"How Shall We Make Beatrice Grow!".

The article discusses the Ladies Library Association of Beatrice, Nebraska, focusing on the activities of librarian Clara Bewick Colby in the 1870s. It examines efforts by the society to recruit members and acquire books. The author comments on library finances and the library's subscription system. She notes the opening of the library in 1873 and its reading room in 1878. The article also explores the relationship between the library and the temperance movement, considering competition from the reading room of Beatrice's Red Ribbon Club, a temperance group.