History of KHCPL During WWI

Recently, the Howard County Historical Society held their Annual Meeting.  The focus was Howard County and World War I.  This is the 100^th anniversary of the United States’ entry into that war.  One of the speakers during the evening was Amy Russell, Head of the Genealogy & Local History Department.  Amy enlightened us on the role of the Kokomo Public Library (now KHCPL) during the war.  KPL played a part in contributing to the war effort.  According to Books Along the Wildcat, by Leonard Felkey, newly appointed head librarian Dana Sollenberger barely had time to step into her position, in January 1917, when the American Library Association declared a $1,000,000 fund drive for books for our fighting men and women.  Kokomo’s assigned allotment was $850.  By October 1917, $821 and 2,200 books had been collected.  However, before his October figure, Sollenberger had sent several hundred books to Fort Harrison in Indianapolis and Camp Beauregard in Louisiana.  Months later, the ALA called for more books.  The Kokomo Tribune carried a “Give A Book” coupon.  When the coupon was sent to the Kokomo Public Library, someone from the library would go to the donor’s home to pick up the books.  A bookplate was affixed inside the front cover, with a picture of an armed doughboy carrying a stack of books.  The bookplate said: “War Service Library: Books are provided by the people of the United States through the American Library Association for the use of the soldiers and sailors.”  The book collections did not stop when World War I ended, the people of Kokomo contributed thousands more for the occupation forces.