As a tribute to Women’s History Month, this story was provided by the Sherman Room of the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library and originally published by the Mansfield News on July 31, 1921 on Page 2 of the Social Section. Those interested in more history should check out the Sherman Room at the Mansfield/Richland Public Library or visit this link.
MANSFIELD — Although a great many folks seem to think that being the librarian of a public library is rather a joke, Miss Helen J. Fox, Mansfield’s librarian, insists, and we all agree that she surely should know, that it is nothing of the kind.
On the other hand, after interviewing Miss Fox, it rather looks as if the joke is on the librarian and not on the people. Miss Fox herself, admits that there are a few other arduous duties besides marking books at the desk.
“When you stop to consider,” Miss Fox began, “that there are around 12,000 books published in the country every year and out of that number we must choose perhaps five or six hundred, you can readily see that in itself is quite a task. And we not only select those books, but we must have a knowledge of just what they are, to be able to recommend them to anyone or to be able to discuss them intelligently.
“So you see that requires a it [sic; bit] of reading and of course there is not much time during the day for such work so it devolves that much home work must be done at night.”
We sat in the office at the library, Miss Fox at her desk, with its piles of book reports and other paraphernalia that gave the look of a good-sized job for any secretary. And yet along with book-knowledge required is a considerable amount of routine duty that occupies its own quota of time.
“What is the most interesting thing about your work, or do you like it all equally well?”
“No indeed. I should say that the desk part is one of the most interesting, principally because of the personal element. During the day’s work, I meet all kinds and classes of people and it is surprising how unexpectedly one comes across a rarely intellectual mind in the last person in the world you would expect it from.
“That is one of the chief requisites for any girl who wishes to take up library work. She must have a decided liking for people, because unless she does, her work is only going to be so much routine. Unless she is sympathetic and immediately becomes interested in the man or woman she is waiting on, she misses a great deal from her job.
“You do not only hunt up a book for someone but if you take your opportunity you have a chance to find out various opinions, various ideas from that person that probably you, yourself never thought of. Or you might find a rare personality that first appearance would not indicate.”
“And the other thing you are most interested in Miss Fox?” I asked.
“I rather think that is the reference work. I like that part of it very much. Many folks seem to think that it is a bother to hunt up something for them, but it is really interesting, for they may want something that we have never heard of, or at least have never had active need of, and in that way, we are continually learning.
“And within the last year the deeper reading and references have been sought. That, as most everything else these days, can be laid to the results of the war [World War I]. That is particularly proven, I think, by the increased popularity of the Atlantic Monthly. That magazine used to lie on the shelves for days and never be touched and recently we have had to send for new copies to add to our already larger supply.
“A great deal of this urge towards the serious is also probably the result of so much unemployment, men, especially have more time to think and to read. Our business has also increased accordingly. This afternoon a line of men stood in front of the desk for fully an hour.
“Of course, the more books we send out, the more work it means for us. Speaking of “just folks,” reminds me of a little incident that happened the other day. A foreigner came in with a book, overdue. I told him there was 5 cents due, but he quickly agreed, saying, “That makes no difference. If it’s 50 cents, I pay it,” which only goes to show after all that there are just as interested people among that class as among our own.”
Miss Fox, by the way, is an ardent hiker, or she would never be able to stand the really tremendous amount of work she does, which is undoubtedly very nerve-racking sometimes. The hiking together with a love of drama, keeps Miss Fox from getting what one would naturally expect from one in her position to be somewhat, a bookworm.
