Iola’s central role in the creation of a cooperative library system for 14 counties in southeast Kansas was explained to Rotarians last night by Lucile Wagner, Iola librarian. Iola is the distribution center for the SEK system which has a potential membership of 51 libraries and is now serving 38. The statewide loan system provides access to 1,500,000 volumes. A wanted volume is ordered by teletype and delivered to the ordering library by mail and then checked out to the patron. The Iola library also manages a book rotation service under which about 150 volumes are provided to participating libraries for a month and then exchanged for another shipment. The program gives smaller libraries a constant stream of fresh titles. The area program will complete its trial period of operation in July and then will begin on a permanent basis.
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David Holloway of Gas City, a graduate student at the University of Kansas, will sing a lead role in the premiere of the opera “Carry Nation,” to be presented at KU April 28-31 and then go on tour.
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Dr. John Schmaus of Iola will be a speaker at an international symposium on animal toxins in Atlantic City this weekend. He will discuss recent changes in the treatment of bites or stings by poisonous insects and spiders, particularly the brown spider. Dr. Schmaus said the symposium will draw together all the world’s authorities on venoms and their effects on man. Animal venoms have been of special interest to him for years.
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Jim Wilson, superintendent of public utilities, said city crews have been spraying DDT on elm trees every warm day since the beginning of the year and has now covered about half of the city. The marathon effort is aimed at killing the beetles which spread Dutch elm disease, a deadly fungus infection to the shade trees.
