Libraries in Oklahoma in the 1930S

Not Gone with the Wind: Libraries in Oklahoma in the 1930s

Tanya Dueker Finehum and Allen Finehum

Oklahoma in the 1930s dealt with severe depression and drought, both of which affected the development of the state's public libraries. While the libraries experienced growth at the beginning of the century, helped along by the contributions of women's clubs, the establishment of a state library association and agency, and funding legislation, leaner times appeared in the middle years of the 1930s. Oklahoma's libraries began to rejuvenate by the end of the decade, with an increase in services and facilities, and avoided being "gone with the wind" of the Great Depression.

Economic conditions throughout the state during the past two years [1932-1934] caused thousands of citizens to turn to the library for inspiration, economic assistance and information. ... [I]n spite of the handicap caused by the great reduction in appropriations, which curtailed book collections and reduced the staffs, the large increase in circulation figures is testimony to the demand which taxed the in- genuity and strength of every library in order that all might be served. Reports of the Oklahoma Library Commission and Survey of Libraries of Oklahoma, July 1, 1932-June 1933, July 1, 1933-June 30, 1934

In the 1930s Oklahoma had many small family farms, and local roads were often dirt or gravel. While U.S. highways began to forge their way across the state (the most notable was Route 66, which took millions of Americans west to California), the start of the interstate highway system was still more than two decades away. Oklahoma's seventy-seven counties ranged in size from 419 square miles to 2,277 square miles, and the two major cities were Oklahoma City and Tulsa; beyond these urban centers, the state was limited to small towns and villages. Since the population was dispersed and the roads were in poor condition, local communities became primarily self-sufficient, and social life centered around grain elevators, schools, stores, and the local train station. In

Libraries & the Cultural Record, Vol. 46, No. 3, 2011 ©2011 by the University of Texas Press, PO Box 7819, .Austin, TX 78713-7819 ' ' 277 fact, movement across rural Oklahoma was so problematic during the early days of highway development that the state created more than five hundred independent school districts.' Oklahoma contributed several elements to the Great Depression, na- tionally deemed to have begun witb tbe stock market crash of October 1929. In the 1920s and early 1930s Oklahoma's economy was based on oil production and agriculture, both of which took a major downturn in the 1930s. As oil flooded the national market from Oklahoma and numerous other sources, oil prices dropped, and oil field workers became unemployed. Similarly, as Oklahomans raised more farm products, com- modity prices collapsed. Farm practices and the weather contributed further. In addition to the Depression, Oklahoma experienced the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, in large part a result of farmers' destruction of native grasses that would compete vñth wheat for the soil's limited moisture. When the drought of the 1930s combined with the winds of Oklahoma, the state's agriculturally based economy toppled.'' As money for other forms of entertainment and diversion dwindled, libraries in Oklahoma experienced crowded reading rooms, increased book circulation, and increased demand on facilities.'

Women's Clubs and Library Development When Oklahoma became the forty-sixth state in 1907, it had only seventeen publicly accessible libraries, and public tax support for Oklahoma libraries varied in the early years of statehood.'' As historian Esther Henke stated in her University of Oklahoma master's thesis, "The citizens who desired and were determined to have libraries did not wait for town and city governing bodies to finance their establishment. The large majority were established by local people belonging to organizations with aims of cultural, civic, or professional advancement."' Women's clubs with civic-minded and resourceful members have his- torically been an ally to libraries, and in Oklahoma they were often the nucleus of what would become public libraries. Such clubs were among the earliest organizations formed in Oklahoma, and members often had a small collection of books or access to a collection prior to moving west. As indicated in Oklahoma Libraries, 1900-1937, "Fifty-four, at least, of Oklahoma's public libraries owe their existence to women's clubs, and probably most of the others received aid in their organization from this source." Once a library became public, club members continued to support it through material and financial contributions, board semce, and volunteerism. Libraries that had this type of community backing 278 L&CR/M)i Gone with the Wind were better able to weather the lean years of the Great Depression. In addition to women's clubs, local branches of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), an association of women promoting equity for women and girls, played a major role in the growth of several libraries across the state during the 1930s. For instance, the AAUW contributed to the Guthrie Carnegie Library book fund at various times during the Depression and in 1938 gave the Tulsa Public Library $100 to purchase a book trailer that would circulate books to rural schools in the county.'' Before 1930 there were at least eighty-four club or free libraries, and throughout the 1930s many of these grew into public libraries at least partially supported by the town in which they were located. Some club libraries were dedicated to providing library service even if it was only one day a week, as in the Checotah City Library and the Arapaho Fernald Library, both of which had fewer than three thousand volumes.' After reviewing data gathered for her University of Illinois masters thesis, Elsie Sullens wrote: "Stimulated and directed to action by their national and state federations, club women in Oklahoma instituted the first traveling library systems in tbe state; aided in the organization of the Oklahoma Library Association, aided in the creation of the Oklahoma Library Commission, and in the Women's Club Service at the University of Oklahoma."" Although women's clubs contributed library services to a community, obtaining a location for their collections was a challenge. In some cases it was necessary for libraries to come under city management in order to qualify for btiilding funds from outside sources, such as those available through the Carnegie Corporation or the federal government. Many of the libraries housed in city halls or courthouses before World War I had to be relocated to make room for the Red Cross. The Collinsville Carnegie Library opened its doors in 1917 but immediately began serving as Red Cross headquarters. On the other hand, in Hooker, Okla- homa, the Red Cross building was converted into a library at the close of World War 1, serving approximately 535 borrowers in 1936.^ In addition to issues with housing collections, the majority of libraries during this period were staffed by untrained and poorly paid personnel. However, this began to change as a greater number of librarians graduated from the University of Oklahoma's Library Scbool, founded in 1929. Further, graduates from out-of-state institutions trav- eled to Oklahoma. For example, from 1930 until 1935, a graduate of the Columbia University Library School managed the Garfield County Library, the only county library functioning in Oklahoma at that time.'" ¡. • 279 Joining Forces and Gaining Momentum - ..

Members of women's clubs were instrumental in organizing the Oklahoma Library Association (OLA) in May 1907, just prior to Okla- homa gaining statehood. Sixteen librarians attended tbe first meeting, including several from bigher education institutions. At the time, only eight public libraries existed in the Oklahoma and Indian Territories, and the articulate group of women that helped form the OLA was in- terested in statewide extension of tax-supported public library service. Furtber, some clubs bad been providing a traveling library service in the state and became active in the OLA to explore a more economical way of transporting their books." OLA members set about finding ways to boost library development, and they began having annual conferences. At its annual conference in 1934, the membership voted to become a contributing member of the American Library Association (ALA).''"' Milton Ferguson, a librarian at the University of Oklahoma (1902-7) and first president of OLA, was elected president of ALA in 1938. Carl Milam, also a former librarian at tbe University of Oklahoma, became the executive secretary of ALA in 1920 and was still holding that position in 1938.'' Almost from the beginning, OLA and women's club members cam- paigned for a state library agency. In 1915 the state legislature approved such an agency, but it was vetoed by the governor. Finally, in 1919 legislation was passed creating the Oklahoma Library Commission. At that time, only twenty-five of the seventy-seven counties had a ptiblic library, and over half of the state's population lived without library service. The commission's collection started with eight thotisand volumes from the ALA that had been part of World War I camp libraries. By the end of 1936, the collection had grown to over seventy-three thousand volumes.'* Part of the commission's charge was to help establish libraries in tbe state, operate traveling libraries, disseminate information through lists and circulars, and conduct library instruction summer schools, v^dth the belief that raising standards of librarianship would heighten reading standards. When libraries across the state experienced budget cuts, librarians and patrons turned to the commission for library service. A note in the commission's annual report stated: "At the present, municipal finances are insufficient to give adequate appropriations to local libraries for either city or county library extension programs. The entire burden of furnishing free library service to the 1,564,925 citizens who reside in areas outside the reach of existing libraries, therefore, rests with the Oklahoma Library Commission. The appropriation for this 280 L8cCR/Not Gone with the Wind department may thus be considered a form of state aid for rural services." During the 1936-38 commission report period, over thirty-eight thousand more volumes were circtilated in traveling libraries than in the previous report period.'* The commission showed its appreciation for women's club contributions to library development and library service in a small yet significant way. In 1931 the commission helped the state obtain a chapter of Epsilon Sigma Omicron, "a national sorority of federated club women who receive their membership as a reward for completing a specified number of reading courses of the ALA." Oklahoma's chapter was the fourth in the United States, and by the end of 1936 it had 48 members and 272 candidates for membership enrolled."' While women tended to be more involved with the daily operations of libraries, men were often library trustees with a voice in the administration. For these workers, the commission began publishing The Trustees'Handbook, which included current library laws, how to organize a library, and the variotis duties of board members. The commission also published a mimeographed bulletin, Oklahoma Libraries. This bulletin served to inform librarians and trustees across the state about library activities in other areas of Oklahoma, offer suggestions for improving services, and operated as a general communication tool for the library world in Oklahoma. The first issue appeared in November 1931, but when funds ran low in November 1933, publication was suspended until September 1935." In 1920, following the establishment of the commission, the Univer- sity of Oklahoma instituted a six-week summer course in library science. In 1929 the training was expanded to a twelve-month program and became the University of Oklahoma Library School. The program was fully accredited by ALA in 1932.'" The increased number of library school graduates in the late 1930s, combined with library legislation at the state level, led to higher library personnel standards. School systems, for example, began to require that all high schools in cities of a specified size employ a librarian with a librarian's certification.'"

Federal Emergency Relief ' "-9 Oklahoma and its libraries took part in many of the relief programs approved by President Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s for service and construction projects. In Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937 the compilers summarized: "Probably no library in the state has been without some assistance from one of the alphabetic agencies. Federal Emergency 281

Federally Funded Public Libraries in Oklahoma In the 1930s

Figure 1. Map of federally funded Oklahoma public libraries in the 1930s. Created by Allen Finchum, 2010.

Relief Administration (FERA), State Emergency Relief Administration, Civil Works Administration (CWA), Public Works Administration (PWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), or the National Youth Administration (NYA). Book mending has been a favorite project with FERA and the WPA, as a light and useful job at which tmskilled women could be employed."^" In 1937 the Oklahoma legislature passed a law that ultimately allowed counties to take advantage of the building program being offered by the WPA. By 1940 libraries in at least seventeen towns had their own buildings erected with the assistance of the WPA, and in at least six more commtinities libraries were given space in community buildings constructed through the WPA. Indeed, Depression era federal relief programs had an impact on the library landscape of Oklahoma (see figure 1). Payne Cotmty gained national recognition for having the most library buildings completed in one year in the country. Stillwater, Cushing, and Yale dedicated new buildings in 1939 at costs totaling over $170,000.'^' In 1935 Ponca City opened the first air-conditioned library building in Oklahoma, built partially with ftinds from the PWA, The building, originally erected in 1910 v«th Carnegie money to service a population 282 L&CR/A/oí Gone with the Wind

figure 2. l'otica City Public Library ca. late 1930s to early 1940s. Photo courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society.

of twenty-five htmdred, had become inadequate for the city's population of eighteen thousand by the mid-1930s. The citizens of Ponca City voted to issue a seventy-thousand-dollar bond, and the PWA commit- ted an additional $30,000 for the construction of a new public library. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937 noted: "The result of Ponca City's project is a building so handsome and so ideally planned that everyone in the state may 'point with pride.' Besides the warm air and air conditioning unit, other notable features include an electric elevator, an incinera- tor, a refrigerated drinking fountain, and a stage in the basement club room. The floor plan includes not only a children's room, but also a junior reading room."'''^ In an oral history interview on June 13, 2009, Beverly Carpenter recalled trips to the Ponca City library in tbe 1930s as a child: "Mother liked to read and we'd go to the library. Oh, listen, that was it! I fell in love with that library the minute I got in there. The way it smelled, everything was wonderful! They had a few children's books in those days and I'd get some of those. I thought that was really thrilling. I didn't have a library card. You just got them with your parents. You usu- ally got just two. Tbey didn't have enough to go around, you know."^' Citizens of the small town of Olustee were equally proud of their WPA building. Olustee was officially founded in 1898 and at the time of statehood had a population of fifteen hundred.^^ The New State Club (NSC), a women's club established in 1907, proceeded to organize a library, and by 1930 its collection consisted of approximately twelve hundred books.^'' NSC members were determined to have a library building for the town, and in 1936 they applied for and received 283 financial support through the WPA in the amount of $3,089. As many as twenty-three men from Olustee were employed to build the eighteen- by-thirty-five-foot library, using stone quarried nearby.^*' According to a transcription of the NSC's notes, when the library opened in August 1936, it had over two thousand books, and in the first year of operation, nearly three thousand books were loaned. Ladies from the NSC served as librarians and assistant librarians, and for a few years the library employed girls through the NYA. The library was open for two hours on Wednesday and Friday afternoons, and an average of twenty-five books a day were loaned. For a while after the opening the librarians were so busy that they had to enforce "Library Rule #11: No one must spend any more time than is actually necessary while withdrawing a book. This is to lighten the labor of the librarian." The town council provided ten dollars each year to purchase new books, and as a fundraiser, a ten-cent rental fee was charged for Gone with the Wind, published in 1936. The book regularly generated one dollar a month.^' Many libraries across the state took advantage of federal funds for projects other than buildings. Twenty public libraries had projects approved encompassing building repairs; cleaning, varnishing, and

Figure 3. Olustee Public Lihtm \. ¡'lidia in ImiyaFinchum, 2010. 284 L&CR/iVoí Gone with the Wind painting; book repairs; inventories; and indexing and cataloging. These funds also allowed libraries, such as the one in Elk City, to remain open at least part-time during the difficult Depression years. Colleges used the funds to employ financially needy students to mend books, clean stacks, work on shelf lists, index and catalog, and assist with desk work. By June 30, 1934, a little over $18,000 in federal funds had been used in Oklahoma, with roughly $4,500 going to the Oklahoma Library Commission and roughly $9,700 going to public libraries.'^" ; In 1936 the WPA's Village Reading Room program, a new phase of library service, began. Towns without library service were the primary targets, and by the end of the year at least fifteen counties had established reading rooms through the program.'^" A year later, reading rooms were operating in eleven counties, employing 122 people. The library community also provided books for group study as part of educational projects instituted by the state and federal governments. In 1936 and 1937 eighty-two traveling libraries were sent to reading rooms for this purpose.'" The Oklahoma Library Commission likewise took advantage of federal funding. Its CWA project from 1932 to 1934 put tbirty-two trained, unemployed librarians to work for two and a half months. Another out- come of the project was the creation of a union catalog of all Native American and local history to be fotmd in the public, state, and college libraries of Oklahoma.^' In 1936 the commission was able to repair almost four thousand out of thirty thousand books that had been taken out of the traveling library program because of their poor condition from overuse.'^ In 1939, with assistance from the WPA, the commission and the state library sponsored a project to demonstrate to counties with no regular library services how they could establish countywide service. When the project began, only eleven automobiles and two pack-horse units served the southwestern part of the state.''' Established women's club libraries in many communities were kept open by volunteers or by a person paid from circulation fees. When no volunteers or money were available, the libraries closed. If the WPA Library Services aided the community, many of these clubs turned their collections over to the library supervisors connected with the WPA, making them available to the public. One of the oldest clubs in the state, the Pioneer Study Club of Atoka, allowed its library to be reorganized through the WPA. At the end of June 1938, there were 34 county projects and 161 library units or branches employing 488 women and 7 men throughout the state as a result of the WPA Library Service program.'* 285

Other Funding Sources for Public Library Buildings

In addition to the library btiildings erected with federal funding, buildings were also constructed through grants, private donors, and municipalities during the Depression. The Page Memorial Library in Sand Springs, for instance, was built with a gift of $100,000 given by Mrs. Charles Page in memory of her husband; it opened in February 1930. This library suffered through the Depression years like many other libraries and found the half-mill levy, made mandatory as a mini- mum by the 1935 legislation, insufficient. At times, it seemed the Page Memorial Library would have to close, but it stayed open part-time with help from a rental book collection as well as aid from the NYA.'^ Oklahoma benefited prior to the Depression from Carnegie grants, during the period of the state's earliest setdement and development."* Andrew Carnegie had amassed a large fortune in the steel-manufacttiring business and established a corporation to share his wealth. His goal was to provide self-educational opportunities to all people, and he believed a way to do this was to build ptiblic libraries. To procure a grant, he required towns to provide the library building site and to have a tax structtire in place to provide maintenance and library services. The first two cities in Oklahoma to receive buildings as a result of such grants were Oklahoma City and Guthrie, both prior to 1902. Between 1900 and 1923 Carnegie approved grants to build a total of twenty-four libraries in Oklahoma." When the Carnegie Corporation stopped giving grants for libraries, several cities proceeded to erect buildings with municipal funds. In 1931 Blackwell constructed a librar}' building and had it completely paid for before it opened. It came through the 1930s with very few changes or challenges, in large part due to the city's charter assuring adequate in- come for the library. The library continually benefited from a two-mill levy even as the Oklahoma legislature regularly altered library funding. During the Depression, the Blackwell library was always able to pay its staff salaries. The library held 11,636 volumes in 1936, and circulation in 1935-36 was 10 books per capita. One special feature was the mari- onette theater the librarian used in work with children.'* . . When the town of Okmulgee was disappointed by the amount of a grant offered by the Carnegie Corporation, the town's leaders decided to issue bonds in the amount of $75,000 and erect its own building. The btiilding was the first public library in the state built with city funds and was the most costly in Oklahoma at that time. It opened in 1923 and provided the commtmity not only with a library but with space that could be used for various community purposes.'^ •. • •• 286 L&CR/Nbí Gone with the Wind

'_}•'- Library Legislation

In 1901 the Oklahoma Territory had a basic library law that allowed the city councils of cities with a population of more than five thousand, referred to as cities of the "first class," to require property owners to pay a tax earmarked for library services. The tax could be as high as one mill and outlined how existing libraries could be transferred to the city and how a board of governance would be formed.^" The city of Guthrie, the territorial capital, with a population of 10,600 in 1900, established the first public library in Oklahoma Territory under this law in 1901.^' In 1903 the law was amended to raise the allowed tax support to a two-mill levy.''^ The next amendment was in 1911, when the population requirement to be cities of the first class was reduced to at least two thousand. In this iteration of the law, library service for African Americans was mentioned for the first time. If a town had two thousand citizens and half of those citizens were African American, the city could establish a separate library and reading room for them."*^ The 1919 legislation establishing the Oklahoma Library Commission was followed in 1925 by tbe Certification Law, which required cities with a population of at least two thousand to fill head librarian vacancies with a person holding a library certificate issued by the commission.'*'' Since only a few states had a certification requirement at the time, the 1925 law raised standards of librarianship in Oklahoma and the prestige of Oklahoma librarians elsewhere. By the end of June 1936, the commission had issued 345 certifications.'*'* Between 1919 and 1927 appropriations for libraries varied due to amendments that would raise tax support one year and lower it the next. The 1929 legislative year, however, was a rather good one for Oklahoma libraries. The two-mill tax levy for libraries was reinstated so that any city, regardless of population size, could establish a tax-supported library, and any city or incorporated tovm with one thousand African Americans could establish a separate library and reading room.'*'' In addition, a county library law was finally passed that allowed any city council or other legislative body of any city or incorporated town to establish library service countywide."*' At the time this law passed, Garfield County had an operating county library administered by tbe town of Enid's public library. In the early 1930s Garfield County attempted to increase its county tax levy to raise $1,200 for its library, but the State Court of Tax Reviews declared this unconstitutional, despite the 1929 law. The court held that a county's financial support for the library was to come only from the funds generated through the state-legislated four-mill tax. As a 287 result of this ruling, the Garfield County library closed on June 30,1934, proving that the 1929 law allowed for the establishment of a county library but was not explicit enough about ftinding.""* During the Depression, library appropriations decreased, while demand for service increased. In 1933 libraries in Oklahoma were dealt a major setback when the legislature passed the ad valorem amendment to the state constitution, taking away their base of support.""* As noted in Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, "They were left to scramble for whatever meager living they could find in a share of the fifteen-mill levy, which was to be divided between county, city, town, and district."^" Between the time of this amendment and the next amendment in 1935, libraries across the state suffered, and some closed entirely. In 1935 the legislature mandated that cities with a public library give at least one-half mill to support the library.^' Another county library law was passed in 1937 authorizing counties to establish, erect, and maintain public librar)' buildings.''' From 1936 to 1938, three counties appropriated money to city libraries earmarked for service to the rural population. Additionally, the citizens of Lincoln Cotmty petitioned their county commissioners to obtain permission to es- tablisb a county library. The request was granted, and the commissioners set a legal mill levy for a free county library to be known as the Lincoln County Public Library, encompassing tbe city libraries of Chandler, Stroud, and Prague and with headquarters located in the Lincoln County seat of Chandler. Chandler provided a room in the courthouse, a librarian was appointed, and tbe doors opened in April 1938.^' At the end of 1936 Oklahoma passed legislation to create county law libraries, making it the thirty-second state to adopt such a plan. As mandated by the law, each time papers were filed with the county clerk a one-dollar fee was paid to the Law Library Fund, which would be used to purchase law books and periodicals as well as estabhsh and maintain a county law library. An amendment to the law was passed in May 1937 stating that counties with a population of forty-five thousand or more and a city within the county of twenty-five thousand or more could es- tablisb a law library.""* ' Oklahoma likewise passed numerous laws for public school libraries in the 1930s. High school libraries were required by the state to have an approved encyclopedia, an adopted dictionary, twenty-four books for each English course, and an acceptable cataloging system. Oklahoma law also required that all high schools in cities with a population over five thousand employ a librarian with a librarian's certificate issued by tbe Oklahoma Library Commission.'"'' 288 L&CR/A/bí Gane with the Wind

1930s Economic Changes for Libraries v. The effects on Oklahoma's libraries of economic factors in the 1930s—such as consequences of the 1929 stock market crash, nation- wide drought, and bottomed-out gas prices—varied across the state. During 1931 and 1932 club libraries became public libraries in at least seven towns, and new reading rooms were added to several other libraries; however, at least six club libraries closed.'''' When the Depression hit the town of Henryetta in 1933, the city council talked about closing the library. According to the librarian's annual report, "Citizens protested so vigorously that means were found to keep it open by every other city department's contributing a share of its budget to the library."" Adding to the difficulties, the Oklahoma legislature made changes to the tax law in 1933 that adversely impacted libraries across the state and reduced financial support for the Oklahoma Library Commission to one-third of its original figure. City and county hbraries experienced similar budget cuts, which in turn led citizens to seek more services from the commission. For instance, more communities requested books through the commission's traveling libraries. With reduced funding for new books, however, the commission found it necessary to reduce the number of books included in each traveling collection, and nearly two hundred community requests remained tmfilled. Individual requests for books also increased significantly, and, at times, there were as many as seventy- five people on the waiting list for a book."*" Another way Oklahoma libraries were able to serve the public in times of low budgets was to establish rental shelves. While state law pro- hibited charging for books bought with public money. Seminóle Public Library made an appeal for donations for new fiction from patrons, and these were placed on the rental shelf. When the books paid for them- selves, they were added to the free shelves.^^ In June 1934 Oklahoma had seventy-four public libraries serving only 34 percent of the total population. Individual libraries were impacted by the economic situation differently. Some remained open without support from the city through volunteers and private donations. Some cut hours of operation by half. Many other public libraries were forced to reduce their services, close branches, and lay off staff. Only the city of Yale, with a population of fewer than eighteen hundred, provided appropriations up to the standards of ALA at that time of one dollar per capita. Thirty-five cents per capita or less was most common for the state's public libraries. Of the libraries reporting for 1933, only sixteen circulated more than ten books per capita. In 1934 Guymon, located in the Oklahoma panhandle, reported the highest per capita circulation of 289 27.47.''" Panhandle fanners experienced drought, wind, and the brunt of the Dtist Bowl as recorded in Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937: "Outstanding in this history of the Guymon Public Library is the extent to which the public makes use of it. Dust storms and drought have not discouraged Panhandle readers, for in this town of 2,181 persons (by tbe 1930 cen- sus) the library now circulates over fifty thousand books a year."''' From 1936 to 1938 twelve new public libraries were established in Oklahoma, five of which were tax supported. Two of these were the Okeene Public Library, organized in 1935 by the Farm Women's Home Demonstration Club, and the Pawnee Public Library, organized in 1936 by the Lion's Club, the Junior Chamber of Commerce, and the American Association of University Women. Both became tax-supported public libraries in 1937. Four of the twelve had buildings constructed with the cissistance of the WPA, including a one-room library building for tbe small town of Olustee, for which the New State Club bad lobbied. By the end of June 1938, twelve of the twenty-six Oklahoma counties without library service were partially served through the WPA program.'*'^

Expanding Library Services Depression era Oklahoma was a rural state with many sparsely pop- ulated counties, but the Oklahoma Library Commission's traveling libraries gave citizens opportunities to read. Traveling libraries went to counties with and without libraries and to various locations such as women's clubs, schools, camps, homes, and institutions. Between July 1931 and June 1932, 4,215 traveling libraries were issued containing a total of 146,086 books. In 1933—34 appropriations cuts meant traveling libraries had fewer volumes, and a htmdred applications had to be refused for lack of books to fill them. The following year, even more requests were refused because of empty shelves.''' The high usage and constant turnover of the traveling collections created a desperate need for a more adequate book fund. New books were needed to meet demand and replace worn-out texts. Over a six-month period, one book included in a traveling library could be read an average of fifty times.'''* The Traveling Libraries Department of the Oklahoma Library Com- mission developed a popular Vacation Reading Club, encouraging reading among children during the summer months of the Depression. The project had a different theme each Stimmer, and libraries across the state participated. Each enrolled child was required to read ten books to be eligible for a reading certificate issued by the commission, which also provided books and reading lists. Dtiring the Stimmer of 1937 the project was sponsored in 55 counties, and 1,543 certificates 290 UcCR/Not Gone with the Wind were issued.^' The Enid Public Library collaborated with the city's dance schools and presented a program of folk dances and folk stories as part of the "Traveleros" Vacation Reading Club. At the end of the program, children were invited to the library to get check-out cards to be used as passports to various countries.''*' Another service that connected Oklahomans to books in the 1930s was the commission's individual loan option. This option removed the restriction that in order to borrow a book from the commission, patrons could not have access to local library facilities. This service was provided not only in the twenty-seven of seventy-seven Oklahoma counties without public library service but also to borrowers with access to libraries with limited collections in any county." As one patron wrote to the commission, "Just a note to tell you how much the Commission Library helps some of us who are far from a puhlic library and who have no money for our beloved books anymore. Nine friends read this last book you sent me. We say 'thank you' to you and those who make this possible for women of small towns."''** The commission was one of 256 library entities across the country that participated in the International Mind Alcove program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The program sent collections of books to small communities in the United States with the mission of widening the worldview of the general reader. Daily life, customs, and history of foreign cultures were the topics of many of the books. Approximately forty volumes were available in the Children's Alcove and around fifty-five in the Adult Alcove at the commission in 1930. In addition, five public libraries in Oklahoma received alcoves.*^ Librarians and library boards during the Depression were open to new approaches to service. In the early 1930s the librarian in Muskogee, a town with a population near thirty-two thousand, enlisted the help of the Muskogee Iron Works to build a metal book-return box for patron use after library hours and during holidays. To draw extra attention to the box, it was designed to have electric lights burn behind the word "Books" throughout the night. The public was pleased with the service, and an unexpected benefit was the return of several "lost" books.™ Some libraries, such as Shawnee Carnegie Public Library, set up substations in local hospitals and in rural and urban grade schools." In 1930 there were at least eight locations for public library service to African Americans in Oklahoma, including branches located v^dthin schools such as the Chickasha Lincoln School Branch as well as stand- alone branches such as the Wheadey Branch in Muskogee, which became part of the Muskogee public library system in 1929.'''^ In a 2009 291 oral history interview an African American resident of Muskogee stated, "I can remember the Martin Luther King Center being the [Wheadey] library and sort of a gathering place for the Federated Club girls [I]t seemed like everybody was so sophisticated and worldly."" The WPA Library Services program also provided service to African Americans. By the end of June 1938, eleven branches had opened in eleven counties to serve roughly two thousand African Americans with WPA funding for staff and book collections. Two towns with only African American residents, Boley, with a population of a litde more than eight hundred people, and Taft, with a population of around seven hundred, were served by library branches through the WPA.'* Oklahoma also benefited from the Julius Rosenwald Fund in the 1930s, receiving over $7,000 for the purchase of books for African American schools in over two hundred towns and rural districts, including Langston University.'"^ Rosenwald was a founder of the Sears, Roebuck and Co. retail chain, and in 1917 he established a fund primarily to im- prove health care and education for African Americans. In Oklahoma the fund was used to build or tipgrade schools for African Americans as well as assist with building and supporting African American libraries.'^ In addition to improved library services for African Americans in the mid-1930s, library service to shut-ins was just beginning, with eight out of seventy-seven counties having attempted this type of work. Two counties were averaging service to twelve or more homebound people, including the elderly, expectant mothers, and persons with various disabilities. Libraries also served as gathering places in the community for town meetings, art displays, and entertainment such as children's musical re- citals. In an oral history interview, Conlee Jewett, born in 1929, shared a childhood memory: "When [my sister] Jan was playing a music recital wherever, whether it was in a small town library room, which they rented for special events, whether it was that kind of thing or whether they were just using it for a library, we toured the library."" The Cherokee Public Library was one of several libraries that held a series of popular book reviews and travel talks each winter.'"

. ,• Oklahomans Support Libraries . •"

In 1930 the state of Oklahoma was twenty-three years old but already had thirty-five public libraries, a library association, supportive legislation, a state library commission, and a library school.'^ As the decade began, new libraries were added to tbis landscape. Libraries existed in various forms: from a corner in the post office, to a couple of rooms 292 L8cCR/Not Gone unth the Wind in city halls, courthouses, or schools, to stand-alone buildings. College library collections across the state also varied greatly in size, as did the collections in orphanages, penal institutions, and asylums. When appropriations were reduced between 1933 and 1936, there was a lull in library construction as the state experienced an economic downturn. However, as federal aid became available during the latter part of the decade, there was a resurgence of library growth and augmenta- tion throughout the state with the repair of books, the renovation of older lihraries, and the erection of new library buildings. By 1939 the Oklahoma Library Commission's traveling library service provided free access to library materials for most citizens, and the number of libraries had increased significantly.*" Oklahoma's libraries had not "gone with the wind" of the Depression and Dtist Bowl but rather attained a distinct place in the cultural development of communities across the state.

Notes

1. Directory of the State of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City: State Election Board, 1931, 1941). 2. W. David Baird and Danney Goble, Oklahoma: A History (Norman: Univer- sity of Oklahoma Press, 2008), 219-22. 3. Helen Hancock, "1932," Oklahoma Libraries 1 (January 1932): 2. 4. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937: A History and Handbook (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Library Commission, 1937), 256-58. 5. Esther M. Henke, "The History of the Public Libraries in Oklahoma," MA thesis. University of Oklahoma, 1954, 150. 6. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, 107, 49; Oklahoma Libraries 6 (January 1938): 33. 7. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, 108-9. 8. Elsie D. SuUens, "The Interrelation of Women's Clubs and Library Work, with Special Reference to Oklahoma," MA thesis. University of Illinois, 1930, 64. 9. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, 29, 56. 10. Ibid., 230, 46. 11. Ibid., 192, 193. 12. Reports of the Oklahoma Library Commission and Survey of Libraries of Oklahoma, July 1, 1932-June 30, 1933, July 1, 1933-June 30, 1934 (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Library Commission, 1934), 57. 13. "Libraries for Farm Areas to Be Pushed at Convention," Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City), October 16, 1938. 14. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, 194, 213, 214. 15. Reports of the Oklahoma Library Commission and Survey of Libraries of Oklahoma, fulyl, 1936-June 30, 1937, July 1, 1937-June 30, i9i« (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Library Commission, 1938), 1. 16. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, 216. 17. Ibid., 220. 293

18. Reports of the Oklahoma Library Commission and Survey of Libraries of Oklahoma, fuly I, 1930-June30, 1931, July 1, 1931-June30, i 932 (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Library Commission, 1932), 43. 19. Reports, July 1, 1932-June 30, 1933, July 1, 1933-June 30, 1934,51. 20. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, 243. 21. "Payne County Claims National Record for Library Building, and Offers Proof," Tulsa WorW, January 28, 1940. 22. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, 81, 61. 23. Beverly Carpenter, interview by Tanya Einchum,June 13, 2009, Spotlight- ing Oklahoma Oral History Project, Oklahoma Oral History Research Program, Oklahoma State University Library, 30. 24. James A. Barnett, "A History of the 'Empire of Greer,'" thesis, Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, 1938, 77-78. 25. "Olustee Library Achieves Building," Oklahoma Libraries 5 (December 1936): 28. 26. Altus (Okla.) Times-Democrat, April 14, 1936. 27. Jennie Buchanan, "New State Women's Club Minutes and Library Notes," Olustee Public Library, Okla., 2005, n.p. 28. Rep(ïrts,fuly 1, 1932-June 30, 1933, July 1, 1933-June 30, 1934, 53. 29. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937,247. 30. Reports,July 1, 1936-June 30, 1937,July 1, 1937-June 30, 1938, 49, 11. 31. Reports, July 1, 1932-June 30, 1933, July 1, 1933-June 30, 1934, 10. 32. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, 222. 33. Reports of the Oklahoma Library Commission and Survey of Libraries of Oklahoma, July 1, 1938-June 30, 1939, July 1, 1939-June 30, 79-Í0 (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma LibraiT Commission, 1940), 15. 34. Reports,July 1, 1936-June30, 1937,July 1, 1937-June30, 1938, 49, 50. 35. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, 84. 36. Tanya Einchum and Allen Einchum, "Celebrating the Library Spirit: A Look back at the Carnegie Librarie.s in Oklahoma," Chronicles of Oklahoma 79 (Winter 2001-2): 472. 37. George S. Bobinski, Carnegie Libraries: Their Histary and Impact on American Public Library Development (Chicago: American Library Association, 1969), 173. 38. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, 22-23. 39. "History of Oklahoma Public Libraries: Okmulgee Public Library," Oklahoma Libraries 2 (Eebruary 1933): 65. 40. Session Laws of Oklahoma, chap. 18 (1901). 41. Linda Wilson, "Ciuthrie," in Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History àf Culture (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Historical Society, 2007), http://digital.library .okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/G/GU003.html, accessed January 9, 2011. 42. Session Laws of Oklahoma, chap. 27 (1903). 43. Session Laws of Oklahoma, chap. 91, § I (1910-11). 44. Oklahoma Statutes, vol. 1, chap. 24, art. 24, §§ 4924-26 (1931). 45. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, 225. 46. Session Laws of Oklahoma, chap. 49 (1929). 47. Oklahoma Statutes, vol. 2, chap. 66, art. 25, § 12,704 (1931). 48. Reports, July 1, 1932-June 30, 1933, July 1, 1933-June 30, 1934, 49. 49. Session Laws of Oklahoma, chap. 169 (1933). 50. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937,25%. "''' ••.•,... 294 L8cCR/Not Gone mth the Wind

51. Session Laws of Oklahoma, chap. 33, art. 11 (1935). 52. Harlow's Supplement to the Oklahoma Statutes 1931, vol. 1, chap. 33, art. 17, §6347a-c (1940). 53. Reports, July 1, 1936-June 30, 1937, July 1, 1937-June30, 1938,40. 54. Ibid., 36, 39. 55. Reports, July 1, 1932-June 1933, July 1, 1933-June 30, 1934, 51. 56. Reports, July I, 1930-June 30, 1931, July 1, 1931-June 30, 1932, 43. bi. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, m. 58. Reports, July I, 1932-June 1933, fuly 1, 1933-June 30, 1934, 8, 10-11. ;: 59. "Is This Your Problem," Oklahoma Libraries 2 (February 1933): 60. 60. Ibid., 46, 47. . ^ 61. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, 48. 62. Reports, July 1, 1936-June 30, 1937, July 1, 1937-June 30, 1938, 52. 63. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, 221. 64. Reports of the Oklahoma Library Commission and Survey of LUrraries of Oklahoma, July 1, 1930-June 30, 1931, July I, 1931-June 30, i 9i2 (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Library Commission, 1932), 42. 65. Reports, July I 1936-June 30, 1937, July 1, 1937-June 30, 1938, 2. 66. Reports, July 1, 1930-June 30, 1931, July 1, 1931-June 30, 1932, 12. 67. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, 222. 68. Reports,July 1, 1930-June30, 1931, fuly 1, 1931-fune30, 1932, 51. 69. Reports of the Oklahoma Library Commission and Survey of Libraries of Oklahoma, July 1, 1928-June 30, 1929, July 1, 1929-June 30, i 9iO (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Library Commission, 1930), 45. 70. Reports, fuly 1, 1930-June 30, 1931, July 1, 1931-June 30, 1932, 12. IX. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937,90. ' 72. Reports, July 1, 1928-June 30, 1929, July I, 1929-June 30, 1930, 59. 73. Virginia Schoats, interview by Mary Larson, September 3, 2009, Spot- lighting Oklahoma: Muskogee African American Heritage Oral History Project, Oklahoma Oral History Research Program, Oklahoma State University Library, 10. 74. Reports, July 1, 1936-June 30, 1937. July 1, 1937-June 30, 1938,52. 75. Oklahoma Libraries 1900-1937, 242. 76. Louise Robbins, "Changing the Geography of Reading in a Southern Border State: The Rosenwald Fund and the WPA in Oklahoma," Libraries & Culture 40 (Spring 2005): 355. 77. Conlee Jewett, interview by Juliana Nykolaiszyn, July 18, 2009, Spotlight- ing Oklahoma Oral History Project, 8. 78. "Among Oklahoma Libraries," Oklahoma Libraries 5 (November 1936) : 24. 79. Reports, July 1, 1930-June 30, 1931, July 1, 1931-June 30, 1932, 40. 80. Reports of the Oklahoma Library Commission and Survey of Libraries of Oklahoma, July 1, 1942-June 30, 1943, July 1, 1943-June 30, 1944 (Oklahoma City: OklahomaLibrary Commission, 1944), 7. i < Copyright of Libraries & Culture is the property of University of Texas Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.