Yet More Did You Know...
Here's Some Library Numbers For Ya!
And so, we continue with one of our Reader’s Picks! We asked you all a couple weeks ago what we should write about. One thing that many of you mentioned was more stories of the library. In particular, our friend Liz suggested framing some library stories as “Did You Know…” So, I have an interesting one for you today. Ready? Let’s keep going!
DID YOU KNOW that the very first reported inventory at our little library, all the way back in 1896, was 615 books?
While many of us - ahem - likely have that many books now in our personal library collections, back then, for a brand new library, that was a pretty darn large collection!
The very first librarian, Frances Griffin, reported 46 biographies, 46 histories, 23 volumes of poetry and 29 travel books, among others. The library then, as it is today, focused mostly on fiction. That first collection held 255 volumes of fiction, featuring Hawthorn, Dickens, Elliot and Stowe.
The total library budget for 1896 that included salary for the librarian? A whopping twenty-five dollars. The following year, the town splurged and raised the budget to forty-four dollars, AND added fifty-seven dollars into a capital building fund.
By 1900, Griffin Free Public Library boasted nearly 1,000 volumes, along with the prized jewel of the collection, a 1832 era encyclopedia.
As the library grew, the young Board of Trustees grew frustrated that the town seemed overly interested in books that were “worthless or worse than worthless.” They were talking about fiction books, which were more expensive than science or history, but far more popular - as they continue to still be.
And today? Well, we have running water and a bathroom now, which was finally installed in the early 2000s. Before that, staff had to put a Be Right Back sign on the door and use the porta potty out back.
Our budget and salaries are still the same. (Just kidding. They are slightly higher!)
But the big number, of course, is our collection. Even though the library itself is only one-room larger from those early years, we now have about 16,000 items in our physical collection - and basically the world at our patrons’ fingertips through our digital and inter-library loan system.
Occasionally reminding yourself how far you’ve come is always a good practice, in business or in your life. Seeing where you were - hopefully - prevents you from getting stuck there. Look back but carry on!
Thank you for this fascinating "Did you know . . . ?"