Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on October 25, 1930.
LIBRARY WAS STARTED JUST 20 YEARS AGO
Came Into Existence with Gift of Property by Hubbard and Finnette Hunt. Loans Many Books.
Twenty years ago today Valparaiso’s public library came into existence with the gift by the late Hubbard and Finnette Hunt of their residence property on North Washington street as a building for housing the small collection of books which in those days numbered 575.
Only two rooms were used then, a reading room and a room for book stacks. The library subscribed for 22 magazines, but there were no bound magazines. In the first year of operation the library loaned 9,014 books.
Five years after the library had grown to such an extent that six rooms were necessary to keep pace with the development. They were: reading, stacks, children, club, newspapers and reading.
In the five year period the number of books had increased to 4,400 magazines, 47 and bound magazines 293. The number of registered borrowers had grown to 2,248, of which 1,788 were active. The circulation during 1909 totaled 14,423 books.
With the removal of the library to the Carnegie building erected in 1915-6, the library has enjoyed a substantial growth. At the present time the library has a total of 10,000 volumes, of which 16,000 volumes, of which 10,591 are adult and 4,341 juvenile. A total of 990 books were added this year by purchase, and 50 by gift.
According to records compiled by Miss Zada Carr, librarian, a total of 66,954 volumes have been lent during the last fiscal year. Of these 45,533 were fiction lent for home use, to 28,368 adults and 17,165 juvenile. Nonfiction lent a total of 21,421 volumes, of which adults took out 8,341 and juvenile 13,080. A total of 150 magazines are received each month.
The registered members on the books number 7,448, comprising 5,111 adults and 1,766 juveniles. New registered borrowers during the year totalled 572, of which 375 were adult and 197 juvenile. The circulation per capita was 7 plus, and the percentage of fiction let to total volume lent was 66 per cent.
Another interesting item revealed by Miss Carr was that the library loaned 5,685 books monthly on the average of the total of 189 per day.
