When November fogs and frost cut out night excursions in favour of blazing hearths, there is one “entertainment” centre in Rushden which buzzes with increased activity – the Public Library.

The reading habits of the Rushden public are worthy of investigation. Just what do those 1,000 odd books that are taken away every Saturday contain? What pages of love and mystery, science and adventure, are turned by young and old while toes are warmed and tempers thawed?

Fiction is top favourite. And if a film comes to town adapted from a book; if a radio serial “catches on” or a Sunday newspaper serialises a story, the Rushden Librarian (Miss M. Perkins) and her staff start preparing waiting lists. The rush is on.

“My Brother Jonathan” is an example. An old book, but now the subject of a film which recently proved popular in the town, it is sharing an immense popularity at the Library. Two of the top favourites at the moment are “The Gathering Storm” (by Winston Churchill) – there is quite a queue of Councillors for this – and “The Foxes of Harrow.”

Favour Fiction

On the non-fiction side, travel and biographies find the greatest following, but there is a seven-to-one ratio in favour of fiction, of which the Rushden public favour the “better class” novels.

The average adult pays a fortnightly visit to the Library; many prefer to retain the book and pay a twopenny “fine” for every week thereafter. (£3 12s. 5d. in fine tickets went into the deposit box last week). May to July are the slackest periods; “trade” picks up again in October and reaches its peak between January and February.

Advice should be taken from an assistant before asking for a book, as instanced in the case of an ardent angler who pounced on a copy of “Neither Fish nor Flesh,” but found his fishing knowledge did not improve with the acquisition of a love story.

Another customer sought a book on “China” and went away with geographical facts, but not the pottery instructions he had sought. A request for “Man About the House” could yield two or three books – a play or novel by Francis Brett-Young or a handbook on how to mend taps.

One regular “Darby and Joan” couple have a more or less standing order for a cowboy and love story respectively. The Rushden author, H. E. Bates, has an undoubted following, and there have been numbers of inquiries for his latest book, “The Jacquaranda Tree,” publication of which has now been delayed until next February.

Junior’s Room

The juniors, who have their own room – there are rather more girl borrowers than boys – show a preference for adventure, history, animal, school and religious subjects. Some undertake quite solid reading such as “The Adventures of Don Quixote,” which was returned during our visit, and there are numerous requests for “another Jesus book.” Enid Blyton has a strong following as an author.

The more studious minds who frequent the precincts of the Newton Road establishment have in the past 13 years – since an excellent inter-change library system was established – taken advantage of 1,500 books, at the nominal cost of postage, from libraries all over the country and as far afield as Ayreshire in Scotland. Before the war books could be exchanged with the Continent and over the Atlantic. In this same way Rushden has sent out 388 books of enlightenment to all parts of the country.

Requests for books on “Roman Imperial Coinage,” from anything on athletics to music, from bee-keeping to furniture, are invariably met in this way. There were inquiries for manuals on spiritualism, psychology and artificial lungs on the day of our visit.

So much for the visitors to the lending library, but what of the stalwarts of the reading room – the all-year-rounders – who occupy a soft spot in the heart of the staff?

Regulars

Without doubt the newspaper room is the place for men. Come winter or summer, come hail or snow, the regulars are on the doorstep at opening time (9.30), making a cheery greeting and weather prediction to the caretaker (Mr. Barker).

They seldom miss a day for years on end. If they do, they are soon missed by the staff, who inquire as to their welfare from the “cronies.” Often it is to learn that yet another has passed on.

They converge on the general sporting news, politics and Stock Exchange in that order of popularity. Between 20 and 30 others congregate for a briefer sojourn at each of the dailies for the racing news.

Many adjourn into the magazine room – where the “Smallholder” is well thumbed by those with gardening interests – and make a day of it, merely retiring for lunch and tea.

Out of town workers are found in the newspaper room for 15 minutes or so at lunch-time. Travellers can usually be found in the magazine room.

There is not one lady who is given the distinction of being a regular in the newspaper room; while the men invariably return before 8 p.m. to read the evening papers, too.

Friday is the afternoon for prams and shopping baskets. The women then crowd into the magazine room to pore over the women’s journals.