19 to Aug. 6, 1929; Additional typed account expenses, B.F. Jones
Memorial Library Archives.
150
The chart does not include the prior expenditures of the land parcels (valued by some at about $50,000); the cost
of the Aitken bronze statue of B.F. Jones, $27,500; additional book fund from Horne, $2,000; forwarded bank
balance, 2335.92; Alfred Hoen portrait of Horne, $3,500; picture frame, $500 and other contributions of the Jones
family and friends. These additions bring initial outlay to more than $465,000 for the building at debut.
41
Appendix II:
Table 2: Statistics of 100 Libraries, compiled by S.E. Weber, Charleston, WV; used by William Moreland.
Statistics of 100 Libraries Compiled By S.E. Weber, Charleston, W.Va.
City
Albany,
N.Y
Population
Sources of Revenue &
Amount
113,344
City council levy- 2/5
mill
pre-1926
Valuation of City Amount Realized &
Property
Where from
126,084,312
dollars
$2,000 fines
$62,500 levy
Provision- Branch
Libraries
3-Lib owned 1- School
bldg 1- rented
bldg.4 classrom, 1quarters
factory
Anderson,
Ind.
29,767
City council levy- 5 cents
$15,000
School bldgs., fire
station, steel & wire
mill
Atlanta,
G.a
200,616
City council
appropriation
$95,110 levy
Lib. Owned bldgs. &
rented bldgs.
Baltimore,
Md.
Annuity-$50,000, Ap.$251,000, Invested funds733,826 $10,000 Total-$311,000
50,358
Endowment, state law
tax & city council levy1/2 mill
$63,000,000
Binghampt
on, N.Y
66,800
City council
appropriation
$104,501,192
Birmingha
m, Ala.
178,806
Private funds and city
council levy
School bldgs. Stores,
$27,857 levy
city hosp., & factories
$10,000 private 3- Carnegie bldgs., 3funds & $65,000 city bldgs., 2- rented
city appropriation
quarters
748,060
Private funds and city
council levy
$24,852 private
funds & $828,567 9- Lib. Owned bldgs. &
levy
9- city owned bldgs.
Bridgeport,
Conn.
Brockton,
Mass.
Buffalo,
N.Y
Cambridge
, Mass.
143,555
Tax by law & city council
levy- 3/4 mill
66,254
City council levy
506,775
City council levy- 3/4 of
3/100 of 1% of total
taxed property
109,694
Private funds and city
council levy
No Relation
None
No Conection
25 in Lib. Owned
bldgs., 1 in rented
quarters
Bethlehem
, Pa.
Boston,
Mass.
Travelling
Libraries
Relation of City
Library to School
Libraries
$1,714,104,300
$1,047.50endowment,
$30,0000
3 in school bldgs.
Planning to build one
None
School bldgs.
None
$115,068.69
6 in lib. Owned bldgs.
4 in schools far
from branch lib.
Bldgs.
$36,799.96
appropriation
2 in rented quarters in
stores
In school
buildings
$768,821,090
$236,000
appropriation
5 in rented bldgs., 1 in
H.S, 1 in city owned
bldg.
$152,261,600
$1,571.12- private
funds & $71,390levy
City bldg., School
bldg., 1 in rented
quarters
$256,000,000
Schools use
branches as
reference rooms,
Lib. Pays janitor
Send collections to
schools from time-totime on request
None
Loan to H.S 100
classroom lib. In
grammar schools.
1324 classroom
libraries
School classes
instructed in use of
library by reference
librarian
Value of Library Number of Library
Building
Employees
Number of
Volume
Estimated
Monetary Value of % Insurance on
Books
Building & Books
Bd. Of Trustee's 10
life & 6 by mayor
$150,000
34
72,041
$59,800
$55,000 in 1904
5 Library
26,000
$40,000
$206,000
34 full time & 8
part time
111,310
$269,875
$600,000 main
bldg.
200
475,000
$950,000
9 full time & 1
half time
30,000
$25,000
80% on books
Board of 7 appointed
by city council
$150,000
13 full time & 3
pages
54,694
$75,000
$6,500 bldg.,
$17,500- books
Board of Trustee's
appointed by mayor
$650,000
40
75,839
$143,000
Books- valuation Director. Staff & lib.
less 25%
Board app. City comm.
$4,000,000
central &
branches
600 including
mech. & temp.
services
1,333,264
$760,000 cost of
new bldg.
90
217,353
$110,000
10 at main bldg. &
2 at each branch
94,714
$1,250,000
$3,500.00
No Insurance
How Library is
Managed
25%- to be
Bd. Of Lib. Trustee's &
increased
librarian
insurance
handled by city
Board of Trustee's
comptroller
elected by city council
Board of 9 Trustee's
Bd. Of Trus. 5
members app. By
None
mayor for 5 yr. term
Bldg. - 3/4 cost, Bd. Of 9 in groups of 3
Books- 80 cents
for 3 yr. term- selfper volume
perpetuating.
Not insured
Board of 9 trustee's
130 full & part
time
455,818
$455,818
Full blanket
insurance
Bd. Of Dir. 5 elect. By
lib.5 rep. city, 3- ex
offical
27
127,246
$254,492
Total ins. $74,000
Board of Trustee's
42
Statistics of 100 Libraries Compiled By S.E. Weber, Charleston, W.Va.
Population
Sources of Revenue &
Amount
45,566
City council
appropriation- 5 mills
Charleston
, West Va.
43,000
Bd. Of education levy, 5
miles to Jy.l, 1927; after
3 mills
Charlotte,
N.C.
46,338
Chattanoo
ga, Tenn.
57,895
Chicago,
Ill.
2,701,705
Cincinnati,
Ohio
401,247
Levy by law- 27/100
miles
$1,060,000,000
county valuation
Cleveland,
Ohio
796,841
City council levy
$2,180,901,630
City
Cedar
Rapids, Ia.
Dallas,
Texas
pre-1926
Valuation of City Amount Realized &
Property
Where from
$31,850 levy
Send classroom
libraries to graded &
jr. high schools
$49,227.50- levy
1 classroom, 1 Jr. High
Sch., 1 Negro branch
None, Other schools
independent
City council
appropriation
$4,600 - county
comm.
In school bldgs.
City council
appropriation & county
court & private funds
$1,300- private
funds & $35,000levy
$51,634,000
$105,478,838
$127,542,750
By law- 1 mill for main. $1,788,665,379 at
& .02 mill for bldgs.
%50
$1,299,801.33
$20,000- private
funds, $297,000levy
$30,000 levy,
$5,733.02- fines
City council levy- .015
Dayton,
Ohio
152,559
City council & Bd. Of Ed.
Levy- .000604 mills
$326, 731, 830
$195,939 levy
Denver,
Col.
256,491
City council
appropriation
$400,000,000
$180,000 levy,
$12,000 fines
Des
Moines, Ia.
140,910
city council levy- 2 1/3
mills
$43,235,370
$90,000 levy
98,917
Travelling
Libraries
145 classroom
libraries, 2 rented
rooms, & 2 free rooms
158,956
Duluth,
Minn.
Provision- Branch
Libraries
Relation of City
Library to School
Libraries
city council levy
$79,996,836
Value of Library Number of Library
Building
Employees
$100,000
$400,000
In school
buildings
11 staff, 2 part
time extra help by
hour
In lib. Owned
buildings.
Classroom
libraries &
bookwagon
churches, stores,
8 in Carnegie bldgs., 1
schools,
community center, & 1
community
fire station14
centers
6 branches,
stations, 485 grade
lib., in 59 grade
schools
2 in Carnegie bldgs., 8
in public schools.
Furnish classroom
libraries
$500,000 bldg. & 12 full time & 4
site
part time
$140,000 main
bldg., $50,000 79, 30 pages, and
branches
8 janitors
$600,000
56,101
Estimated
Monetary Value of % Insurance on
Books
Building & Books
$64,817
$85,000 bldg.,
$10,000contents
How Library is
Managed
5 Trustee's apointed
by city comm.
37,960 sch. Lib.,
9 and 1 janitor, 3 H.S. 2,000, Jr. $35,000. Sch. Lib., $30,000 books & Lib. Bd. Appointed by
school librarians High sch. 1,500
$4,500
furniture
Board of Ed.
Board of Trustee's
selected by city
4
13,243
council
In school bldgs., 11
est. by city for use of
Supervise lib. Work
14 full time & 14
community
in one school
$50,000
part time.
10 in H.S., 8 in Jr.
high., 2 in pub. Bldgs., 77 deposits in All lib. Of any size in
& 11 in rented
stores managed pub. Schools under $2,000,000 cost 744 library & 23
quarters
by owner of store
pub. Library
in 1897
janitors
9 Carnegie bldgs., 4 in
pub schls., 11 in
In various pub.
$800,000 bldg. &
rented quarters
School buildings
site
250
Some in Carnegie
bldgs. & several in
rented quarters
$5,000,000
Co-operate with
grade schools- H.
Schs. Independent
Branches in 8
schools, 258
classroom lib.
Number of
Volume
78,893
80% bldg. & 80%
books
1,380,799
680,000
$1,500,000
$1,074,981
Board of 9 Dir.
Appointed by
mayor
1 negro br. In negro
H.S.- negro librarian
$450,000- bldg.,
$200,000
Board of 9 directors
appointed by mayor.
10% bldg. & 10%
books.
Board of Trustee's
No ins. On bldg.,
Bd. Of trustee's
$613,000 on appointed by Bd. For 7
books &
years
$150,000
$89,000- mostly
on books
160,000
$240,000
30% valuation of Lib. Bd. Appointed by
bldg.
Bd. Of Ed.
130 including
pages & janitors
260,000
$225,000
$320,500- bldg. &
Lib. Comm. Of 8
$118,300- books appointed by mayor
37 full time & 8
part time
181,278
$10,000 on books
in branches only Board of 5 Trustee's
98,983
$40,500- bldg. &
$25,000equipment
$64,848.60 levy,
2 in Carnegie
$77,126.68 main 26 full time, 4
$5,773.34- fines & buildings & 4 in school
Branch lib. Part of bldg., $50,000- 2 janitors, 1 guard,
private funds
buildings
In public schools public library system
branches
& 4 full time subs.
$152,478
Board of
Trustee's
Lib. Operates under
mayor commisioner
form of gov.
43
East Orange,
N.J.
50,710
state law
Elizabeth, N.J.
95,783
city council
appropriation
Elmira, N.Y.
45,393
city council
appropriation
El Paso,
Texas
77,560
levy by law- 3.7 miles
Erie, Pa.
93,372
Evansville,
Ind.
85,264
board of education levy
libarary board, which is
ind. Texting unit- 8 cents
in city & 4 cents in
county
41,029
private funds and city
council appropriation
Fitchburg,
Mass.
Flint, Mich.
91,599
levy fines & penal fines
$89,634,187
$60,000- city
council appro.
2 in lib. Bd. Bldgs., 1
in sch bldg., & 1 in
rented bldg.
In public schools
Grade school
libraries under
public lib.
$126,000,000
$45,487- city
council appro.
1 in lib. Owned bldg.,
1 sch. Bldg., & 1 in
study of church
None
No relation
$15,000- city
council appro.
$100,748,980
in school buildings
3 in library owned
$108,303.99 levy by bldgs., & 1 in school
lib. Board
bldg.
$57,237,450
$306.70 private
funds & $14,705city council appro.
$160,000,000
$60,149.24- levy, 1 in field bldg. owned
book fines & penal by park board & 6 in
fines
school bldgs.
$28,918.88 levy &
$1,374.69 fines
Fort Worth,
Texas
106,482 levy by law- .03 on $100
$152,000,000
Galveston,
Texas
44,255
income from endowment
only
$57,000,000
Gary, Ind.
55,378
tax laid by library
trustees
Grand
tax laid by bd. Of library
Rapids, Mich. 137,634 commission- 4/10 mill
$37,304.28 levy & 2 in stores free of rent
$1,315.71 fines & 1 in rented quarters
$50,000 levy
$125,310,050
No relation
$140,000,000
1 negro branch in
$32,991.71
negro H.S.
$77,000-gen. fund, 3 in lib. Owned bldgs.,
$21,000 sites & 2 in sch.bldgs., & 3 in
bldgs.
rented quarters
$231,273,164
$121,938.57appropriation &
$58,272.38- fee's
and fines
24 full time & 4
janitors
$250,000 main & 21 full time, 8 part
branch
time, & 2 janitors
$155,000
7
80% coinsurance
75,032
Board of trustee's
appointed by mayor
for 5 yr. term
90,000
$135,000
32,300
41,231
80%- co
insurance
$100,000 - bldg.
& fix. $26,000 board of trustee's and
books
libararian
$127,000
Bd. Of 9- 3 appointed
$75,000- bldg. & bt Cir. Court, 3 Bd. Of
$46,000- books E.d., & 3 city council
Co-operate
$150,000
14
31,763
In school
buildings
managed by city
library
$120,000
20
85,000
in grade bldgs.
Far from branch
lib.
school libraries
managed by Bd. Of
Ed.
$75,000
52 full time & 6
janitors
112,633
$112,633
$67,400
Bd. Of 9- 3 appointed
bt Cir. Court, 3 Bd. Of
E.d., & 3 city council
$103,200
6 full time & 4
part time
68,100
$681,000
None
12 trustee's appointed
by mayor
$25,000
28
90,000
$65,000
In school
buildings
1 rented quarters
$90,000
397 collections
sent to 272
classrooms
library manages all
lib. In schools
8 in drug stores &
in grade schs. In 7 school libraries part $200,000 site &
wards
of pub. Sch. System
$63,644 bldg.
$100,000- bldg. &
equipment
board of 7 members
library committee of
city board education
9 full time & 4
part time
45,727
$62,438.79
Bldg.- 72%$57,800 books &
27%- $21,900
19
76,000
$80,000
Bldg.- $150,000,
Books- $50,000,
& Furn.-$80,000
30
110,000
Board of Directors
Bd. Trustees 2 appt.
by Bd. Of Ed., 2 city
council, & 3 Cir. Judge
Bd. Of Lib.
Commissioners, 5
elected by people &
Supt. Of Schs.
None
None
in schools far
from branches
H.S. lib. Controlled
by board of ed.
$155,000
$150,000 main
bldg. & $90,000
branches
51 in schs., 26 in
institutions,
22 in school buildings factories 8 shutlib. Bd. Controls
& 1 in other building
ins
branches in schools
$697,000- main
bldg. & $40,520
branch
69, 1 page, & 9
janitors
254,978
$600,000
19 full time, 7 part
time, & 4 pages
98,279
$382,500
5
30,521
$251,932.75
board of trustee's of
13 elected by public
library assen.
Houston,
Texas
138,276
levy by law- 2 1/2 cents
$205,256,660
$60,486.24 levy &
$3,535.81 fines
3 in lib. Owned
buildings.
18 in school
buildings
Huntington,
West Va.
50,177
board of education levy
$129,885,747.14
$30,670.82 levy
2 in school buildings
2 in school
buildings
Jacksonville,
Fla.
91,558
city council
appropriation
$75,681,000
$35,000 levy
No funds, 1 subbranch in co-operation
with railroad company
In school
buildings
school system has
no libraries itself
$50,000
17
73,000
$150,000
Bldg. 80% &
Books 15%
9 men nominated by
city commission
298,103
levy by law- 1/3 mill
mandatory additional
1/3 mill permitted
$204,212 levy
3 in lib. Owned bldgs,.
2 in school bldgs,. & 3
in rented quarters
In school
buildings
maintained and
operated by library
$260,000
69 library service,
18 janitors
257,258
$31,756.27
80%
board of trustees
appointed by mayor
Jersey City,
N.J.
$500,064,926
None
board of trustees- 9
members
Schools & lib.
Bldgs. Covered by Committee apointed
blanket form ins. by board of education
44
Statistics of 100 Libraries Compiled By S.E. Weber, Charleston, W.Va.
City
Population
Sources of Revenue &
Amount
Houston,
Texas
138,276
levy by law- 2 1/2 cents
pre-1926
Valuation of City Amount Realized &
Property
Where from
$205,256,660
$60,486.24 levy &
$3,535.81 fines
Provision- Branch
Libraries
Travelling
Libraries
Relation of City
Library to School
Libraries
3 in lib. Owned
buildings.
18 in school
buildings
None
Huntington
, West Va.
50,177
board of education levy
$129,885,747.14
$30,670.82 levy
Jacksonvill
e, Fla.
91,558
city council
appropriation
$75,681,000
$35,000 levy
2 in school buildings
No funds, 1 subbranch in co-operation
with railroad company
$204,212 levy
3 in lib. Owned bldgs,.
2 in school bldgs,. & 3
in rented quarters
Jersey City,
N.J.
298,103
Johnstown,
Pa.
67,327
levy by law- 1/3 mill
mandatory additional
1/3 mill permitted
private funds donated by
the Bethlehem Steel Co.
Kalamazoo
, Mich.
48,487
levy by bd. Of education
Kansas
City, Mo.
324,410
levy by bd. Of education
Kenosha,
Wis.
Lawson
McGee
Library,
Knoxville,
Tenn.
Lincoln,
Neb.
Little Rock,
Ark.
40,472
$500,064,926
$21,717.45
$78,017,820
$61,599.72
$250,000
4 in lib. Owned
buildings & 1 in elem.
School bldg.
City council and Board of
Education levy
$111,000,000
$39,750
3 in school buildings &
1 in rented quarters
$102,151,000
$28,000- levy &
$5,339.69- fines
1 in library owned
building
$12,000 levy,
$1,500 fines, &
$1,500 rentals
1 in rented room for
negroes
city council levy- .274
65,142
city council
appropriation
30,521
73,000
$150,000
Bldg. 80% &
Books 15%
9 men nominated by
city commission
In school
buildings
maintained and
operated by library
$260,000
69 library service,
18 janitors
257,258
$31,756.27
80%
board of trustees
appointed by mayor
$82,153.14
7 librarians & 3
janitors
40,000
$100,000
19 full time & 12
part time
80,000
$150,000
85, 10 bindary, 30
part time & pages
15 full time, 5
even. Time, 2
janitors, & 7
pages
$120,000
$120,000
In school
buildings
6 in school
buildings
cordial co-operation
all libraries under
direction of pub.
Library
In school
buildings
School lib. Under
board of education
77,818
5
Schools & lib.
Bldgs. Covered by Committee apointed
blanket form ins. by board of education
17
None
$111,000,000
board of trustees- 9
members
98,279
$382,500
How Library is
Managed
$50,000
1 branch for negroes
77,818
19 full time, 7 part
time, & 4 pages
Estimated
Monetary Value of % Insurance on
Books
Building & Books
school system has
no libraries itself
Pub. Library has
supervision over
school
Administers 17
elem. School
libraries
$58,547.82- levy
$42,401.- city
council levy &
$5,740- Board of
$600,000
Number of
Volume
In school
buildings
In school
buildings
9 deposits in
factories &
hospitals
levy by law- 1 mill
City council and Board of
Education levy- 2 mill
minimum
54,948
$58,000,000
in school building
1 in lib. Owned
building & 3 in school
buildings
2 in lib. Owned
buildings, 10 in
schools, & 2
2 in school
buildings
Value of Library Number of Library
Building
Employees
In 15 schools
Lends to schools on
requests of teachers
35000%
390,000
Bd. Of managers most
of them officials of
Bethlehem Steel Co.
Ad. By lib. Ap. By and
carried by bd. Of responsible to bd. Of
ed.
ed.
25%
Committee of Bd. Of
Ed. & librarian
51,378
$65,000
Bldg. fire-proof & Bd. Of Directors app.
Books- 4%
By city council
18 full time & 2
part time
42,000
$50,000
Bldg.- 80% co-ins.
Books 75%
Board of Library
trustees
10 staff, 2 bldgs.
60,000
$110,000
Bldg. 50% &
Books 50%
Board of 5 Trustee's
None
Board of Directors
app. By mayor & city
council
$77,000 main &
$10,000 branch
18
66,125
$88,000
6 staff, 1 page, &
1 janitor
39,000
$41,000
Bldg.- $75,000 & 9 citizens, mayor & 3
Books- $25,000
councilmen
45
Statistics of 100 Libraries Compiled By S.E. Weber, Charleston, W.Va.
City
Population
Sources of Revenue &
Amount
Valuation of City Amount Realized &
Property
Where from
Louisville,
Ky.
city council levy- not less
then 2 cents nor more
234,891
than 4 cents
$350,000,000
Los
Angeles,
Cal.
576,673 City Charter levy- 7 miles
$257,173,054
Madison,
Wis.
Malden,
Mass.
Memphis,
Tenn.
45,385
city council levy
$125,000,000
$59,322,550
$16,065- private
funds & $25,000
levy
49,103
private funds & city
council levy
$240,000,000
162,351
Milwaukee
, Wis.
457,147
small endownment &
city council levy
$755,229,851
Minneapoli
s, Minn.
380,582
levy by city charter- 1.35
mills
$292,983,070
43,000
private funds & Bd. Of
Ed. Levy
Nashville,
Tenn.
Newark,
N.J.
New
Bedford,
Mass.
New
Britain,
Conn.
118,342
city council levy
414,524 city council levy- 1/3 mill
121,217
bequests for books &
city council levy
59,316
private funds & city
council levy
Provision- Branch
Libraries
Travelling
Libraries
$121,733.42-levy,
336 classroom
$12,500-county,
collections in 112
$33,000- rents & $- 8 Carnegies branches schools in city &
5,772.77- fines
& 6 in High Schools
co.
$1,027,279 levy
$150,000- trust
fund & $59,372.55levy
city council levy- 4 cents
on $100
Muskegon,
Mich.
pre-1926
Few in school
buildings
1 branch bldg. & 1
combined with a
school library
Deposits in
various parts of
the city
In stores &
factories
Relation of City
Library to School
Libraries
School Librarians
$752,,743.70
members of pub. main & $416,952 82 staff, 9 pages,
Lib. Staff
branches
and 16 janitors
On requests of
teachers to
supplement school $1,500,000 under
libs.
construction
355
Equiped by Bd. Of
Ed. & administered $100,000 main &
by pub. Lib.
$20,000 branch
18 full time
Deposits sent to 20
schools- changed 3
times yearly
Ward room of fire
station
Lib. Furnishes books
& service, Bd. Of Ed.
$96,000 levy
In rented quarters
In public schools Pays books losses
$1,151.552 in lib. Owned bldgs.
classroom
endowment &
& 4 in school bldgs., &
collections
through classroom
$266,443.75 levy &
5 rented quar.
throughout city
collections
6 in Jr. Highs, 10 H.S. lib. Managed by
$384,476.22 levy &
in grade schools, Bd. Of Ed. All others
$25,373.78 misc.
In schools
& 297 classroom
by pub. Lib.
$60,000,000
$43,000 private
funds & $15,500
levy
$128,352,715.17
$35,000- levy &
fines
6 in schools & 2 in
rented quarters
2 white branches, 1
negro in Carnegie
bldgs, & 1 in
$676,000,000
$318,000 levy
4 branches deposits in
450 school rooms
$27,728,748.30
$13,045- bequests,
$60,000- levy &
$3,999- dog fund
3 in library owned
buildings
$10,000 private
funds & $32,000
levy
1 in school building
All school libraries
administered by
pub. Lib.
Let teachers have
small deposits
where possible
200 school rooms
supplied with
deposits
In school
buildings
Value of Library Number of Library
Building
Employees
Number of
Volume
Estimated
Monetary Value of % Insurance on
Books
Building & Books
262,574
$500,000
80% on bldg. and
contents
604,340
$600,000
Full on bldg. &
books
65,276
$65,500
$225,000
19 staff & 2
janitors
78,645
$60,000
$250,000
40
190,000
$400,000
$1,500,000
186
634,631
$951,000
$400,000
210
426,576
$250,000
22 staff, 12
pages, & 5
janitors
80,000
$400,000 bldgs.
& contents
17
$600,000
150
$584,475
34 staff & 8
janitors
$150,000 entire
property
14
How Library is
Managed
Board of Library
commissioners
Library Bd of 9
Bldg. 80% &
members- 8 app. By
Books 60%
mayor & supt. Of
Incorporated body
controlled by 9
Bldg.- $144,000
trustees, mayor,
& Books- $75,000 Ch.Bd. Alderman &
Library Board
Insurance carried
only on books in
Library board
rented quar.
nominated by mayor
Bldg.- $150,000
& Books- $75,000
Library board of 9
members
$200,000
Bldg. 80% &
Books 80%
Librarian responsible
to Bd. Of Ed.
110,631
$150,000
Very small % on
books & furniture
Library board &
librarian
320,000
$320,000
80% coinsurance
$200,000
$108,000 on
books and
pictures
190,000
85,000
Library com. Of 5
members- larger bd.
Of mgrs.
46
Population
Sources of Revenue &
Amount
New
Haven,
Conn.
162,537
part of endowment &
city council levy
Newton,
Mass.
46,054
private funds & city
council levy
City
Niagra
Falls, N.Y.
Oakland,
Cal.
Oklahoma
City, Okla.
Omaha,
Neb.
Parkersbur
g, West
Va.
Pawtucket,
R.I
Peoria, Ill.
Pittsfield,
Mass.
Portland,
Ora.
Poughkeep
sie, N.Y
50,760
Valuation of City Amount Realized &
Property
Where from
$305,049,384
city council levy
216,261
city council levy- .0762
rate
$211,993,860
91,295
levy by city
commissioners & Board
of Ed.
118,872,512
dollars
191,601
city council levy
20,050
Board of Ed. Levy
$50,001,733
Provision- Branch
Libraries
Travelling
Libraries
4 in lib owned
buildings & 1 in school
In school
building
buildings
2 in city owned
$4,517.53 private buildings, 3 in school
funds & $65,460 bldgs., & 4 in rented Deposits in some
levy
quar.
school rooms
8 in factories and
schools & 1 in rented
$35,000 levy
quarters
Relation of City
Library to School
Libraries
$800,000
Board voted to put
room in each new
grade school for
$100,000
4 in Carnegie Bldgs., 4
$600- endowment
in school, & 9 in
& $175,000- levy
rented quarters
Deposits in 4 school
bldgs. Under pub. $97,000 main &
Library control
$35,000 branches
5 H.S. lib. Under
$43,830- city levy & 1 in city owned bldg.,
supv. Pub. Library &
$6,000- Bd. Of Ed. 5 in school bldgs., & 1
In school
20 grade schs.
Levy
rented quar.
buildings
Borrow 150 bks.
$64,800
1 in lib. Owned
Grade school
building, deposits in
In school
libraries under
$85,000- levy
schools, & 1 rented
buildings
public library
$125,000
Classroom
$60,000 bldg. &
libraries in grade
$25,000
$7,500- levy
schools
equipment
Main library
furnishes books &
schools the service
In school buildings & 1
in ward room
64,248
city council levy
76,121
city council levy- 1.1
mills
41,763
private funds & city
council levy
$25,000 levy &
$2,500 private
funds
$5,000
258,288
private funds & county
tax- .89 mill
investments,
$14,000 fines, &
$295,000 levy
In school
buildings
Not co-ordinated
collections
in 50
7 in Carnegie bldgs., 4
places,
8 H.S. lib.- Pub. Lib.
bungalows, & 1
bookwagon
Furnishes books, Bd.
engine house
service
Of Ed.
35,000
private funds & city
council levy
$137.60 private
funds & $25,200
levy
1 in rented quarters to
be est. on Jan. 1, 1926
$126,049,270
$30,660- levy
$41,284,423
$52,184.66 levy &
$3,034.22 misc.
$350,000,000
Value of Library Number of Library
Building
Employees
1 Carnegie Branch
$250,000
60 collections
maintained in 19
schools
None
No school librarians
Number of
Volume
44 full time & 21
part time
180,000
33
114,838
11 full time & 6
part time
60,000
119
140,771
20
51,758- main &
10,352
branches
32
160,000
4
21,500
9 staff & 4
janitors
15 full time, 3
evening, & 3
janitors
$200,000
46,808
$500,000
$150,000
7 full time & 1
part time
$135,000
413,000
62,753
2/3 on bldg. &
books
How Library is
Managed
Board of directors
app. By mayor
contents of main Board of Trustees of 5
bldg. $1,496.57 members & librarian
Board of 5 membersMain- $7,000 &
3 app. By mayor,
Branches- $4,000 mayor & supt. Schs.
$281,462
$200,000
$68,000
141,789
75,000
120 lib., 6 clerks,
and 6 office, staff,
pages & janitors
Estimated
Monetary Value of % Insurance on
Books
Building & Books
Board of 5 directors
Main- $50,000 &
app. By mayor for
Books- $22,000
term of 6 yrs. Each
Bldg., $50,000,
fire- $10,000, tor.
Library board
Books- $50,000 responsible to comm.
fire
Of pub. Property
city carries own
ins.
Board of directors
app. By mayor
Bldg. 50% &
Books 58%
Bd. Of Ed. Through
supt. Of schools
Board of trustees
None
elected by city council
Main & contents$206,500 &
Head lib. And assts. In
brancheseach dept.
$100,000
$413,000
Board of trustees
Bldgs.- $280,000
& ContentsBoard of directors and
$149,250
lib.
Bldg.- $77,500 &
Books- $50,000
Board of trustees of 5
members app. By
mayor
47
Statistics of 100 Libraries Compiled By S.E. Weber, Charleston, W.Va.
pre-1926
City
Population
Sources of Revenue &
Amount
Pueblo,
Col.
43,050
city council levy
Quincy, Ill.
35,978
city council levy- .09 per
$100
Racine,
Wis.
58,593
city council levy
$40,000 levy &
$2,600 fines
2 in lib. Owned bldgs.
& 3 in school buildings
171,667
private funds & city
council levy
$250 private funds
& $36,914 levy
Nergro branch in
rented quarters
Richmond,
Va.
Rochester,
N.Y.
295,750
city council levy
Sacrament
o, Cal.
65,908
city council levy
Saginaw,
Mich.
61,903
private funds & Bd. Of
Ed. Levy
St. Joseph,
Mo.
77,939
city charter levy
East St.
Louis, Ill.
66,767
city council levy
$10,000 levy &
$500 fines
$18,298,007
Provision- Branch
Libraries
Travelling
Libraries
In school buildings
$16,000 levy
In school
buildings
Co-operation only
Informal coordination
$197,639.42 levy,
Policy open 1 each
1 in rented quar.
$8,051.74 fines & year mostly in rented
& 10 in sch.
$1,710 state grant
quarters
Bldgs.
No official relation
$90.00 private
funds & $42,445.56 2 in school buildings &
levy
1 in store
None
$4,000 private
All school lib.
funds & $42,000
Operate partiallly or
levy
In school buildings
wholly under
$26,000,000
$55,000 levy &
2 in lib owned bldgs.
$5,000 fines & fees & 2 in rented quarters In public schools
In public schools40 vols. Each to
$23,000 levy
1 in H.S.
112 rooms
Value of Library Number of Library
Building
Employees
Number of
Volume
40,000
$30,000
6 staff, 1 page, &
1 janitor
46,000
$50,000
20
63,000
Board of directors of 9
Bldg.- $20,000 &
members app. By
Books- $15,000
mayor
Main bldg.Board of directors of 9
$50,000 & Main
members app. By
Books- $50,000
mayor
30,000
2/3 on bldg. and
books
Ind. Dept. of city thru
Richmond Pub. Lib.
Board
None
Librarian under lib. Bd.
Of 7 members app. By
mayor
$120,000
$130,000
24
113,325
Librarian app. By city
mgr.
20
80,000 in 3 lib.
Three commissioners
app. By Bd. Of Ed.
$237,394.50
No relation
$250,000
29
102,000
$175,000
Main bldg.- 4% &
Books- 24%
Very close
$300,000
5
33,000
$30,000
Bldg. 20% &
Books 50%
90 full time & 40
part time
339,117
city council levy
$75,000 levy
2 in lib. Owned bldgs.
& 1 in rented quarters
In school
buildings
Public lib. Installs
them
$110,000
40
126,000
city council levy- 2 cents
on $100
$3,000 private
funds & $34,000
levy
2 in rent- free quarters
small cases of
books in school
buildings
$70,000
11 full time & 4
part time
118,110
$30,000
17
$130,000
Salt Lake
City, Utah
$46,000
158,263
All libraries but H.S.
Lib. Served by pub.
Lib.
$176,928,017
City insures
45
Classroom
libraries in 87
schools
city council levy
No relation
How Library is
Managed
4 full time & 1
half time
3 in lib. Owned bldgs.,
17 school stations, &
1 in rented quarters
234,698
Estimated
Monetary Value of % Insurance on
Books
Building & Books
$100,000
$205,000 levy &
$16,000 misc.
St. Paul,
Minn.
San Antonio, Texas
161,379
Valuation of City Amount Realized &
Property
Where from
Relation of City
Library to School
Libraries
69,000
Board of 9 memebers
app. By mayor for 3
years
Lib. Ed. App. By city
council under state
law
Librarian app. By com.
Of Ed.
$126,000
Bldgs.- $50,500 &
Books- $41,500
Board of Directors
$100,000
Bldg.- $14,000 &
Books- $15,000
Board of trustees of
15 members app. By
mayor
48
Statistics of 100 Libraries Compiled By S.E. Weber, Charleston, W.Va.
City
Population
Sources of Revenue &
Amount
pre-1926
Provision- Branch
Libraries
Travelling
Libraries
Relation of City
Library to School
Libraries
$83,650 levy &
fines
3 in lib. Owned bldgs.,
5 in elem. Schools. &
in 3 rented quar.
classroom
libraries in
schools not
having lib.
Lib. Bd. Supplies
books, magazines,
salary. Lib. Bd. Of
Ed. Furnishes rest
In lib. Owned
buildings & rented
quarters
Valuation of City Amount Realized &
Property
Where from
San Diego,
Cal.
74,683
city council levy- 7.5
mills on $100
San
Francisco,
Cal.
506,676
city council levy
$262,500 levy
city council levy- 1 mill
$283,847 levy &
fines
Seattle,
Wash.
Sioux City,
Ia.
315,312
71,227
city council levy- 2 mills
93,091
private funds & city
council levy- 71 cents on
$1,000
Springfield,
Ohio
60,840
Bd. Of Ed. Levy- 3/10 of
a mill
Stamford,
Conn.
35,096
city council levy
Somerville,
Mass.
Superior,
Wis.
39,671
city council levy
Syracuse,
N.Y
171,717
city council levy
66,083
Bd. Of Ed. Levy- 6 1/2
cents
Terre
Haute, Ind.
Toledo,
Ohio
Troy, N.Y.
243,164
private funds & Bd. Of
Ed. Levy
72,013
private funds & city
council levy
$114,000,000
$244,057,734
99,311,000
dollars
$100,000,000
25 deposit
8 in lib. Owned bldgs.
stations
& 1 in rented quarters collections in 85
$50,000 levy
In lib. Owned bldgs.,
school bldgs., &
rented quarters
$1,789.60 private
funds & $75,470
levy
3 in city owned
buildings
$30,000 levy
$500 private funds
& $25,000 levy
No libraries in
school buildings
None
School extension lib.
To visit schs. When
branches are est.
Co-operates with
H.S. library
1 in lib. Owned bldg.,
Books in 10 schools, & In rented bldgs. & City library supplies
47,000,000
$29,000 levy
5 rented quarters
schools
books & service
1 in city owned
Operate deposit
$250 private funds
buildings, 1 or 2
stations in grade
$261,000,000 & $100,000 levy
school buildings
In schools
schools
$89,000,000
$550,000,000
$218,617 levy,
$7,800 fines, &
$2,500 interest
In Carnegie
school buildings
5 in
bldgs., 1
city bldg., 6 sch.
Bldgs., & 2 rented
quarters
$3,324.74 private
funds & $16,000
levy
1 sub-brach in school
building
$60,000
$1,152,000
$1,998,567
central &
branches
$75,000
None yet
1 sub-station for
juveniles & 2 for
adults
$2,150 fines &
$57,850
levy
$1,560
private,
Value of Library Number of Library
Building
Employees
Under management
of city library
In 40 schools
Grade school
libraries under city
library
No connection
Number of
Volume
39 full time & 22
part time
108,885
70
350,000
166
368,612
18
75,000
$222,900
41
117,123
$100.00
7 full time & 3
part time
40,000
$120,000
10
48,000
$50,000
10 full time, 6 part
time, & 2 janitors
54,000
$500,000
35
173,000
$80,000
Bldg. obsolete
Estimated
Monetary Value of % Insurance on
Books
Building & Books
$129,000
Bldg. 25% &
Books 10%
$110,000
Board of trustees of 3
members app. By
mayor for 4 years
None carried
Board of trustees
controller secretary &
librarian
Lib. Bd. Of 7
members, 1 app. Each
year by mayor
Bldg. 60%
Board of trustees of 5
members app. By
mayor & city council
None
$427,382
How Library is
Managed
None
Board of 9 trustees
Board of trustees app.
By Bd. Of Ed.
Board of directors
$175,000
Board of directors of 9
members, city comm.
& Supt. Of schools
Board of trustees
Co-ins. On bldg.
acting through
& Books 75%
librarian
Board of Ed.- Lib.
Directly responsible to
Bd. Of Ed.
28
80,000
150
213,325 &
10,000
documents
$325,000
10 staff & 2
janitors
52,181
$60,000
80% co-ins. On Board of 7 members
bldg. & full value app. By Bd. Of Ed. For
on books
7 yrs.
Lib. Under board of
trustees
49
Statistics of 100 Libraries Compiled By S.E. Weber, Charleston, W.Va.
pre-1926
City
Population
Sources of Revenue &
Amount
Utica, N.Y.
94,156
private funds & city
council levy
Waltham,
Mass.
30,915
private funds & city
council levy
Waterbury,
Conn.
110,000
private funds, fines &
city council levy
Wheeling,
West Va.
56,208
Bd. Of Ed. Levy
$851,480
$21,287 levy
$33,000,000
$10,497.19- private
funds & $6,123.62
levy
$237,022,555
$16,415.25 levy
$5,685.55 private
funds & $125,000
levy
Williamspo
rt, Pa.
WinstonSalem,
N.C.
36,198
private funds & city
council levy- .2 mill
48,395
city council levy
Worcester,
Mass.
179,754
private funds& city
council levy
Valuation of City Amount Realized &
Property
Where from
$45,139,300
$332.40 private
funds & $35,000
levy
$15,000 private &
$31,000 levy
Provision- Branch
Libraries
Travelling
Libraries
Relation of City
Library to School
Libraries
In library owned bldgs.
In school
buildings
Control deposits in
grade schools
81 classrooom
collections
No connection Pub.
Lib. Lends schs.
Books
None
2 in school buildings
2 in fire houses,
Deposits in 225
classrooms, 1 rented
No branches
4 in factories, 1 in
townhall of nearby
borough, 1 negro in
Y.W.C.A
3 larger branches
Value of Library Number of Library
Building
Employees
Estimated
Monetary Value of % Insurance on
Books
Building & Books
43 full time & 7
part time
104,901
$184,000
11 staff & 2
janitors
73,000
$70,000
$60,000
17 staff, 18 part
time, & 2 janitors
125,000
No estimate
6
7 staff, 2 part
time, 2 janitors, 1
page, & 1 book
collector
44,000
$45,000
37,316
75,316
7 staff & 1 janitor
90 including
janitors & part
time
24,217
$25,000
$150,000
Send deposits to
Send deposits to
grade schools
grade schs.
31 deposits in
factories &
273 deposits in the
institutions
school room
Number of
Volume
$100,000
$150,000
277,298
How Library is
Managed
80% on bldg. & Board of trustees selfbooks
perpetuating
$225,000
City carries
insurance
Bd. Of trustees app.
By mayor
Librarian res. To board
of 12 agents elected
by people
Bldg.- $12,000 & Librarian responsible
Books- $12,500
to Bd. Of Ed.
$25,000 blanket
perpetual
board of trustees
75% on both
Board of 5 members
Board of 12 memebers
Bldg.- $150,000 elected by city council
151
151
Statistics of 100 Libraries, compiled by S.E. Weber, Charleston, W.Va; this chart was used for visits and research by William Moreland and the B.F. Jones
Memorial Library planners beginning in 1926.
50
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54