"T Detroit's Food Problem O MAKE the world safe for democracy we must win this war. The three factors which will shape and determine its issue are money, men, and food. We are spending money in unlimited sums. We are reverently dedicating to the battle for free government the lives of our young men. Money and men can be obtained through organization, and as a nation we have demonstrated our ability to organize. But the task facing the American nation is harder than that of organizing and equipping effective armies; it is to modify the food habits of the 100,000,000 of our people so that the needed increased supplies of food may be furnished. Only through co-operation, in which as a nation we have had little experience, can we accomplish this."-U. S. Food Administration Committee, Ten Lessons on Food Conservation. The chief measures advocated by the Government are 1 Use local foodstuffs, 4 Conserve wheat, 5 Conserve fats, sugars, meats, 6 Preserve perishable foods. Every household in Detroit can in some way observe these measures and thus actually add to the supplies of food available for the fighting men. The following statistics compiled by the local Food Administration committee show how great results can be attained through individual effort. One Wheatless Day Each Week-What It Will Mean In Detroit alone there will be made available for shipment to our allies (at the rate of one loaf of bread to each family) 112,500 pounds, or 561⁄4 tons of flour each week. Double the Use of Cornmeal and Other Cereals They are healthful and they cannot be shipped abroad. One Meatless Day Each Week-What It Will Mean In Detroit alone there will be made available for shipment to our allies (at the rate of 11⁄2 pounds of meat per family) 300,000 pounds, or 150 tons of meat each week. Double the Use of Vegetables They take the place of meat and wheat and at the same time are healthful. Use potatoes abundantly. Use fruit generously. Save a Lump of Sugar Each Day-What It Will Mean If every individual in Detroit saves a lump or a teaspoonful of sugar each day, there will be made available for shipment to our allies from Detroit alone, 74,666 pounds, or over 37 tons of sugar each week. The Detroit Public Library is able to help the housewives of Detroit in the big problem at hand. Mr. Oscar Webber, chairman of the local Food Administration committee, addressed the library staff on Thursday, October 25, to suggest means of cooperation. As a result, staff members are helping secure Detroit's quota of 184,000 signed pledges to save food, by canvassing the homes near the branch libraries and stations. Other members of the staff are working directly under the Food Administration Headquarters, 329 Woodward Ave. The library is constantly in touch with about 25,000 families in Detroit, so members of the staff are able to secure pledges from patrons well known to them. The 10,000 children who attend weekly story hours in the branches have all been told how they may help save food. Exhibits of posters and books that give suggestions for saving food are being held in the various library centers, and pledges may be signed and full directions secured at any library agency. The pamphlets issued by the U. S. Food Administration committee, by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and by Mayor Mitchel's Food Supply committee of New York City, as well as books on economical buying and cooking, all giving actual recipes and costs, are in the library for your use. Some of the most helpful books and pamphlets are listed here: FIVE CENT MEALS. Bulletin of the American School of Home TRUE FOOD VALUES AND THEIR LOW COSTS, By LESSONS IN FOOD VALUES AND ECONOMICAL Practical guide to healthful diet at low cost. How TO CUT FOOD COSTS, BY L. F. COOPER. Teaches how to plan meals that shall be as BETTER MEALS FOR LESS MONEY, BY MRS. HINTS TO HOUSEWIVES, BY MAYOR MITCHEL'S Recipes, menus, and other practical aids, illus- TEN LESSONS IN FOOD CONSERVATION, BY THE "Many a mickle makes a muckle." Corner Stone of New Library Laid Nov. 1 (Continued from page 1) "This event marks an actual centennial in the city's history," Mr. Burton said, "for it was just 100 years ago, in 1817, that the first library was established in Detroit, and the first newspaper worthy of the name. The library was not exactly a public library for it was established and maintained by private citizens for their private use, but its volumes formed the nucleus of what is now one of the finest and largest collections of volumes in this country. Samuel C. Mumford, president of the board of education and ex-officio member of the library commission, followed Mr. Burton. He declared that the board of education realized now as never before, in the presence of this handsome new building, what a great responsibility rested with it in selecting members of the library commission. He pledged his influence always to the selection of the best men of the city for the service of the institution. On behalf of the Board of Commerce, John A. Russell congratulated the library commissioners and the city on its achievement, but reminded those present that even such a monument as the new building could not be considered the climax of the career of the Detroit Public Library and that future generations would be forced to build even greater buildings and do an even wider work, but that they could look back to an inspiring example in the labors of this generation. The last speaker of the afternoon was Adam Strohm, librarian. He called attention to the splendid example of the people of Detroit in finding time and money to devote to the higher spiritual and intellectual phases of their city's life even in such stressful times as these, and he pledged the utmost efforts of the library staff to meet every demand for service which the wider scope of the new building would involve. He also paid tribute to one of the members of the library staff, Miss Susie Edwards, the only one of the library workers who was also present at the laying of the corner stone of the old building 42 years ago.. The simple exercises closed with the singing, a capella, of one stanza of "America" and the sound of the hammer was again heard in the land as the work on Detroit's architectural pride went determinedly forward. Pro and Con (This column is open for your criticisms and suggestions. Your letters to Library Service must give your name and address, but these will not be published if you do not wish. Space is valuable; please be brief.) Be Kind to Your Books Editor, Library Service: I have often noticed that many people break the binding on books by laying them, while open, face down on the table to keep the place, instead of using a bookmark to keep the place and closing the book after reading. Also, many people are careless or ignorant in handling heavy books and often break the binding by bending the book too far back. May I suggest that you have pictures on, or near the charging desk, where everyone could see them, showing the right and the wrong way to hold a book and to keep the place. Hoping you will find this suggestion of some use, I am, Respectfully, 28 Washington Blvd. C. BRANDT. The reminder is a timely one. No one knows better than a library worker how many volumes are prematurely sent back to the bindery because someone has opened them roughly or laid them down open to mark a place. The correct way to open a heavy volume is cautiously, letting the pages fall from the middle naturally and a few at a time. As for the practice of leaving a book open, it has no defense. Now, more than ever, should the public be careful of its books; the ordinary care of any thoughtful person should now be doubly exerted. We thank the correspondent for the suggestion. Detroit Public Library Commissioners RALPH PHELPS, Pres. PAUL R. GRAY, Vice-Pres. CHARLES R. ROBERTSON, Sec. DR. J. B. KENNEDY E. S. PIGGINS Librarian-ADAM STROHM Main Library Hours: 9 a. m. to 9 p. m. week' Vol. 1 Published Fortnightly by the Detroit Public Library Saturday, November 17, 1917 New Annual Report Full of Interest No. 5 Both Librarian and President of Commission point out phases of work worth every tax-payer's attention Since the last issue of Library Service the Public Library has given the city another publication—the fifty-second annual report of the Library Commission, dated 1916-1917. One of the interesting facts pointed out by Librarian Strohm is the increased patronage of the library due to the activities of the publicity department, one of whose duties is the issuance of Library Service. An editorial in a Detroit newspaper not long ago voiced the need of more publicity for libraries, evidentally not quite aware of the work that the Detroit library is doing along that line already, and of another fact which has importance in this same connection. The report expresses it as follows: "To the Publicity Division is entrusted the responsibility of editing and caring for all the regular library publications, for special publicity material, etc. The division is still in the making, but it is most determinedly on the way.' During the important campaign in the fall of 1916 for the popular approval of the library bond issue, city wide publicity was launched and carried on under high pressure for a month. The results brought lasting joy in the favorable vote given, but it also brought an increase in patronage that the library with its inadequate facilities could not meet in a way the newly won friends deserved. The public appreciates our present handicap; in the meanwhile we persist in advertising our goods, cheerfully preparing for better days to come." Another fact is brought out in the librarian's report which perhaps the public has not often considered the machinery which lies at hand for a variety of public services in the highly organized staff of trained library workers. Their service in the several recent patriotic campaigns-Red Cross, Liberty Loan, securing books and money for field libraries, food conservation and Y. M. C. A. War Fund-is an example in point and quite justifies the modest reference in the librarian's report. “And it may as well be made clear now as at a later date that increase in cost of maintenance, in compensation to a necessarily larger staff is certain to come with the larger library facilities. That the library should feel the economic strain of the war is obvious and easily understood, but less well known yet more lasting will probably be the psychological and spiritual effects on the morale of the service and intellectual interest of the library public. There was never any lack of loyalty and sense of duty in the library staff but with the entry of America into the great conflict, the personnel was galvanized into a body conscious of the call for single-minded, national service rather than for circumscribed municipal functions. We were all knit together in a common desire to give undivided support to the cause of our country, the solution of the serious problem confronting us." And in connection with the Library Staff, the words of President Phelps of the Library Commission may not be amiss to quote here, as they form part of his report to the common council of the city of Detroit: "I take this occasion to speak a word for the consideration of the Library Staff in these days of increased cost of living. Four years ago the Library Commissioners adopted a policy that appointment to the Library Staff could be made without the candidate having had professional training or experience or, if lacking these, submitting to a competitive examination for admission to the library training class. Standards of admission thus being raised has resulted in a library staff of strictly professional character, better understanding, better equipment and competency. Naturally, the Library Commissioners feel under obligations to offer compensation corresponding with the high quality and character of the service rendered. Some years ago the Library Commission succeeded in having the Common Council approve a salary scheme somewhat on a par with that prevailing in the public schools. Since then conditions have changed; the salaries of school teachers have advanced substantially although not unduly, while at the same time the corresponding salary figures in the library staff have fallen seriously behind. It is to the credit of the Staff that while conversant with these facts they have in no measure allowed them to affect their loyalty to the institution or to make the public suffer in the service rendered. Severe losses in the personnel have, however, occurred from the inducements offered by more prosperous libraries elsewhere and by the local business and manufacturing concerns who have found it worth while to offer tempting inducements to some of our trained assistants whose ambitions to improve themselves deserve recognition. The situation is growing more embarrassing with the extraordinary openings now offered to trained women in government work and through the many avenues of profitable employment open to women taking the places of men enlisted in the war service." Books for Homeless Children The children's department of the library has placed a small collection of children's books in the Central Charities building, 33 W. Warren Avenue, for use of the children there. A similar collection has been placed in one of the boarding homes for little children. Annual Meeting of Library Staff The annual meeting and lecture of the library staff, and reception to new members of the staff, especially the chief of the Technology department, was held Friday evening, November 16th, in the main library. The building was closed to the public at 8:30 p. m. instead of the usual hours, to enable staff members to be present. WAR SERVICE National Y. M, C. A. War Fund Contributions to Detroit's $700,000 quota of the National Y. M. C. A. War Fund will be received at all library agencies. Drop small contributions into the boxes at the desk, or ask any member of the library staff for subscription cards for larger amounts. Make checks payable to Emory W. Clark, treasurer. The money is to be used for social and welfare work among soldiers and sailors, in camps in this country and abroad. The following extract from a personal letter written by a Catholic boy at Camp Custer is a direct plea for this work: "And while I am mentioning the Y. M. C. A., I understand there is a movement on foot all over the country to gather funds for the Y. This ought to receive the heartiest support from everybody, for the Y. certainly is doing a great work in making it easier for the soldier boys. They really are clubs where we can gather to listen to music, read magazines and newspapers, write letters, play checkers, and in fact do anything in the line of relaxation and recreation. That is where we buy our stamps and post cards and mail our letters. They have movie exhibitions three times a week, and every night in be-'. tween they have lectures, recitals, concerts, etc. They have a big auditorium in the center of the camp and at five smaller places distributed about the camp. We certainly would feel the loss if they were to be stopped. The people at home have no idea what they mean to us. So I hope the movement in their favor will receive support." Adam Strohm to Organize Camp Library at Macon, Georgia Librarian Strohm has been requested by the war department through its commission on training camp activities, to organize a public library at Camp Wheeler, Macon, Ga. He will leave to assume his new duties Monday. The Detroit library commission has granted Mr. Strohm a leave of absence of one month, in which time he hopes to have the soldiers' library in running order and ready to turn over to the officers there. On his way south he will stop at Fort Chillicothe, Columbus, Ohio., to inspect the soldiers' library there, which is reputed to be the best yet organized. The library fund of $1,250,000 raised to supply libraries for American soldiers and sailors, will be used by the American Library Association at the various training camps throughout the country. Librarians of established institutions will be drafted into the service to perfect organizations. D. Ashley Hooker, technology librarian of the Detroit public library, will act as librarian during Mr. Strohm's absence. "Get books of cheaper recipes at the library." Cook Books in Foreign Languages The foreign language section of the Circulation Department, Main Library, has for distribution pamphlets on "Good meals at low cost" in Polish, Italian, Yiddish and Hungarian. These were published by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. Cook books in the following languages have been collected in this section to aid foreign women who are trying to plan "better meals for less money;" Boheman, Danish, French, Italian, German, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Yiddish. "Try to like every simple food; give it a fair trial." ! |