The question of economy often arises in connection with bulletin work. Are bulletins sufficiently useful and effective to pay for the outlay of time and money? In a system of central and branch libraries this is not so serious a problem as the same bulletin may be of service in the various libraries. The tendency toward extravagance would appear in the excessive quantity of bulletins exhibited, rather than in the expensive quality of any one of them. Certainly we should strive to be economical in the sense of planning the material without loss or waste, but "whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well," and the main question is, are bulletins worth doing at all? The bulletin justifies itself by the results it accomplishes in calling attention to subjects, guiding the reading, circulating books, and increasing the children's observation and enjoyment of pictures.
By Harriet H. Stanley,Brookline(Mass.)Public Library.
Preliminary to preparing this report, a list of 15 questions was sent to a number of libraries in different parts of the United States, from 24 of which replies were received. So far as space would permit, the facts and opinions obtained have been embodied in this paper.
Reference work with grown people consists in supplying material on various topics; we consider it sufficiently well done when the best available matter is furnished with as little cost of time and trouble to the inquirer as is consistent with the service we owe to other patrons of the library. To a certain extent this statement is true also of reference work with children, but I think we are agreed that for them our aim reaches further—reaches to a familiarity with reference tools, to knowing how to hunt down a subject, to being able to use to best advantage the material found. In a word, we are concerned not so much to supply information as to educate in the use of the library. Seventeen of the 24 libraries reporting judge children to be sent to them primarily, if not wholly, for information. One of the first steps towards improving and developing reference work with children will have been taken when the teacher appreciates the larger purpose, since the point of view must materially affect the character and scope of the work. Another forward step is for the library to have definitely in mind some plan for accomplishing these ends. Whatever the plan, it will in likelihood have to be modified to accord with the teacher's judgment and needs, but a definite proposal ought at least to give impetus to the undertaking.
Six libraries state that a considerable part of the inquiries they receive from children are apparently prompted by their individual interests, and not suggested by the teacher. These inquiries relate chiefly to sports, mechanical occupations and pets. This paper is confined to the discussion of reference work connected with the schools.
Library facilities.
In selecting reference books for the purpose, certain familiar ones come at once to our minds. Beyond those there have been suggested: Chase and Clow's "Stories of industry," "Information readers," Brown's "Manual of commerce," Boyd's "Triumphs and wonders of the 19th century," Patton's "Resources of the United States," Geographical readers,Youth's Companiongeographical series, Spofford's "Library of historic characters," Larned's "History for ready reference," Ellis's "Youth's dictionary of mythology," Macomber's "Our authors and great inventors," Baldwin's "Fifty famous stories," "Riverside natural history," Wright's "Seaside and wayside," bound volumes of theGreat Round World,and text-books on various subjects.
A dictionary catalog will be useful in teaching the child to look up subjects for himself. If a separate catalog is provided for children, the question arises whether it is wiser to follow closely the A. L. A. headings or to modify them where they differ from topics commonly asked for by children or used as headings in text-books. This question suggests also the advisability of a modified classification for a children's library.
Last and not least, children should have room and service adapted to their needs, so that they may not constantly have to be put aside in deference to the rightful demands of adult readers.
So far as the writer knows, the Public Library of Boston was the first library to open a reference room expressly for children, well equipped and separate from the children's reading room or circulating department, and from the general reference department for adults.
Choice of topics.
Many libraries report that they find the topics habitually well chosen. The gist of the criticisms is as follows:
(a) The teacher should make clear to the child just what he is to look up and how to ask for it. An eastern library furnishes this incident:
"I want a book about flowers."
"Do you want a special flower?"
"Yes, I want the rose."
A book on the cultivation of roses is handed her. Her companion, looking over, exclaims, "Why, she wants theWars of the roses!" The same librarian was invited to provide something onAmerican privileges;whether social, religious, political, or otherwise, the child did not know.
(b) The teacher should be reasonably sure that there is on the topic something in print, in usable shape, that can be gotten at with a reasonable amount of labor.
(c) The subject when found should be within the child's comprehension. The topicGrassesis manifestly unfit for children, since grasses are difficult to study, and the description of them in encyclopedias and botanies is too technical. An eight-year-old had to investigate theAbyssinian war. Pupils under 16 were assigned the topicSyncretism in the later pagan movement. A western librarian was asked by some girls for Kipling's "Many inventions" and "Day's work." Both were out. "Well, what other books of Kipling's onagriculturehave you?" "Why, Kipling hasn't written any books onagriculture;he writes stories and poems." "But we have to debate on whether agriculture or manufacturing has done more for the welfare of the country, and we want a book on both sides."
(d) The topic should be definite and not too broad, and should be subdivided when necessary. The briefest comprehensive description ofRomeis probably that in Champlin's "Persons and places," where the six columns, already much condensed, would take more than an hour to copy. A young girl came to find out about Italian painters. None of the several encyclopedias treated them collectively under eitherItalyorArt. Mrs. Bolton's book of 10 artists includes four Italians, but it takes some time and skill to discover them, as the fact of their nationality does not introduce the narrative. How should a sixth grade pupil make a selection from the 60 painters in Mrs. Jameson's book? Three names were furnished by the librarian, and the child made notes from their biographies. The next day she returned and said she hadn't enough artists.
(e) The question should preferably be of such nature that the child can be helped to find it rather than be obliged to wait while the librarian does the work. One inquiry was, "What eastern plant is sometimes sold for its weight in gold?" This is not in the book of "Curious questions."
(f) The topic should be worth spending time upon. Thegenealogy of Ellen Douglaswill hardly linger long in the average memory.
Use made of the material by the child.
Suppose the topic to be good and suitable material to have been found; for older children there are two good ways of using it—one to read through and make notes on the substance, the other to copy in selection. Children need practice in doing both. The first method suits broad description and narration, the second detailed description. There seems to be a prevailing tendency to copy simply, without sufficient neglect of minor points, a process which should be left to the youngest children, since it furnishes little mental training, uses a great deal of time, keeps the writer needlessly indoors, and fosters habits of inattention, because it is easy to copy with one's mind elsewhere. The necessity for using judgment after the article has been found is illustrated by the case of some children who came for the life of Homer. Champlin, in about a column, mentions the limits within which the conjectures as to the time of Homer's birth lie, the places which claim to be his birthplace, and tells of the tradition of the blind harper. The children, provided with the book, plunged at once into copying until persuaded just to read the column through. "When you finish reading," I said, "come to me and tell me what it says." They came and recounted the items, and only after questioning did they at all grasp the gist of the matter, that nothing is known about Homer. Even then their sense of responsibility to produce something tangible was so great that they would copy the details, and from the children who came next day I judged that the teacher had required some facts as to time and place and tradition. While it is true that we learn by doing and it is well that children should rely upon themselves, it is evident that young pupils need some direction. Even when provided with sub-topics, they often need help in selecting and fitting together the appropriate facts, since no article exactly suits their needs. About half of the reporting librarians are of the opinion that it is the teacher's business to instruct pupils in the use of books; they consider the library to have done its share when the child has been helped to find the material. The other half believe such direction as is suggested above to be rightly within the librarian's province; several, however, who express a willingness to give such help, add that under their present library conditions it is impracticable. We can easily see that time would not permit nor would it be otherwise feasible for the teacher to examine every collection of notes made at the library, but there ought to be some systematic work where the topics are thoughtfully chosen, the librarian informed of them in advance, and the notes criticised. A moderate amount of reference work so conducted would be of greater benefit than a large quantity of the random sort which we now commonly have. Five librarians state that they are usually given the topics beforehand. Several others are provided with courses of study or attend grade meetings in which the course is discussed.
Systematic instruction in the use of the library.
While a general effort is being made to instruct children individually, only a few libraries report any systematic lessons. In Providence each visiting class is given a short description of books of reference. In Hartford an attempt at instruction was made following the vacation book talks. In Springfield, Mass., last year the senior class of the literature department was given a lesson on the use of the library, followed by two practice questions on the card catalog. In one of the Cleveland branches talks are given to both teachers and pupils. At the Central High School of Detroit the school librarian has for the past three years met the new pupils for 40 minutes' instruction, and test questions are given. A detailed account of similar work done in other high school libraries is to be found in the proceedings of the Chautauqua conference. Cambridge has given a lecture to a class or classes of the Latin school. In the current library report of Cedar Rapids,Ia., is outlined in detail a course of 12 lessons on bookmaking, the card catalog, and reference books. The librarian of Michigan City, Ind., writes: "Each grade of the schools, from the fifth to the eighth, has the use of our class room for an afternoon session each month. Each child is assigned a topic on which to write a short composition or give a brief oral report. When a pupil has found all he can from one source, books are exchanged, and thus each child comes into contact with several books. At these monthly library afternoons I give short talks to the pupils on the use of the library, the reference books, and the card catalog, accompanied by practical object lessons and tests." At Brookline our plan is to have each class of the eighth and ninth grades come once a year to our school reference room at the library. The teacher accompanies them, and they come in school hours. The school reference librarian gives the lesson. For the eighth grade we consider the make-up of the book—the title-page in detail, the importance of noting the author, the significance of place and date and copyright, the origin of the dedication, the use of contents and index. This is followed by a description of bookmaking, folding, sewing and binding, illustrated by books pulled to pieces for the purpose. The lesson closes with remarks on the care of books. The ninth grade lesson is on reference books, and is conducted largely by means of questioning. A set of test questions at the end emphasizes the description of the books. In these lessons the pupils have shown an unexpected degree of interest and responsiveness. The course brought about 400 children to the library, a few of whom had never been there before. These were escorted about a little, and shown the catalog, charging desk, bulletins, new book shelves, etc. Every one not already holding a card was given an opportunity to sign a registration slip. The following year the eighth grade, having become the ninth, has the second lesson. With these lessons the attitude of the children towards the library has visibly improved, and we are confident that their idea of its use has been enlarged.
Bibliographical work.
The inquiry was made of the reporting libraries whether any bibliographical work was being done by the high school. The question was not well put, and was sometimes misunderstood. Almost no such work was reported. At Evanston, Ill., one high school teacher has taught her class to prepare bibliographies, the librarian assisting. At Brookline we have ambitions, not yet realized, of getting each high school class to prepare one bibliography a year (we begin modestly) on some subject along their lines of study. Last May the principals of two grammar schools offered to try their ninth grades on a simple bibliography. The school reference librarian selected some 60 topics of English history—Bretwalda, Sir Isaac Newton, East India Company, the Great Commoner, etc. Each bibliography was to include every reference by author, title and page to be found in the books of the school reference collection of the public library. The pupils displayed no little zest and enjoyment in the undertaking, and some creditable lists were made. Observation of the work confirmed my belief in its great practical value. Pupils became more keen and more thorough than in the usual getting of material from one or two references on a subject. Such training will smooth the way and save the time of those students who are to make use of a college library, and is even more to be desired for those others whose formal education ends with the high or grammar schools.
The practice of sending collections of books from the public library to the schools is becoming general. When these collections are along the lines of subjects studied, it would seem as if the reference use of the library by pupils might be somewhat diminished thereby. No doubt it is a convenience to both teacher and pupils to have books at hand to which to refer. The possession of an independent school library also tends to keep the reference work in the school. But in neither case ought the reference use of the public library or its branches to be wholly or materially overlooked, since it is on that that pupils must depend in after years, and therefore to that they must now be directed. We recognize that the people of modest means need the library. As for the very well-to-do, the library needs them. Other things being equal, the pupil who has learned to know and to know how to use his public library oughtlater so to appreciate its needs and so to recognize the benefits it bestows that he will be concerned to have it generously supported and wisely administered.
Even we librarians claim for our public collections no such fine service as is rendered by those private treasures that stand on a person's own shelves, round which "our pastime and our happiness will grow." Books for casual entertainment are more and more easily come by. But so far as our imagination reaches, what private library will for most readers supplant a public collection of books for purposes of study and reference? Is it not then fitting that we spend time and effort to educate young people to the use of the public library? Do not the methods for realizing this end seem to be as deserving of systematic study as the details of classification and of cataloging? We have learned that to bring school authorities to our assistance our faith must be sufficient to convince and our patience must be tempered by a kindly appreciation of the large demands already made upon the schools. Have we not yet to learn by just what lessons and what practice work the reference use of the public library can best be taught to children?
I.THE SCHOOL.
By May L. Prentice,City Normal School, Cleveland, O.
Years ago a little girl ran down a country road to meet the light wagon returning from town with the purpose of climbing into the back and so getting a ride. Without turning, the wise elder brother spoke from the driver's seat: "I wouldn't undertake that if I were you." And over his shoulder a breathless but dignified voice answered, "But I have already undertooken it!"
A similar answer might reasonably be expected from the library to any well-meant but tardy advice from the school-side in regard to the vitalization of the relation between the school and the library. It has already been accomplished, and comparatively small thanks are due to the school for its doing.
Graded lists of books, special lists of materials for occasions, library league work, the establishment of school branch libraries, all these have been the work of the library in a much larger measure than of the school.
However, there are many teachers who share the library's buoyant faith in the blessing which books bring. These have been first to appreciate all which the library has offered them. They have accepted all that has been offered them and asked for more. They have circulated library books through their own schools, sometimes at considerable cost and trouble to themselves, and for years have done all in their power to make their pupils wise and discriminating patrons of the library. That the children of their care and love might have life and have it more abundantly—that is why they have done these things.
These teachers are comparatively few.
That it is any function of the school to give joy to its children is an idea of slow growth. A child's school-time is usually thought of as preparation for living and not as living itself. Hence the rebuke of the teacher to the child who interrupts the "nature-lesson" to blow the thistle-down which waves over his head, or to watch the bee which booms against the window-pane, or the hawk which floats lazily against the blue sky. Life is such a wild, wilful, irregular thing. Quietude, prudent inaction, is so much safer.
So with books. It is the old search for life, life, more abundant life—for knowledge of it, for entrance into it—which sends the child to the fairy-story, the boy to the tale of adventure, the young girl to the story of romance, the older man and woman to the realistic novel. And it is the instinctive feeling of the teacher and parent that life is a dangerous force and difficult of control which has made school and home look askance upon reading which the child finds too enjoyable.
There is another feeling or belief which lies back of our doubt of work or study or reading which is too enjoyable. It is in regard to the part which love of ease plays in human enjoyment. Love of ease is strong in humannature, and the man who tries to get his knowledge of human life mainly through the novel has indeed sought a short-cut to his end which will bring him but a short distance on his way. This is not the time nor place for the discussion of the value of fiction, but undoubtedly we are inclined to believe that man's indolence is a strong factor in man's enjoyment of certain lines of reading, and indolence is a bad thing. Therefore, we distrust the value of such reading. Whether we like or dislike it, however, we are obliged to admit that fiction is a permanent form of literature, that our children will read it, and that the question for us to settle is shall it be good or poor.
What, then, has the teacher to do? Two things: Tobethe atmosphere from which the child breathes in love for and delight in good books. This is first. All things in the way of learning are possible after this. Second, to be the pupil's guide and director in what may be called his "laboratory practice" with books.
The Autocrat, mellowest of men of ideas, once suggested that every college and university should have a professorship of books. The Autocrat was an ingrained aristocrat, although one most mild and kind. The true democratic idea is that a professorship of books should be established in every school-room.
But how shall the blind lead the blind? How shall the teacher who herself never has learned to know, to enjoy, and to choose good books guide others to do so?
The library is a storehouse of great thought, an unfailing source of healthful recreation, but also the library is the mine in which the practical man and woman, the lawyer, the machinist, the scientist, the teacher, must dig deep for information, if he is to keep near the head in his own line of work.
So far, as I have said before, nearly all organized effort to teach the teachers along these lines has come from the library. Certain normal school and college librarians have done much, but to a large extent the work has been on sufferance. Odds and ends of the students' time and attention have been given to it.
The desirable thing is that the study of juvenile literature and the use of the library shall take equal rank with other studies in the preparation of prospective teachers; that the normal school, the pedagogical department of the college and university, the teachers'summer-schooland institute, shall recognize this subject in their curricula.
The practical side of library use—its use for information—is easily seen by the public, and schools for teachers can quite readily be induced to make room for the course of study suggested.
In the Cleveland City Normal Training School an attempt to carry out such a course of study has been made. A term's work is given in juvenile literature and the use of the library. Moreover, this subject is placed upon an equality with the philosophy of teaching, history of education and psychology.
As yet the work is not thoroughly organized. We feel, however, that some things of value have been already accomplished.
In a twelve-weeks' term a class of 116 prospective teachers (the junior class of the school) have taken notes on a series of talks on reference books. They have learned something of the comparative value of various standard encyclopædias, gazetteers, dictionaries and indexes, and they have been sent to the public library a half-day at a time to do work which required the use of these.
For instance, a study of the life of Robert Louis Stevenson was made for the purpose of giving a talk on the subject to fifth-grade pupils. The students were required to look up all the available material in the library, looking not only in the printed and card catalogs for individual and collective biography, but in the various indexes—Poole's, the Annual, the Cumulative—for magazine articles. They were required to select the four or five articles found most valuable and to estimate their comparative value for the purpose in hand, making definite statements of the points of value. They were required to make careful and well-worded notes from the best material available, either books or periodicals, always giving the source, and to read these notes in class subject to the criticism of their instructor and school mates. And, lastly, they were required to write the story of Stevenson's life as they would tell it to the children.
Careful instruction in the use of the printed and card catalogs and of indexes had preceded this assignment. We were fortunate in possessing quite a large number of issues of the Cumulative index unbound. It was thus possible to place one of these in the hands of each student during instruction on the subject. This was a considerable aid.
There was too much work with the less-used ready-reference books. Next year the number will be largely reduced.
A study of fairy stories was made. An attempt was made to find a philosophical basis for the love of children for fairy stories. An attempt was made to discriminate between the good and the bad fairy story. Felix Adler's "Moral instruction of children" was helpful here, but the study of the fairy stories at first hand is still more helpful.
The following books were read by the whole class:
(1) Alcott's "Little Women." Lessons were given on reading it with the children.
(2) Mara L. Pratt's "History stories," vol. 3.
(3) Eggleston's "First lessons in American history." The Pratt and Eggleston books were read in succession for the purpose of contrasting them. A yet better contrast would have been Baldwin's "Fifty famous stories."
(4) Frau Spyri's "Heidi." Some of our girls read this story in the original German but most in the translation published by Ginn & Co. It is a charming story of a breezy little maiden whose home was in the Swiss Alps, and one of the rather scarce desirable books for the fourth grade.
(5) Mrs. Burnett's "Sara Crewe." This was read as a type of the "child novel" and for the sake of a study of the charms, dangers and benefits of this class of books.
(6) Howard Pyle's "Men of iron" was read as a study of the worthy historical story.
The following outline was given the students as an aid in judging the books read:Outline to aid in estimating a juvenile book.
1. Written when? By whom? For children or adults? [e.g., "Robinson Crusoe" and "Gulliver's travels" were written for adults.] If for children, of what age? (Consider both manner and matter.)
2. Essential purpose of the book: Recreative? Instructive? Moral? Is the recreation afforded wholesome? The instruction reliable? The moral lessons sound?
3. Style: Is it clear? Correct? Beautiful? Suitable?
4. If a story, What is the strongest character in it? The most effective passage? Give reasons for thinking so. Is it true to life?
5. Is the book a creator of ideals? How so? Along what lines?
An effort was made that there should be no formal adherence to this outline. Papers on the books read were required in which the outline could not be used. For example, after reading "Men of iron" the students were required to write, in class, a paper on "The education of a boy in chivalry" based on the story of Myles Falworth.
The oral discussions of these books were often very animated.
Each student was also required to hand in an annotated list of at least 20 books actually read by the student and judged by her suitable for the grade in which she is to train. An oral discussion of these lists took place, and the student in many cases was required to justify her judgment, and to answer questions in regard to the books read.
Some of these lists were very cheering. One excellent list for the sixth grade, with very original annotations contained 60 instead of 20 books actually read, and 30 more which the student had listed to be read at her convenience.
Not all of the lists were of that character. A list for the third grade recommended "Gulliver's travels, by Gulliver" as a valuable aid in geography.
The instance is eloquent of the value of a course of study which results in the illumination or the elimination of such a student.
Much remains to be worked out, but a beginning has been made.
Ours is one instance of the awakening of the school to the value of the privileges which the library gives it. And as the reward of doing work well is invariably to have more work to do, from the school fully awakened the library shall receive its exceeding great reward in more work to be done.
Except for the hearty co-operation of the Cleveland Public Library the little experiment here outlined could not have been undertaken.
II.THE LIBRARY.
By Irene Warren,Librarian University of Chicago School of Education.
The establishment of the Library Section of the National Educational Association was proof that the thoughtful librarians and school men of this country believed that an effective co-operation between public schools and public libraries was possible. In many states library sections of the state teachers' associations have been formed. Many public libraries have for some time past systematically sent both books and lists of books to the public schools.
No sooner had this been done than librarians and teachers both saw that they had made but a beginning, and the next steps, and, indeed, the present needs, are to bring about a more intelligent use of both books and libraries and to place larger and better arranged collections within easy access of the pupils. Rarely do the teachers find the libraries adequate to the reference work or the collateral reading they wish the pupils to do. The funds are seldom sufficient to keep the libraries up to date. There is no one person in the school who knows how to organize and administer the library, and therefore whatever work the teachers do in this line is at a greater expense of both time, energy and material than it would be were it done by one having had a library training. The school buildings are frequently closed to the students shortly after the school session, usually by five o'clock, and always on holidays and during vacations. Most of the pupils' reading and research must therefore be done in the one or two books which he carries home with him. The Buffalo Public Library made another step in organization when it offered to take the collections of books from any of the public schools in the city and in return mend, rebind, catalog, classify them, furnish such schools as agreed to this arrangement with the books they needed, either from their own collections or from that of the public library, and appoint two attendants to look after the school work.
The public school began with the one central school in the community, but it soon found that it must establish branches if it reached all of the children of the city. To-day there is no town of any considerable size but has its central school with a high school usually, and its branches on the north, east, south and west sides. The public library, following the public schools, has found that it cannot reach the people of the community unless it delivers books to the various parts of the town, and moreover establishes branch reading rooms where at least reference books may be consulted and magazines read.
As in the history of the schools, so in the history of the libraries, provision was first made for the mature student. Educators have been slow to see that they should begin with the child before he has established habits of thought and action. Not until the public library is considered a vital factor in the educational scheme of a city can it hope to secure its best results, nor is this possible when the central library and its few branches are removed, as at present, from the public schools. The libraries and the schools should be housed in close proximity to do the most effective work.
It is with keen interest that the experiment in New York City is being watched. It certainly seems as if the most economical arrangement would be to have the branch of the public library so placed in a school building that the students would have free access to it, and the public also, not only during school hours but public library hours. It seems the logical duty of the board of education to furnish the few necessary reference books that are in continual demand in every school room and also the sets of books which are used for supplementary reading. It does, on the other hand, seem that the public library can furnish a larger general collection, in better editions and keep them in better condition for less money and with better results than can the public schools.
The already crowded curriculum in most of our public schools made many an educator hesitate when a course in library economy was suggested. One can indeed see a time not far distant, it is hoped, when such a course will not be thought necessary. Such a time will be when instructors have awakened to a much greater appreciation of the value and use of bibliography and the need of training students in this line. Along with this will develop a desire in the student to keep his own references and material so arranged that he will be able to use them easily. There will still be considerable of a general bibliographical character,handbooks, etc., which would be of value in all subjects and yet perhaps be overlooked by the specialists, that could be called to the students' attention through such a pamphlet as was recently compiled by Mr. Andrew Keogh, of Yale University Library, under the title, "Some general bibliographical works of value to the students of English."
There is a phase of library economy that every teacher should know, and which it seems must always have its proper place in the curriculum of the normal school. That is the knowledge of how to obtain books. Every teacher should know what the laws of his state are regarding the establishment and maintenance of the public library and the public school library, and how these laws compare with those of other states. He should know what aid he can gain through the travelling library system, should he be in a village or country district, and the possible co-operation between the public library and the public schools should he be assigned to a city. Just as the public schools are finding that they must adapt their curriculum to the needs of the children of a certain district or class, so the public library has the same lesson to learn. The Carnegie Public Library of Pittsburgh has been one of the first to recognize this in the establishment of home libraries. It has thus reached a class of children that could be reached in no other way, and why should not the public library as well as the public school aim to reach these less fortunate children?
The subject of children's literature should be a serious one with every teacher of children. The best writers for children, best illustrators, and best editions should be part of the normal school student's knowledge when he completes his course and goes out to teach. It is a great problem with him now how he shall keep this information up to date, when there are hundreds of books coming out every year and his school-room duties absorb so much of his time. Here is the librarian's opportunity to be of great aid to the public school teacher by issuing lists of the best children's books on various subjects, exhibiting them in the library from time to time, and to the schools for trial, as so many libraries are now doing. In the country districts the library commissions must supply this information through annotated lists.
It has been shown in a number of schools that children love to make books, and that the making of books quite successfully lends itself to the constructive work as carried on in the schools of to-day. The materials for this work are not so costly as to make it impossible for the average school. Every child at the completion of the graded schools should know the value of a title-page, the use of the preface and introductory notes, the difference between the table of contents and the index, the best books in the several subjects which he has studied, and where and how he can obtain more books on these subjects later, should he wish them. It would doubtless be a great surprise to one who has not tried the experiment to ask the pupils in our graded and high schools even, for such simple information as the author, title and date of the text-books they are using daily.
If the suggestions in this paper be accepted, and most of them have already been successfully tried, it will be seen at once how great is the importance of having trained librarians in our normal schools and institutions of higher learning. The time has now come in a number of cities which we hope is prophetic of the future, when the public library stands equally important as an educational institution with the public school, each supplementing the other in work and still distinct in function and administration. It is therefore necessary that our teachers should be trained to use libraries, and that our librarians should be acquainted with the great educational movements of the day.
By Clara Whitehill Hunt,Newark (N. J.) Free Public Library.
In writing this paper on the opening of a children's room, I am presupposing the following conditions: That in a library whose work with the children has been confined to the general delivery desk, and the divided attention of clerks whose time an adult public would monopolize, there is to be set aside a commodious apartment to be known as the Children's Room; that, considering this work of enough importance to demand such a department, the trustees are prepared to support it by a reasonable outlay for new books, necessary and convenient furnishings, and especially by placing in its charge one who, by natural fitness and special training they believe to be so thoroughly capable of supervising the work, that she is to be given a free hand in deciding both how the room is to be made ready for opening, and how managed after it is opened. This being the case, I imagine the children's librarian, with opening day a few weeks or months ahead, planning her campaign with such wise foresight and attention to the smallest detail that, in the rush of the first weeks, there may be the least possible wear and tear on nerves and temper from petty inconveniences which assume gigantic proportions when one is hurried and tired, and the smallest amount of undoing and beginning over again as time goes on.
It is difficult to be clear in speaking of furnishings without something more than verbal description for illustrating mistakes and excellences, but so much power can be lost by not having the parts of the machine properly fitted and well oiled that how to furnish the children's room becomes one of the most important topics under this subject.
To begin with, the children's librarian must cultivate, if she does not already possess, the architect's faculty of seeing a completed structure in a flat piece of paper marked off by lines labelled 20 ft., 50 ft., etc. If 20 ft. does not mean anything to her she would do well to take a tape measure to an empty lot and measure off the exact dimensions of her room to be, until she can see its floor space clearly. She should live in her room before its existence, locating every door and window, the height of the windows from the floor, every corner and cupboard, the relation of her room to the other departments of the library. In proceeding to furnish the room she will learn what to adopt and what to avoid by visiting other children's rooms and asking if the tables and chairs are the correct height, if the exit is satisfactorily guarded, what working space is necessary for a certain circulation, whether the electric light fixtures are easily broken, and many other things. If she cannot make such visits, her knowledge of children and a study of conditions in her own library will answer.
Limited to a small space the children's room is nevertheless a circulating department, a reading room, a reference room, perhaps a repair room, and a cataloging department all in one; and if the children's librarian has not had actual work in each of these departments of her library, she should serve an apprenticeship at the receiving and charging desks, the registration desk, the slip rack, not only for the sake of knowing the routine of each department, but for studying improvements in planning her furnishings. The registration clerk will tell her that she has not enough elbow room, that the application drawers are too narrow or too heavy; the attendants at the charging desk find every present arrangement so satisfactory that they advise exact reproduction. Armed with pad and tape measure the children's librarian notes all these points.
The problem how with a minimum of help to "run" all departments, to see all parts of the room, to keep your eye on the entrance so as to nip in the bud any tendency to boisterousness as the children come in, and to watch the exit so that no book goes out uncharged, how to keep all unfinished work outof the children's reach but to give them perfectly free access to the books, in short, how to arrange your working space so that one person on a moderately busy day can attend to all these things, may be answered, I think, in this way. All wall space will sooner or later be needed for books. Taking an oblong floor space (dimensions proportionate to size of room and circulation) and surrounding this by a counter 30 inches high and two feet wide, is a simple way of accomplishing these things. The counter opposite the entrance is the receiving and charging desk; at another place it is the registration desk; books after "slipping" are piled in another part ready for return to shelves; books waiting to be marked occupy a fourth section; the catalog case, notices to children, call-slip holders, etc., stand on the counter. The space under the counter is available for supply cupboards and drawers. The height of the counter is such that a grown person sitting in an ordinary chair works comfortably behind it, but it is so low that no small child feels frowningly walled out in standing on the other side. Thus all the work of the room is concentrated and supervision is easy. A few details are worth noticing. First, don't let the carpenter give you drawers instead of cupboards. Drawers are wasteful of room for packing supplies, and of time in hunting for them. Next, have the cupboard doors slide, not swing, open, for economy of your working floor space. Underneath registration and charging desks leave space empty for your feet. Just under counter near the registration desk have a row of drawers, sliding easily but fastened so they cannot fall out, made of the exact size to hold your application blanks and cards, with guide cards. A work table within the counter will be necessary.
In addition to this working space, every large children's room should have a locked closet, or better still, a work room opening from it. In busy times thingswillaccumulate which must be kept out of reach, and it would not be sensible to take valuable space out of the children's room to hold such accumulations until you have time to attend to them.
The height of the children's chairs and tables seems to have reached a standard in children's rooms—tables 22 and 28 inches high, with chairs 14 and 16 inches to go with them. I think it best to have very few tables of the smaller size, for tall boys take the strangest delight in crouching over them, snarling their long legs around the short table legs and trying, apparently, to get a permanent twist to their shoulders. Small children do not stay long, and it is less harmful, if necessary, for them to sit in a chair a little too high than to compel large children to spend a holiday afternoon with bodies contorted to fit a small chair and table.
By all means have the electric lightfixedin the center of the table so that each child gets an equal share of light, and have the connections so made that jarring the table and the movements of restless feet will not put the fixtures out of order. Be very careful not to have the shade so high that the glare of the lamp instead of the restful green shade is opposite the child's eyes.
When you see a chair that you like, find out before purchasing whether it is very easily tipped over. You will know why, if you are not wise, on some rainy day, when the room is full of readers and the reports of chairs suddenly knocked over sound like a fusillade of cannon balls.
Leaving this hasty and most unsatisfactory discussion on getting theplaceready for opening, I would say a word about getting thebooksready—not about buying a large quantity of new, and putting the old into the best possible condition of repair and cleanliness, for that will naturally be done. But from experience I know that the moment is golden for weeding out, never to return, authors you think objectionable.
Suppose a girl reads nothing but the Elsie books. Very likely one reason is that she knows little about any other kind. In a printed catalog with a scattering "j" between many titles of adult books it is easier to make lists of numbers from the long sets of prolific writers, and those excellent authors who have produced only a few books for children are oftenest overlooked. Suppose in the process of moving the Elsie books are left behind. The little girl comes into the beautiful new children's room. She sees the shining new furniture, the pictures, the comfortable tables and chairs and book cases so planned that any child can reach any book. She finds that there is perfect freedom for every child in this room—that no stern Olympian comes and says, "Don't do this," and "You can't have that," and "Those books aren't for you," but that among all these hundreds of fresh new covers she may take her pick, may sit anywhere, or stand or kneel as she chooses. Do you imagine that, as these unaccustomed delights sink into her mind, any child is going off in a huff when she finds one author is lacking, if the children's librarian uses any tact in introducing her to others adapted to her tastes? I have been asked for Alger and Optic and Elsie, of course, though much less often than I anticipated, but I am perfectly certain that I have never lost a "customer" because I did not display these wares. One little girl exclaimed in doleful tones, "Oh, haven't you the Elsie books? Oh, I'mterriblydisappointed! I think those aregrandbooks!" But in spite of this tragic appeal her curiosity and interest proved stronger than her disappointment, and I have the satisfaction of seeing a more wholesome taste develop in a child who must have been on the high road to softening of the brain and moral perversion from association with the insufferable Elsie. If you once put these books on the open shelves, however, and later attempted the weeding out process, a howl would arise which would not be silenced without consequences which I, for one, would not like to face.
Furniture and books are comparatively simple matters to make ready, but to prepare your assistant or assistants for opening day and the time that follows is harder. The external preparation for the rush of the first weeks consists in drill in the routine to be observed. Assigning a place and certain duties to each person, foreseeing as far as possible all questions that may arise and making sure that each attendant understands what to do in any case, having a place for everything, and everything in its place, and every person knowing what that place is, so that there will be no frantic search for an extra set of daters when a long line of people stands waiting—this also requires only foresight and firmness. But so deeply to imbue your chief assistant with your spirit and principles of management that she will not simply obey your directions, but be inwardly guided by your desires, and there may be no break in the steady march to a definite end—this demands that rare species of assistant who is born, not made, for the position, and a leader who possesses strength, tact, contagious enthusiasm, a likeable personality, and other qualities difficult to attain.
This brings us to the consideration of what the guiding principles of the new department are to be—a question which must be pondered and settled by the children's librarian before making the external preparations. If the senior members of the American Library Association, the librarians-in-chief, would consider the children's room of enough importance to give us their ideas of what it should stand for, what its scope should be, the result might be more uniformity of thought among members of the library profession in this regard, and a more sensible attitude toward the children's room in the library. Between those who, on the one hand, take themselves so very seriously, pondering with anxious care what probable effect on the child's future career as a reader the selection of a blue or a green mat for mounting the picture bulletin would have, and those who look upon the children's room merely as an interesting plaything, driving the big boys away in disgust by encouraging visitors who exclaim, "Oh, what cunning little chairs and tables! Why, you have a regular kindergarten here, haven't you?"—from either point of view, the discussions on children's rooms in libraries seem almost to lose sight of the very word library and all it carries with it.
The children's room is only one room in a great dignified library. As the newspaper room, the catalog room, and all the rest are fitted up with furnishings suited to their peculiar needs, so the children's room is furnished with tables and chairs and books suited to its constituents. Apart from this, all its management and spirit should correspond as closely as possible to that of the other departments. The same dignity, the same freedom, the same courteous attention to every want without fussy attentions which by grown people would be called intrusiveness should prevail. Make the selection of books what it should be, provide guides and catalogs, perfectly clear but not patronizingly written down, show the children that you are always willing to respond in every way to theirquestions, and then—let them alone!
Some one has asked me to speak on the question of discipline. After the first two or three weeks, if one begins properly, there will be no such question. Allowing something for the noise of small feet which have not learned to control themselves as they will later on, and expecting more "talking over" an interesting "find" than is common with adults, one should aim for library order. Teach the children what a library reading room means. If in the first days there is a disposition on the part of any boy to be rough or unruly, or if a group of girls make a visiting-and-gum-chewing rendezvous of your tables, don't waste any time in Sunday-school methods of discipline, trying to keep a hold on the child at any cost to the library. A sentence in a report of Pratt Institute children's room is worth adopting as a guiding principle. "The work of the children's room should be educative, not reformatory." Give one decided warning and then if a child does not behave, send him out at once. Do not be afraid of seeming stern at first. The fascinations of the room are such that a child who has been turned away for disobedience comes back a subdued and chastened young person and your best friend forever after; then with your aim and your firmness early settled, you will have no more thought of discipline than the reference librarian with his tables full of studious adults. After the first a little care about the way a child enters the room will be all that is necessary. Your courteous manner, low tones, a little reminder about caps and clean hands while discharging his book, will give him the cue as to what is expected, and he will have a pride in living up to what is expected of him as a gentleman, not demanded of him as a child under authority.
Many other points will engage the thought of the children's librarian, for example, what shall be the attitude of the children's room toward the other departments—whether it is to encourage the children to make use of the adults' reference room, to take out cards in the main delivery department, and get into the way of reading standard works from suggestions of the children's librarian; or whether the line of separation is to be rigid and she will be jealous of their "graduating" from her care. How to prepare the public, especially the school-teaching public, for the opening, so as to secure their hearty co-operation from the beginning is worth constant effort. The question of blanks and forms for the children's room is a minor matter which is after all not a small thing. To make as few changes as possible in the forms already in use, so that any assistant from the main delivery room can in emergencies quickly take up the clerical work of the children's room without needing to learn a new routine may save much confusion should the children's staff all happen to be stricken with grippe at the same time!
Beginning early to plan, profiting by other people's mistakes, getting the routine of each department at one's finger tips, foreseeing every probable obstacle and removing each in imagination, beforehand, proceeding with calmness and common sense, thus the new machinery will move as smoothly during opening weeks as if it had been running for years, and, as "well begun is half done," every thought given to preparation while the room exists only on paper will have a far-reaching effect on the permanent influences of the children's room.
By George Watson Cole.
The period covered by this report is from June 1, 1900, to July 1, 1901, and includes all gifts and bequests of $500 or more, as well as all gifts of 250 volumes and over, given by any single individual. A few gifts have been included which fall below these figures where the importance or value of the gift seemed to require mention. This report has been increased by the addition of over 50 gifts, information of which was received too late to be inserted before its presentation to the Waukesha conference. A few others, which have been announced since July 1, have also been inserted.
Much of the information here given has been obtained by a careful examination of theLibrary JournalandPublic Libraries. Communications were sent to all the state library commissions, several state library associations and clubs, and to the librarian of libraries known to have 50,000 volumes or more. The responses to these communications have been quite general, and the information contained in the replies has been embodied in this report. The thanks of the compiler are herewith extended to all who have assisted him in collecting the material for this list.
It was suggested by Miss Hewins in 1896 that it would be desirable to have the library commission of each state appoint some librarian, or library trustee, who should be responsible for the collection of information regarding the gifts and bequests made within his state. Judging from the replies received this year the suggestion has never been carried out.
Following the example of my predecessor, I wish to emphasize the importance of the suggestion, and would further recommend that the information so gathered be divided as nearly as possible into the following classes:
1. Buildings, giving value or cost;2. Sites, giving value or cost;3. Cash for buildings, with accompanying conditions, if any;4. Cash for sites, with accompanying conditions, if any;5. Books, pamphlets, periodicals, prints, maps, etc., giving number of each kind, with value or cost of the whole, if known;6. Cash for books, etc., with accompanying conditions, if any;7. Cash for endowment funds, giving purpose for which income is to be expended;8. Cash to be expended, with specified purposes for which it is to be spent;9. Cash given unconditionally;10. Miscellaneous gifts, specifying their nature and value.
1. Buildings, giving value or cost;
2. Sites, giving value or cost;
3. Cash for buildings, with accompanying conditions, if any;
4. Cash for sites, with accompanying conditions, if any;
5. Books, pamphlets, periodicals, prints, maps, etc., giving number of each kind, with value or cost of the whole, if known;
6. Cash for books, etc., with accompanying conditions, if any;
7. Cash for endowment funds, giving purpose for which income is to be expended;
8. Cash to be expended, with specified purposes for which it is to be spent;
9. Cash given unconditionally;
10. Miscellaneous gifts, specifying their nature and value.
It will be observed that the first four of the above headings relate to gifts of real estate, which should also include gifts for fixtures of any kind, such as plants for lighting, heating, and ventilation; mural decorations, such as frescoes; furniture, so constructed as to be an essential part of the building; landscape gardening, etc. The remaining headings include books, endowment funds for various purposes (excepting building funds and the other objects just mentioned), and gifts of money for administration, current expenses, etc., etc.
Then, too, information should be given as to whether a gift has been offered, accepted, or received.
It seems desirable that information relating to such old and moribund libraries as have been absorbed or merged with newer and more vigorous institutions should somewhere find a record. As such transfers are usually made as gifts, there seems to be no more suitable place for such a record than in the annual report of Gifts and Bequests. It is to be hoped that, in the future, the tables of statistics issued from time to time by the state library commissions, the U. S. Bureau of Education, and others will contain a record of the final disposition of such libraries.
In the report of Gifts and Bequests made by Mr. Stockwell, a year ago, covering a period of two years, there were given 458 separate gifts, amounting to over $10,500,000, and distributed among 36 states and the District of Columbia. This report, covering 13 months, includes 482 separate gifts, amounting to $19,786,465.16, and is distributed as follows: 468 in 39 of the United States, 10 in the British provinces, and three in Scotland. To that princely philanthropist, Mr. Andrew Carnegie, we are indebted, during the past year, for gifts reaching the enormous aggregate of $13,704,700, over $12,500,000 of which was given for the erection of library buildings. In every case the gift, except where otherwise specified, was made upon the condition that the city or town receiving it should furnish a site for the building and appropriate yearly for the maintenance of the library a sum equivalent to 10 per cent. of the gift.
The most notable gifts of the year are due to the ever-increasingly generous hand of Mr. Carnegie. That to the city of New York of $5,200,000, for the erection of 65, or more, branch libraries, is probably the largest library gift ever made at one time to a single city. His gift of $1,000,000 to the city of St. Louis for library buildings and an equal sum, placed in trust as an endowment fund, for the Carnegie libraries at Braddock, Duquesne, and Homestead, Pa., occupy the second and third positions, by reason of their amounts. His recent gifts of $750,000 each to the cities of Detroit and San Francisco, though announced since July 1, have been included in this report. Mr. Carnegie's gifts during the year number 121; 112 in the United States, six in Canada, and three in Scotland. One hundred and seven of these gifts in the United States were for library buildings. Of the remaining five, amounting to $1,028,000, one of $25,000 will probably be used for a building.
The transfer of the John Carter Brown Library to Brown University by the trustees of the estate of the late John Nicholas Brown, recently announced, is one of the most important library events of the year. This library contains, if not the finest, at least one of the finest collections of early Americana in this country, and possesses many books not to be found in any other library on this side of the Atlantic. Its collector, after whom it is named, was a competitor with Lenox, Brinley, and other early collectors of Americana for many a choice nugget which Henry Stevens and other European dealers had secured for their American patrons. The library is estimated to be worth at least $1,000,000, and the gift carries with it two legacies, one of $150,000 for a library building, and another of $500,000 as an endowment fund for its increase and maintenance.
The gift of four public-spirited citizens of St. Louis, who have jointly contributed $400,000 to lift an incumbrance on the block to be used for the new Carnegie library in that city, is a noble example of public spirit, and one of which the friends of that city may justly feel proud.
The collection of Oriental literature of Yale University has been enriched by the gift of 842 Arabic manuscripts, many of which are extremely rare. The collection covers the whole range of Arabic history and literature, dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries.
This collection, formed by Count Landberg, was purchased by Mr. Morris K. Jesup, of New York, at a cost of $20,000, and was presented by him to the university library. This library has also received, as a bequest, the private library of the late Prof. Othniel C. Marsh, consisting of about 5000 volumes and 10,000 pamphlets, dealing mainly with palæontological subjects.
The New York Public Library—Astor, Lenox, and Tilden foundations—through the generosity of Mr. Charles Stewart Smith, has come into possession of a large and valuable collection of Japanese engravings and chromo-xylographs, formed by Captain Brinkley, of theJapanese Mail.
I regret that I do not have the pleasure to record any addition, during the year, to the Publication Fund of the American Library Association. The Publishing Board is much hampered by lack of funds from carrying on its important work. If some philanthropically inclined person would present a fund, say $100,000, upon condition that all publications issued from its income should bear the name of the fund, it would not only be of inestimable benefit to the cause of libraries, but would also be a most enduring monument to its donor.
An examination of the following list willdisclose other gifts worthy of special mention if space permitted. The main list has been arranged alphabetically by states, as being the most convenient for reference. A tabulated summary, arranged by the geographical sections of the country, will show how widely scattered have been the benefactions of the year, extending from Alabama in the south to Montreal in the north, and from Bangor in the east to "where rolls the Oregon" in the far west.