Hermosa librarian to close career — Los Angeles Times article

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Tnurs., July 31, 1975-B- Los Angeles Cimes
SEES APPALLING CHANGE IN CONTENT
Hermosa Librarian to Close Career
That Began 40 Years Ago as a Page
BY ROBERT J. ALLAN Times Staff Writer HERMOSA BEACH-When Mrs. Kathryn Dittmar was 9 years old she would go to the Hermosa Pier with her father while he fished. Her interests, however, were not on fishing but on the nearby county library where she would go to ex- plore the world of books. Now, 56 years later, Mrs. Dittmar will close a 40-year chapter of her life-one that has been filled with books. At 6 p.m. today, she will leave the only full-time job she has held, that of librarian in the Hermosa Beach branch. Mrs. Dittmar started her career as a page in the library- and she has worked in each of the three facilities that have been located in the city. As a page, her job was to put books back
on the shelves.
taken impression about librarians be-
lieving all they do is sit at a desk all
day and read. But, she said, the paper
work alone is tremendous.
Mrs. Dittmar said television has had
the biggest impact on libraries. When
it became popular it accounted for a
marked reduction in reading. But to-
day all that has changed.
She said that many television pro-
ductions of classic stories have
spurred renewed interest in the
books on which they were based.
And as soon as a book is discussed.
on one of TV's talk shows, Mrs. Dit-
tmar said she is besieged with re-
quests for it.
Movies also account for an increase
in interest in the library. Films such
as "Lolita" and now, "Jaws," rocket
those books to the top of the library's
- popularity list.
In her 40 years of library work
Mrs. Kathryn Dittmar Mrs. Dittmar said she has helped find
The first library was in a former
dance hall on the pier. Mrs. Dittmar
books for three generations of beach area residents.
said she will never forget that one
The Bronte sisters' "Wuthering Heights" and "Jane Eyre" as well as And, she said, she is always grati-
nor will she forget the night she was
working there on Jan. 13, 1938.
those by Alexander Dumas pere such. fied when some youngster who has
as "The Count of Monte Cristo" and ? done his research for a school assign-
It was 7:30 p.m. and she was alone
"The Three Musketeers" are probably ment in the library comes back and
except for a 12-year-old boy who was
the most circulated books, she said. beams, "I got an A on that paper."
scanning the shelves. She said she
Mrs. Dittmar complains about some Although Mrs. Dittmar plans ta
smelled smoke and, when she opened
of her patrons getting into reading come back and visit "her library," she
the door of a storage room, "Smoke just poured out."
ruts. She said some readers tell her "I said, "I have a real desire to be a ba- sic housewife."
Mrs. Dittmar sent the youth scam- pering to the Fire Department-"We
have read every book in the library"
because they can't find anything new She expects to move from her
didn't have a telephone in those
in the field of preference. Manhattan Beach home farther south
so that her husband will be closer to
days." She said of the boy who ran
Of her own reading habits, she said
off for help, "I never saw anyone fly
she probably has read more than 6,- his job in Newport Beach.
000 books and likes almost every- And she wants to spend time on
so fast in my life."
thing. her hobbies including furnishings and
The firemen arrived quickly and
: saved the library and its contents with almost no damage. But, she
She said most people have a mis- redecorating a new home as well as needlepoint and other arts and crafts.