"Library Works On Woodwork"

Below is an article, entitled  "Library Works On Woodwork"-- enclosed in a black box -- of 29 books on woodworking, published in the Lethbridge Herald, on March 20, 1947, page 6.  

I found this list of woodworking books searching for articles on Arthur Wakeling's Things to Make in Your Homeworkshop on the newspaper database, www.NewspaperArchive.com. Upon further searching in the  Lethbridge Herald, for Thursday, October 20, 1938, page 6, I found "NEW BOOKS AT LIBRARY: Recent books placed in the Lethbridge public library shelves follow:", and among those listed are De Vette, 100 Problems in Woodwork & Standard Catalog for Public Libraries.

(At the time, I was looking for reviews and/or simply mentions of Arthur Wakeling's 1930 or 1939 edition of Things to Make in Your Homeworkshop, because I wanted some evidence that would allow me to estimate the impact Wakeling's book had, especially whether it was widely purchased by members of the National Homeworkshop Guild. Further searches of the newspaperarchive.com for mention of the use in public libraries of the Standard Catalog for Public Libraries exposed articles in the Salmanca (NY) Republican-Press, April 12, 1947, page 12; Charleston (SC) Gazette Magazine Section, July 31, 1955, page 18m; Edwardsville (IL) Intelligencer, December 7, 1961, page 10)

Brief background on Arthur Wakeling:

From about 1920, Wakeling was an editor at Popular Science Monthly, responsible for a section dedicated to projects for the home-owner, including a wide-range woodworking interests: buying hand and power tools, creating workshop space in the home, building furniture, and so forth. In 1933, he had a major role in the formation of the National Homeworkshop Guild. [For background on the NHG, click here ; for more background on Things to Make in Your Homeworkshop, click here [under construction.]

Below is a portion of the March 1947 article in the Lethbridge Herald:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the gray-shaded below, scan my more-detailed listing of these woodworking books from the article above.  When you look at it, I doubt that you will conclude that the books on the  list has the look of books selected randomly by a worker in the Lethbridge Public Library simply to alert citizens of Lethbridge and the rural areas surrounding this foothills city, south of Calgary, Alberta. Mary Hazel Bletcher was librarian at LPL from 1920-1953, strongly suggesting that she is responsible for the events of 1938 and 1947, reported on below.

Lethbridge in 1947:

The jpg below with the description of the Alberta foothill city of Lethbridge below comes from the 1962 edition of the single-volume Columbia Encyclopedia. I picked it as a source on Lethbridge in the 1940s, primarily because of its proximity in the den here at home where I work. And although 1962 is not 1947, the 1962 account -- in truth, probably late 1950s -- gives a close enough description of this smallish Canadian city to allow you to form a mental image about it.

[Personal note: I was 11 years old in 1947, and lived in the next province to the east, Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan's geographical terrain is flatter, perhaps, but the demographics of Western Canada are basically the same. A mosaic of peoples from a wide range of nations, mostly northern and eastern Europe, and at the time (1947) mostly engaged in agriculture, or other similar jobs, none of which yet required special education. In general, the level of education of most of the population did not yet reflect the rapid increase in higher education, starting in the 1950s -- but especially the 1960s and later -- that took place on both sides of the 49th parallel. Thus, from my perspective, in that era, woodworking as a hobby was a luxury, not engaged in by anybody except a privileged few.]  

 

 

An extended list of the 29 Carpentry and woodworking books available at the Lethbridge Public Library follow in gray-shaded box -- (As time allows I will link most of these titles to their respective entries in the woodworker's manuals section)

1. Frank Duncan Graham;  Thomas J Emery ... Audels carpenters and builders guide ... A practical illustrated trade assistant on modern construction for carpenters--joiners--builders--mechanics and all wood workers ... New York, T. Audel & Co. 1939  

[Ontario Library Review by Ontario Provincial Library Service, Ontario. Public Libraries Branch - 1928, Page 415; Standard Catalog for Public Libraries: an Annotated List of ... by H.W. Wilson Company, Minnie Earl Sears - 1931 - 242 pages Page 187. No preview available on google print because this book is sold as a reprint by the Canada-based woodwork and garden tools distributor, Lee Valley Tools.]

2. Griffith, Ira Samuel, 1874-1924, Carpentry Peoria, Ill., The Manual arts press, 1935

[click on link for full text. Standard Catalog for Public Libraries: an Annotated List of ... by H.W. Wilson Company, Minnie Earl Sears - 1931 - 242 pagesPage 178]

3. Edwin T Hamilton Home carpentry. New York : Dodd, Mead & Co., 1945  466 pages.

[ A Basic Book Collection for High Schools by American Library Association - 1924 page 48] 

4. Hodgson, Fred. T. Carpentry and Joinery Construction. New York : Industrial Publication Co., 1898, ©1897

[Standard Catalog for Public Libraries: an Annotated List of ... by H.W. Wilson Company, Minnie Earl Sears - 1931 - 242 pages Page 178; this book recommended in the Popular Homecraft Library Book Dpartment, in PH's January-february 1931 issue, page 472, as well as other pages; puzzling to include this book in a 1947 list; it is a classic work, but dates from a pre-electrification era]

5. Saylor, Henry H. b. 1880.Tinkering with tools New York:  Grosset & Dunlap, 1942

[Standard Catalog for Public Libraries. by H.W. Wilson Company, Minnie Earl Sears - 1931 - 242 pages, Page 170; The Booklist, by American Library Association – 1969, Page 186]

6. Wakeling, Arthur, ed. Home workshop manual ... 1930, 1939.

For more information about this important woodworker's manual, click here. 

[Listed in Standard Catalog for Public Libraries; an Annotated List of ... by H.W. Wilson Company, Minnie Earl Sears - 1931 - 242 pages, Page 170; Leisure Time Education: A Handbook of Creative Activities for Teachers and Group Leaders, by Anna May Jones - 1946 - 235 pages, Page 21, Ontario Library Review - Page 27]

7. Fred H Colvin, Running an Engine Lathe. New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1941.

[Standard Catalog for Public Libraries, by H.W. Wilson Company - 1967, Page 452]

8. A S Milton. A Course in Wood Turning;

[Listed in Standard Catalog for Public Libraries:  an Annotated List of ... by H.W. Wilson Company, Minnie Earl Sears - 1931 - 242 pages
Page 172] 

9. SHERWOOD, MALCOLM H. From forest to furniture; the romance of wood. Norton, 1936.

[Listed in The Booklist -- by American Library Association - 1969 Page 316; listed in Bulletin of the Public Affairs Information Service, by Public Affairs Information Service, H.W. Wilson Company - 1920; Page 429; A Library Book List for Elementary and Secondary Schools in Nebraska: A Guide to Basic School ..., by Nebraska Dept. of Public Instruction, Ivae Walker, Nebraska Library Association State Planning Committee, National Council of Teachers of English - 1945 - 201 pages, Page 110; A Basic Book Collection for High Schools, by American Library Association – 1924, Page 48]   

10. FAULKNER, HERBERT WALDRON. Wood-carving as a hobby. Harper, 1934. 140 p.; 

[Book Review Digest, by H.W. Wilson Company - 1935, Page 304; The Booklist; by American Library Association,  Page 148; Bulletin of the New York Public Library - Page 346; by New York Public Library – 1939]

11. HELLUM, AMANDA WALKINS, and GOTTSHALL, FRANKLIN H. You Can Whittle and Carve. Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Company,1942. 82 pp.     

[Toronto Public Libraries. Books for Boys and Girls 1954- Page 134; Leisure Time Education: A Handbook of Creative Activities for Teachers and Group Leaders, by Anna May Jones - 1946 - 235 pages Page 212; University of Chicago Round Table (Radio program), University of Chicago - Page 16; Gordon Owen Wilber, Industrial Arts in General Education, 1954  - Page 389

12. Harris Winfield Moore Chip Carving: Twenty-five Projects with Instructions and Full-size Patterns 1935, 32 pages

[listed in School Arts 1935- Page 640; Handcrafts for Elementary Schools: A Handbook of Practical Suggestions for Teachers - Page 6, by Frank C. Moore - 1953 - 324 pages] 

13. Edward Gordon Craig Woodcuts, and Some Words 1925 - 122 pages 

14. Doust, Len ... . A manual on wood engraving; with thirty-six illus. Warne, 1934. ...

[The Booklist - Page 259, by American Library Association ] 

15. Ashcroft, CC and Easton, JAG General shop work ; a manual for shop work ].. (Toronto, Macmillan Co. of Canada, xii, 239pp., $1.00).

[Basic Books for Junior College Libraries;  20,000 Vital Titles by Charles L. Trinkner - 1963; Page 424; The University of Toronto Quarterly - Page 369 by University of Toronto - 1931

16. COLLINS, ARCHIE FREDERICK. Working with tools for fun and profit. Appleton-Century, 1937. 228 p. $2.00. SC: "A simple book on home carpentry. ...Several chapters are devoted to tools and their use, and the value of the ...." 

[Book Review Digest - Page 212, by H.W. Wilson Company – 1938; Books for Boys and Girls - Page 166,by Toronto Public Libraries Boys and Girls Services, Lillian Helena Smith - 1940 - 367 pages; Bulletin of the New York Public Library - Page 33, by New York Public Library – 1939; The Publishers Weekly - Page 587 by R.R. Bowker Company, 1949]

17. A. Frederick Collins, Working With Tools for Fun and Profit

    [The Booklist, by American Library Association – 1969, Page 50]

18. William A. De Vette, 100 problems in woodwork The Bruce Publishing Co., 1924

[Industrial Education - Page 132, ; Standard Catalog for Public Libraries: ..,by H.W. Wilson Company, Minnie Earl Sears - 1931 - 242 pages, Page 172; Bulletin of the New York Public Library - Page 347; by New York Public Library - 1939; Boy Scouts of America, 1931. 16 p. 20*. (Merit badge series.); Branch Library Book News ... - Page 133; by New York Public Library - 1924]

19. Popular Science Monthly, Complete Home Workshop Cyclopedia;  

[The Booklist - Page 228, by American Library Association – 1969; Canadian Library (Canadian Library Association – 1968) - Page 16; Recommended Reference Books for the Elementary School Library, by Ruby Ethel Cundiff - 1949 - 33 pages, Page 13]

20. Louis M. Roehl, The Farmer's Shop Book; Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Company, 1939.

[Peabody Journal of Education, by George Peabody College for Teachers – 1923; Page 211: “A practical book for upper grade children who are interested in making ....”; Industrial Education Magazine - Page 86: “This volume brings together under one ....”] 

21. Johnson, William, and Newkirk, Louis V. General Woodworking. (Industrial Arts Education Series). New York: Macmillan Co., 1946. ...

[recommended in the Elementary School Journal, 1947 - Page 58]

 22. Practical Delta Projects Numbers 2-14;

 23. GEORGE A RAETH,  Master Homecraft Projects. Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Company, 1942. ...

[The Booklist, by American Library Association, 1969, Page 211; The American School Board Journal - Page 68, by National School Boards Association, William Conrad Bruce, Susanna Cocroft - 1944' $2.75  "In this unusual woodworking project book, the author offers a great variety of delightful furniture ideas, ...."; Recreation - Page 651, by National Recreation Association - 1965."Majority of the pieces of furniture described in book are of the modern ...."; Standard Catalog for Public Libraries, by H.W. Wilson Company – 1967, Page 446]

24. Paul V.CHAMPION,  Creative crate craft. Bruce, 1942, $2."

[Books for Boys and Girls - Page 134, by Toronto Public Libraries. Boys and Girls Services, Thomson, Jean - 1954 - 297 pages: “Detailed diagrams and careful instructions for making useful articles such as shelves, ..."]

25. Ken F. Sheperdson, Furnishing the Home Grounds New York: Bruce, 1936

[Kansas Library Bulletin - Page 14, by Kansas Traveling Libraries Commission, Kansas State Library - 1972; Books of Today Selected by the Staff of the Toronto Public Libraries
by Toronto Public Library - 1938 - 70 pages]

26. Morris Williams, Stair Building  New York : D. Williams Co., 1914.

[Standard Catalog for Public Libraries: by H.W. Wilson Company, Minnie Earl Sears – 1931, Page 178]

27. Willoughby, General Shop Handbook;

[The Booklist - General shop handbook ..Page 294 -- Willoughby. 265.

28. Hodgson, Practical Treatise on the Steel Square;

[Standard Catalog for Public Libraries; an Annotated List of ...by H.W. Wilson Company, Minnie Earl Sears - 1931 - 242 pages, Page 178; Monthly Bulletin of Books Added to the Public Library of the City of Boston - Page 352, by Boston Public Library - 1903: "A practical treatise on the steel square and its application to every-day use."] 

29. Stoddard, Steel Square Pocketbook

[Standard Catalog for Public Libraries; an Annotated List of ..., by H.W. Wilson Company, Minnie Earl Sears - 1931 - 242 pages, Page 178; The Booklist, by American Library Association, 1969 Page 86]

 
The article, "Library Works On Woodwork", lists 29 books on a range of woodworking activities, but includes only each book's title and the author's last name, which, taken together, is not very much information to go on, especially if you are only just starting out in woodworking. Instead, what is intended by Lethbridge Public Library is to merely "wet the appetite" of interested Lethbridge-ites.

As explained above, most of these titles are recommended in the  Standard Catalog for Public Libraries, and for those readers curious enough about why I am concerned about this, using material gleaned from the Internet, I have prepared a "quick-and-dirty" account:

What is meant by the Standard Catalog for Public Libraries?   From a variety of sources available on the Web I gleaned the testimony posted below about the use of Standard Catalog for Public Libraries and other similar publications as a "tool" for selecting books for a Library's shelves. A key assumption is that when books on woodworking are critically evaluated and subsequently described in publications such as the Standard Catalog for Public Libraries, public libraries throughout North America seek to purchase as many of these recommended books as their budgets allow. A. M E Ahern Libraries 1931 Page 136 ["... Social Science Supplement the second supplement to the Social sciences of the Standard Catalog for Public Libraries has just been published by HW Wilson ..."] B. Harold Garfield Russell, Raymond Howard Shove, Blanche E. Moen The Use of Books and Libraries - Page 77 - 1933 - 128 pages ["... selection of the best guidebooks to the various countries and principal cities of the world, see the Standard Catalog for Public Libraries, 1949. ...] C. Lester Asheim,  Humanities & the Library: Problems in the Interpretation, Evaluation and Use of Library Materials - Page 90 1957 ["Such tools as the Standard Catalog for Public Libraries, the Shaw List of Books for College Libraries, and similar publications will serve to identify the ..."]  D. Ralph Robert Shaw Libraries of Metropolitan Toronto: A Study of Library Service Prepared for the Library Trustees ... - Page 36  - 1960 - 98 pages ["... books for checking was taken from the Standard Catalog for Public Libraries for recent starred and double starred items in these subject categories. ...]  E. Jerrold Orne Report of a Survey of the Kirkwood Public Library for the Library Board of the Kirkwood Missouri ... - Page 20 by - 1951 ["The fundamental took used by all public libraries is the Standard Catalog for Public Libraries  published by the H,W. Wilson Company, now in a new edition ...']  F. Lydia Margaret Barrette, There is No End - Page 95  - 1961 - 167 pages [HW Wilson Co., ...also publishers of Standard Catalog for Public Libraries,  has published "Basic Books," chosen for various groups as a guide to core collections,... "]  G. Cecil John McHale The Lansing Public Library: A Survey of Its Public and School Services - Page 52 by - 1943 - 74 pages ["In doing this I used as basis for comparison the Standard Catalog for Public Libraries, 1940 edition. In addition, I selected at random the library's ..."]  H. Edward Allen Wight, Leroy Charles Merritt Public Library Service in Pacific Grove: A Report of a Study of the Organization, Services and ... - Page 22  1957 ["Standard Catalog for Public Libraries ... lists only those titles which a large panel of public libraries agree are not only ..."]   I. William Arthur Munford Three Thousand Books for a Public Library - Page 17, 1939 - 188 pages ["A carefully chosen selection of about 15000 items is the Standard Catalog for public libraries, NY, HW Wilson, 1940. ..."]