During the difficult years of the Great Depression library
circulation as recorded in the Annual Reports remained remarkably steady. In 1938 the library housed 31,092 volumes and
circulation stood at 150, 563.63 Ann Vail, who was a young woman
in the 1930's, remarked to me that the Library was heavily used
during the Depression by everyone - men, women, and children
because there was nothing else to do.**
Grace I. Winslow in her Annual Report for 1939 wrote that
the best elements that characterized the 11brary were "a well
rounded up to date book collection and an outstanding Reference
Department. "Os a certain amount of self congratulations might be
at work here, but in a letter of February 24, 1939 a state
inspector from the Bureau of Library Extension rated Thrall Library highly. The inspector, L. Marion Moshier wrote, "the reference collection is far superior to collections found in the
average library... (Thrall Library) is one of the outstanding
11braries in the state... It will soon be necessary to provide
additional space as the building now is used to capacity."