premiums were raised and those for older
men raised far out of reason, so all the older members had a meeting
down here, to discuss what action they could take. I am glad people come
casually that way--and feel that we are open for something beside the
regular study meetings. They sit around very informally, smoke, come in
and out down stairs and do not have any very formal session.

"In common with the other branches, Barr has had political meetings.
Some have been held just before elections and have been quite warm. On
one occasion, the library was made a buzzing community center by a
series of bombs that were set off in the street. Other and quieter
meetings have been held by party committees, judges of elections and the
like. The State Socialist party has twice held its conventions here, and
each time the session lasted for four days. The meetings were opened
with hymns, and the delegates had all-day sessions, from 9:00 a.m. to
9:00 p.m. I think most of the partisan leaders feel that they are a
little handicapped when they meet in the library--still, they come back
occasionally.

"There are coming to be more purely social meetings of younger grade
pupils. In some cases, these children are not organized, but merely
claim to be in order to get the halls. In other cases, relatives who
come with them to make application are frank to confess that they want
the hall to avoid inconvenience at home, especially the protracted
house-cleanings which are the pre-requisite at most home parties. One
mother said that the last time there was a birthday party in her house,
the man who lived upstairs, after rapping repeatedly on the floor to
stop the children's noise, came down and said, that 'the party would
simply have to bust up.' She wanted to hold this party in the library,
because her husband had such a bad temper, that she was sure he would
murder the man if such a thing happened again, and, of course, it
_would_ happen again, for no children's party would ever be quiet enough
to suit the man upstairs.

"Adult clubs as a whole ask very little of us beyond the occasional use
of the telephone, and they often come and go without our being conscious
of them. This is especially true of day-time meetings. It must be
admitted, that in addition to those who are very friendly and those who
do not make either criticism or appreciation articulate, there are some
who break the monotony of the librarian's existence by thinking 'they
ow