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li C. vx E R G CO D incredible scientific achievements of today which incline people to seek wonders in reality rather than imagined events which are dull by comparison. CLASSICS PERMANENT The classics have a permanent place in every bookstore. War books, led by Churchill's War Memoirs, continue to find a steady demand particularly by those soldiers who say they like to be reminded of a period which they considered the most vital of their lives. Miss Matthews said she thinks "The History of the English Speaking Peoples" will also have a long life because history books are always sought by students who realize that there is no bet- ter way of learning about the present and the future than to know the past. The best selling season is in he fall, especially at Christmas, when the majority of books sold in Canada are given as presents. The person giving a book realizes that it has a long term value and appreciation surpassing most others of similar price. The majority of popular books and best sellers have a compar- atively short life. Most fiction cannot be sold profitably for more than three or four months, after which it is placed on the bargain counter a:id sold at a loss. !"Permanents," such as the Bible and the dictionary, are al- ways high among the most wanted. Wider education and the 1 necessity of knowing more about 1 the meaning of words has multi- ! plied production of dictionaries in recent years. "Plow To" books on every con- ceivable subject are well to the i fore. Immigrants eagerly seek | books on how to speak English. "How to Play" sport books are the only ones in this category not to follow the upward trend. It seems that greater opportuni- ties to play arid watch sports have not been accompanied by an equal desire to excel in them. The interest of people of this district in borrowing books is em- . phasized by figures released by j Corby Public Librarian Miss Olive Delaney, which show that there were 72,000 lendings in 1950 and 126,000 books were loared in 1956 for a six year in- crease of 54,000. Interest of city council in the progress of the libnry has also been indicated i by grants which have tripled in ( the last few years. Hopes for the j futuve are assured by growth of I | juvenile reading which has in-1 creased even more than the over- all average. Of the 75,000 adult books bor- rowed last year one half the titles were in the non-fiction group. | Biography was the favorite sub- ' ject especially books about the i lives of such interesting and famous people as Helen Keller, Marion Anderson. Bernard Shaw, Victor Hugo, Nehru. Beaver- j brook, Margaret Truman, Sir John A. Macdonald and others. i Next in popularity were "applied science" books cover- ing such subjects all the way from television, machinery, car-1 pentry, to "Understanding Your Ulcer" and "The Gourmet Cook- ery for Low Fat Diet." Well received war books were "Gallipoli" by the English writer Alan Morehead, "Ark Royal," and "Battle of the River Piatt." Escape stories like Slavorir Raw- i icz's "The Long Walk" and aerial j operations as related by John E. I Johnson's "Wing Leader" were} samples of some of the more popular titles. Travel books and explorations of archaelogists also had a large j following. A television program' showing the sinking of the Ti- j tanic brought a rush of people to | the library in search of the book "A Night to Remember," and one about Bridie Murphy brought a similar reaction for the book "Search for Bridie Murphy." Many readers have no use for the modern novel which leaves j nothing to the imagination while other borrowers demand reality undiluted. The interest range is wide and varied. Historical novels, stories of doctors and nurses, science fiction, mysteries, family problems and others showed borrowers have a wide variety of tastes. Some novels, like Hersey's "A. Single Pepple," and Kathryn Hulme?s "The Nun's i Story," were appreciated for the story and the quality of the writing. Canadian books continued to i enjoy a healthy growth. Lady Eaton's "Memory Kail" and Kate Aitken's "Never a Day So Bright," demonstrated that Cana- dian women can write about in- teresting lives as well as live them. Some were based on the reality of adventurous experiences such as "The Land of the Long Day" by Douglas Wilkinson who lived with the Eskimos, and "The Mys- terious North" by Pierre Berton. A new book by Kenneth Wells, the life story of L. M. Montgom- ery, more good books by Cana- dian novelist Thomas Raddall and the first novel by'a Winni- peg girl, Adele Wiseman "The Sacrifice" are but a few of the books that were borrowed from the Corby Public Library during the past year. T. E. Schwab, owner of Schwab's Office Supplies which carries only children's books, confirmed the same progressive trend. Parental insistence on buying the same books for their chil- dren that they once enjoyed themselves has created rather an extraordinary situation making it nearly impossible for a new children's writer to break into ; the field while publishers will continue for many years to pile up sales from the works of classic authors long since dead. The only really successful challenger has been a large size, I well illustrated educational series covering in the language of chil- dren such adult subjects as science, religion, history, geo- graphy, astronomy and poetry. The general trend among youngsters is towards more and better literature, less interest in sport stories and a marked de- cline in comics. Miss Joy Nichols, owner of the; Quinte Book Store, noted that j people are not only buying more' books but also better ones. "The trend is definitely towards super- ior literature. Buyers want better books and are willing to pay for them." Miss Nichols said that despite | the appearance of a host of new jj titles, the Bible continues as the 1 all time best seller. I | A stickler for combing out from her shelves any book which , might be considered questionable, j Miss Nichols does not hesitate to tell buyers looking for ove>-. daring novels to go elsewhere i She admits that a publi.vhei | once succeeded in slipping pa?' her a fast book with a slow <x>ver but it was spotted and returned before any embarrassment was caused.