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With the current economic situation many people are turning back to the Depression for lessons. What did they eat? What did they garden? And for bibliophiles, what did they read? Where did they get their books? Well, thanks to the NPR and Publishers Weekly we know the answer to that. Depression-era reading looked much like today's mass market offerings and that many people got their books from libraries.
At a quick glance, the popular books Americans were reading in the early 1930s — either by taking them out of public libraries, borrowing them from the now-extinct bookstore rental libraries, or buying them — look a lot like the mass market offerings of 2009.
There's a furry precursor to the vampire mania of today lurking in an April 1933 best-seller called The Werewolf of Paris, and even a couple of canine ancestors of Marley and Me: The dog starring as Elizabeth Barrett Browning's spaniel, Flush, in the 1930s Broadway play The Barretts of Wimpole Street is depicted in a Sept. 2 photo spread putting his paw to a contract for a fictional memoir.
I'm not at all surprised. Last year it was reported by Reuters that people were reading more thrillers. Everyone likes a good escapist read don't they? For the Quilting Booklady, Maeve Binchy fills that need. Myself, I like Georgette Heyer novels. They are good mix of madcap mix-ups, lords, ladies and a wee bit of romance. And hey, Heyer was writing during the depression too plus though they are being reissued by Source Books you can still find great old copies in secondhand bookstores and in your local library.
You all know that I love my library and that I consider it to be a huge money saver. If my library's funding was seriously cut or if my library was shut down it would be awful, which is why I'm so upset to hear about the Ohio library's budget being slashed. No, I'm not using the word "slash" lightly. Ohio Governor Ted Strickland announced a proposal that would cut state funding of libraries by 30 per cent, on top of an already announced 20 per cent state budget cut. Yes, the state of Ohio is proposing a 50 per cent budget cut to libraries. Bloggers, like Lesa at Lesa's Book Critiques are reacting strongly to the news.
I understand that states need to balance their budget, but they're doing it on the backs of one of their most important resources. Libraries serve children, the elderly, the unemployed people searching for new jobs. Libraries are the place for families to go for free entertainment at a time when they can't afford other entertainment. Here's my own personal, off-the-wall, theory. If we put money into our schools and public libraries, we wouldn't need to put money into prisons and law enforcement to the extent we do. I think society has their priorities backwards.
And FireMom's message at Stop, Drop and Blog.
There are certain fights worth fighting. Fighting for our libraries, our books and, in essence, our children seems like a worthy fight. Let our state know that our libraries make a difference to our families, our communities and our children. Trust me, I know. There’s no money. Anywhere in the state. I have two passions when it comes to funding: my husband’s job and books. I’ll fight this fight.
I was curious what happened with libraries during the Depression. The Carnegie Public Library of Pittsburgh has a fairly detailed summary of what happened there during the Depression. It includes funding, which did decrease somewhat during the Depression. Circulation increased while funds for books dropped by about $20,000. The number of staff decreased by about sixty people. I found the history really, really interesting. Yes, there were cuts but all efforts were made to make them as minimal as they could while providing the best service available.
The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners offered up some information on public libraries in the state between 1929 and 1933, though not as complete as Pittsburgh. I loved this quotation from 1933.
The Mayor and his cabinet have accepted the premise that it is uneconomical to let an institution fall too far behind because of the depression, and the 1935 allocation is such as to permit that institution to retrieve some of its unfortunate losses in equipment and operation during the last two or three years. Obviously this is not an extravagance, but straight sense.
When tough economic times hit people turn to libraries. From
