At the beginning of this year one of the German members of the library board of directors wrote to Mr. Vojta Naprstek, eminent leader of the Czech national party in Prague, and asked him for a list of books in the Czech language most suited for the public library here. The attention of Mr. Naprstek was called to the fact that we intended to make our library a cosmopolitan one, containing especially the best literary works of the nationalities represented in Chicago. This was the first time that a public library in American was attempting to acquire Czech literature and it was to be hoped that the leader of the Czech national party would take part in it.

The letter remained unanswered - as well as a second one mailed three months later to the same address and the deduction was justified that even such eminent Czech leaders as Mr. Naprstek were indifferent to the mental needs of their compatriots in this country.

This deduction has lately been refuted through the arrival of a box of Czech books, which are stamped with the words, "Vojta Naprstek Napamatku" or "Americk Klub." As this consignment was not accompanied by any written message, we are unable to say if it is the result of a collection or the gift of an individual. Many of the books are well bound and over nine tenths of them have been published since 1860, thus no old junk.