History – Library Branch #10
In 1902, at the request of the Old Town Merchants and Manufacturers Association, at the corner of Mott & Gay Street (now Old Town Mall) a branch of the Enoch Pratt Library was opened in the back of the newly built Provident Savings Bank. The branch location was intended primarily to serve children in the neighborhood. The ornate stone work on the front of the old bank and former home of the library branch is recognizable as you walk down the mall toward the haunt.
In the 1900’s the Enoch Pratt Library published an annual report on the status and activities at each branch. The librarian responsible for each branch is referred to in the documents as the ‘custodian’ and in each report words directly from the custodian are provided. These glimpses of early 20th century life provide us a unique insight into the activity at the library and the neighborhood at the time. Some excerpts of life at Old Town’s station 10 library.
1903 Report:
“Unlike all our other libraries, the public of this station have free access to the books on the shelves. I regret to have to report that the result of the first year of this experiment was not wholly satisfactory, as fifteen books were missing at the stock-taking. The value of these books is not great, but there is a question whether we have not thrown more temptation in the way of some of these young people than they were able to bear. The increased orderliness of the children at the station is most noteworthy and is a remarkable tribute to the tact and ability of the custodian. From either report the following sentences are taken : “The children come direct from school to prepare lessons for the next day, and they find the encyclopaedias very useful. The boys are better readers than the girls ; the younger girls only want fairy tales.”
“Little folks who can’t read like to come in to look at pictures; but quite often they will fall asleep while looking at a picture upside down. Most of the children have had no home training and at first they rebelled at the idea of obeying ‘teacher’ as they majority of them call the librarian. But it is certainly gratifying to see what improvement they have made within the year, both in their behavior and their selections of books to read. They are always willing to help in anything; run errands, arrange books and chairs and keep the floor quite nice and clear. One of the best ways to keep some of the troublesome ones quiet is to give them something to do for ‘teacher.’ Still there are others whom it is impossible to get interested in anything, but they delight to scream at the doors and windows.”
“The librarian is kept supplied with fruit, and there are always gifts ranging from marbles to Lowney’s chocolates.”
“The little Jewish children are very true to their religion in some respects, and put many of us to shame. They never seem to forget that they must not write, handle money or tear paper on their sabbaths and holidays.”
“The grown people who come into the reading room seem to be interested in the work and enjoy getting books. One lady said that the library had been a “godsend’ to her. A neighbor gives all the paste that is used. The children expect the librarian to show them the latest stitches in embroidery, to help in translating their Latin and to decide for them which was greater in his time, George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. It is even nothing unusual to treat burns and cuts”
1905 Report:
“For four and a half months in the summer, the Custodian was absent on leave, an opportunity having been given her to visit the Pacific Coast, which we were very glad to have her embrace”
“Another young fellow came in, who could not speak English at all. He could read Russian, Polish and German, and when I addressed him in German and made it easy for him to explain himself, provided him with a card, and then a Polish book, his wonder was comical, but his pleasure and thankfulness were quite touching.
You can see almost every day what has been accomplished by the Library as a teacher… access to the shelves is a benefit to them, especially to the boys who prize the privilege and try to deserve it by good conduct; for I do not allow it to any boy who does behave like a gentleman. A good many boys, when I let them pick out their own books from off the shelf and praise them, if they have made a good selection, are quite anxious to make an equally good one every time, and when they have not selected the right book and I suggest a better one for them, they usually take the advice. An amusing incident happened one evening in connection with my picking ou the books : a young fellow of about fifteen or sixteen came in with a friend, who usually trusts me with the selection of his books, and said, “I want a book, an exciting book that raises up a rough-house or something like that, or, a novel.” His friend felt so ashamed of him and told him in a stage whisper which I was not supposed to hear; “hush, ask her to pick you out a book; she will pick you out a dandy one.’
A good many working girls come in and ask me to be kind enough to tell them what they ought to read, as they do not know, and have nobody at home to tell them… A poor woman with a baby on her arm, who spoke German, came in to inquire if it was true that she could get books for nothing, and on having explained to her the method of this Library, exclaimed, “Was fur ein Gottgesegnetes Land dieses Amerika ist. Hier braucht kein Mensch zu grunde zu gehen. Hier wird fur alles gesorgt.” (Translation, not provided in the text: What a God-blessed country this America is. No one needs to perish here. Everything is taken care of here.)
We have been unable to supply the demand from the very young readers, for fairy tales. When these books are all off of the shelves we are told “Youse haven’t got any fairy tales? What a funny library!” It is quite amusing to see them turn the matter over in their minds when told there are no fairy tales, particularly if the borrowers be boys, for they will almost invariably say, “If you’se have no fairy tales, then give me an American history or, the Life of George Washington.”
There are many requests for books about animals : one little fellow, who has read all the books on the subject at the Station, told me in confidence, “I love to find out how all the different animals live, what they do, and what they think. Have they had more books at the Central Branch? Please ask, the boss man from there to lend me some more animal books,” Which I of course, faithfully promise to do.
I was obliged to inaugurate a crusade against unwashed faces and hands and there is much improvement, though I came in for a good many black looks and demands to know “what kind of funny business is that!”
The number of grown people using the Station is constantly increasing, but adults do not use the reading room as much as they would, if it were not in the same building with the club and game rooms, which are very noisy and from which the noise is distinctly heard in the Library.
1906 Report:
“More fairy tales is still the cry of the children. I wish I had every one of Andrew Lang’s books for them. I believe a taste for fairy lore will awaken a love for the poets and stimulate the children’s imagination.”
“The children have improved in their manners and begin to relaize that this is a reading-room and not a play-room. I was a little puzzled a few days ago when a little child came in and asked me to show her our bureau, saying she wanted to get a book and that a boy had told her she could find it in the bureau. It dawned on men that she meant our card catalog; I showed it to her and she was satisfied, as that was what she was looking for.”
1908 Report:
“In the early autumn a number of boys were fined in the Juvenile Court, for misconduct about the Station. We regretted the necessity of having to take action but were much pleased at the support given us by the Police and the Court.
“A number of pupils from the Eastern High School find this Station quite a convenience to them, as we have many of the books they use in school, but a new Branch in Old Town would be of much greater use to them, as the Station cannot have all the books they need. Some of the school teachers are very much interested in the Station, and say it has been much help to them in their work with the children. They report that they can tell those who read our books, as they advance more rapidly than the others. Fairy tales are called for and if there are none on the shelf, which is quite often the case, the children say that they are no nice books here. It is a hard matter to persuade them we have other nice books.”