USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1897 > Part 24
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Grade VI.
The Library books are very helpful in many ways. Many boys who would be on the street evenings spend time in reading. One girl in my class, who caused her parents much anxiety by fre- quenting the society of rough boys in the evening, has become in- terested in reading. Pupils express themselves in better English and with much more fluency. The books are used as a reward for improvement in geography and reading. More pupils earn the reward than can be furnished with books. One active boy, who did not like to apply himself to study, has improved very much. He had as his reward "Little Lord Fauntleroy" to take home on Friday nights. Children often speak for a certain book to read. Sometimes pupils have to wait their turn before the book can be obtained. Girls are especially fond of Louisa Alcott's books. Boys like books of travel and history.
Grade V.
The children are so interested in the books loaned us that there is a constant call for them ; have to refuse quite a number
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every day for want of them. I think that the children are learn- ing to love reading more, and it has improved the oral and written language. I judge that the parents are interested, as many times there is a request to keep a book longer or take it again so that father or mother may finish it. The children are very decided in their likes and dislikes of certain books, and give their reasons readily. I also find that in many instances the most troublesome boys are most anxious to take the books.
Grade V.
I wish to express the pleasure I have in seeing the interest my pupils of the fifth grade take in the matter of Library books. I have only been here five weeks, but I think I can already see an improvement in their reading. They seem to be more familiar with ordinary words. The only trouble is in not having enough books to supply the demand. I rarely have a book on hand. I also notice that they are careful in the handling of them.
Grade IV.
My class enjoy the Library books very much ; they are eager and anxious to take them. I have used them as a reward for good work, and as an incentive for the same, not always giving the book to the child doing the best work, but to the one who had tried the hardest, even though the work was poorly done. I have loaned the books to children who came from especially poor homes, and learned that one child read aloud from her book to the members of her family. I find if I remark, "John, you read that very well, you may take a Library book to-night," the next day I will have a number of children try to do better than John. Very often I tell the children to listen carefully and choose the best reader, or the one they think tried the hardest to read well ; the one selected takes a book. By letting the children make the selection no hard feelings are aroused. I have seen a bright little reader in my third grade sitting on the curbstone recently reading her Library book before school, instead of playing with the other chil- dren. I merely mention this incident to show the interest the
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children take in the books. I sometimes have a child tell me the story he has read, and after he has finished any child who has read the same book may add facts which have been omitted. This is good drill in oral language, and it also trains the memory. It cer- tainly gives them a command of more words. The Library books have helped my class in various ways, and I am very thankful for their use.
Grade III.
The books are thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated by my pupils. The advantages gained are: They talk more intelligently, they read more fluently. The influence on unruly boys is very noticeable. The demand is greater than the supply. Some chil- dren speak a week ahead for the books.
Grade III.
They enjoy taking them home, and wish to keep them longer than one night. Some of the poorest children have taken them home, and told me about the story that was read them by an older brother or sister, father or mother. A note has been sent to me thanking me for the book and asking for it again. Children bring their own books, and pick out a story for me to read to the other children. The books have created a taste for reading. The chil- dren like what they read, give better.expression, and read more understandingly.
Grade II.
I consider them a great benefit. for there has been nothing introduced during my experience that has interested the children so deeply. Instances have occurred where children have asked for a renewal of the loan of a book because their parents have not finished reading it to them, thus showing that the parents also are interested. Were I to have the deciding voice in the matter, I should not only favor the continuance of their use, but should ask for a larger supply.
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
Grade I.
The books used by me from the Public Library have not been given out to the children for home reading, so I cannot speak of any result from that source. I have read to the children from the books, and, as a reward for good work and behavior, allow them the books to look at the pictures. This has been an inspiration to them, small as they are, for better work.
Lydia J. Page, Principal Cummings School.
It gives me pleasure to furnish a few words with reference to- the reading matter furnished from the Public Library. -
I have been receiving books for distribution from this source for about two years, and I certainly find an enthusiasmn awakened in reading in this grade (fourth) never before equalled in my experience.
I detect the benefit derived in the improved expression given to the daily sight reading, showing an ability to more readily grasp- the meaning, also greater fluency owing to enlarged vocabulary.
I find as well that those pupils that have books but seldom at home are the most eager for them, and their choice is surprising, as they invariably choose, and seem intuitively to know, the best books.
I consider this favor from the Trustees of the Public Library to the children in the light of a most worthy charity, and trust the good work may go on, for I am sure the result will more than prove the wisdom of the experiment.
Frances W. Meldrum, Principal Davis School.
I am deeply grateful to the Trustees of the Public Library for the opportunity they have afforded to help form the taste of the children for good reading.
I have forty-two pupils, and each child is given a Library book Friday, the same to be returned Thursday. The children are delighted when the day arrives to carry home a new book. I occasionally have a child tell us about his book, and thus the inter-
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est in that book is increased. I find that twenty-three children come from homes where there are no books for children to read. Only eight come from homes where books are taken from the Public Library. Within the last two weeks several have inti- mated that an elder sister or brother intends taking books from the Library.
Four children have been very careful in selecting books, and on inquiry I found that the fathers also read them, and desired books on travel or history. Several mothers read "Among the Meadow People" and other books on nature, and sent me word that they liked the stories and had never read any such books. before.
Twenty children report that they read aloud while the mother sews or does other housework. I find that these have improved. in ability to read understandingly from their school readers, and show a marked improvement in expressing the same.
One sister, aged eighteen, reads and enjoys the books which one pupil takes home. Several of the pupils read or tell the story to their younger brothers and sisters.
Charles E. Brainard, Master Edgerly School.
The subject of children's reading is one in which I am much interested, and I feel that we might, in view of the unusual facilities afforded by the Trustees of the Public Library, do much more in this line than we are now doing.
Someone has said that the only difference between the mind of the child of the slums and the mind of the child surrounded with books, music, art, and all that makes ideal home life was that the former had nothing to think of, while the latter's environment fur- nished abundant material for thought.
If the above is not wholly true, it has at least the kernel of thought, and I think we none of us question that the knowledge and love of books, good books, is most valuable in giving the child something to think about, something, if a right choice be made, worth thinking about.
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The closer the union between the Library and the school, the more easy should it be for each and every child to attain this knowledge of books.
In our eighth and ninth grades we have eighty-five chil- dren; sixty-nine of these have cards and take books from the Library. This is a great increase over the record of the last three years. These pupils have cards because they find the Library helpful, and not because pressure has been brought to bear upon them to take out cards before they have a desire to read. If we thought best, we could easily persuade the eighty-five to make application for cards.
These eighty-five children come from seventy different homes, and I find from investigation that the parents of only fifteen of these children have cards and take books from the Library. It would be interesting and profitable to know how many of these children will continue to use the Library when they have homes of their own. I predict a much larger percentage than is shown by the figures above.
With this in mind, I am inclined to think it would be much better, and tend to formation of better habits, if the children were obliged to visit the Library for their books, instead of having the books brought to them, unless the Trustees, in the near future, arrange for a house-to-house delivery of books. There is one great advantage, however, in the use of the school box: all books pass through the hands of the teacher, and she knows what the boy reads.
That children have been influenced in their choice of books I feel sure, from the fact that the really bad, injurious reading formerly smuggled into schoolrooms seems now to be a thing of the past, and I believe it is not read outside as heretofore.
Mina J. Wendell, Master Morse School.
I think the pupils of Somerville schools fully appreciate the favors granted them by the Trustees of the Public Library. This is shown by the eagerness on their part to get and fill a blank, which permits them to add their names to the list of readers.
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REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
Many pupils, particularly in eighth grades, have been using a card belonging to older members of the family, and when the privilege of using their own is given to them the pleasure shown by smiling faces is gratifying.
I have in mind just here a pupil who graduated a few years ago. I heard that he was reading dime novels, so I asked him to take books from the Library. He said he did not care to, but I was determined he should read one good book. I gave him "Lorna Doone" to read. I thought the hero would interest him. He read it, and asked me to get another just as good. I gave him "Seven Oaks," by J. G. Holland ; then "Napoleon," by J. S. C. Abbott. He read them all, and asked me to get a card and fill it for him, and said he would never read a dime novel if he could get such interesting books gratis.
The above statement came to mind by your question concern- ing the value of the facilities by which books can be obtained from our Library. If our pupils can be made to understand that better and more wholesome reading can be easily obtained, they will save their dimes and flock to the Library.
Many pupils have been led to read who would not have taken books from the Library if some influence had not induced them to.
Most pupils depend upon the teacher for choice of books. The selection of the teacher is received without question. I sel- dom hear a child say, "My parents wish me to read such and such books."
The report that a book is interesting spreads rapidly through a class after one pupil has read and liked a book, and other pupils are anxious to read the same book; in this way a part of the teacher's work is done by the pupils themselves.
Whether pupils show greater intelligence or not depends upon the one who directs the reading in a great measure.
Left to themselves, pupils will elect the lighter fiction, they have an idea that biography and history are too deep and dry for them, and therefore they need to be led into this line of literature.
Once interested, they begin to see the fascination of such work; they see that it is true to life, and life and truth are often stranger than fiction.
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
Certainly good comes from this circulation, a taste and love for the best literature is aroused, and second, and best of all, the building of character goes on silently but surely, and in future years the readers of to-day will pay back in good coin to the city in good morals and good citizenship the debt they owe the Trus- tees of the Somerville Library for the favors of to-day.
ADDITIONAL ACCOMMODATION.
It is to be remembered that a public library is not to be re- garded as a luxury. There have been times not altogether remote from the history of our beloved Commonwealth, when books were the possession of those who held that factitious advantage which wealth gives. Libraries belonged to a class which could com- mand leisure, and the books composing them were usually of a character fitted to an abstracted and contemplative life. The leis- urely recluse life of the student wrought a quiet and cloistered meditation. The man of affairs, too busy with practical interests, affected to despise books, and the bookworm and the dry-as-dust philosopher were held as legitimate subjects for sarcasm.
We are learning in these days that intellectual culture is not necessarily dissociated from active, practical, executive ability. The scholar is not necessarily blear-eyed, round-shouldered, and thin-chested. He may have vigor of body, strong muscles, steady nerves, and a well proportioned presence. The literary champion may be an adept gymnast.
This leads to the recognition of the fact that the spirit of books is pervading the life of the people. There is no premium on igno- rance. The college graduate may be best qualified for business operations, scientific investigation, and the practical management of important social and civic interests.
No class holds the monopoly of intelligence. The language of the school was once merely professional ; to-day it is the ver- nacular of the street. In this education of the people the library has had an important influence, and in every well-appointed vil-
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lage and town the literary club and the circulating library have been factors in its growth.
The daily press is a great educational force. Every issue in- vites the reader to study physical geography in its market reports, and political economy in the mutual relations of separate states and nations, and statesmanship in the conduct of civic affairs. To do this there must be some well-ordered plan for council. No one apart from others can have the large resources which all united may secure. The home library may be good, but it is restricted ; so, too, is the club library and the semi-public library ; but the de- mand to-day is for a library open to the use of all, when the advan- tages of all the lesser libraries may be supplemented by books the average home cannot afford to have, for which, indeed, it has no accommodation, and which shall enlarge the field of investigation in all directions.
The public library is, therefore, good for the general reader and for the special student.
We cannot overestimate the value of such a library. It has become an important instrumentality for the diffusion of general intelligence and the growth of intellectual culture. It is not for the favored few, but for the uncrowned, but kingly, many. The public library is the college for the common people. Our work has been based upon the recognition of this fact, while the breadth of thought and the luxuriant growth of educational methods and needs may have exceeded our most hopeful anticipation ; never- theless, it was felt to be prophetic in the character and lives of our people. Therefore, you can read in the report prepared for your inspection and consideration only three years ago the following: "At no distant day you must consider and solve the problem of furnishing generous, ample rooms for the following purposes: General delivery and a card catalogue; reading room worthy of the name ; reference rooin large enough for the needs of this con- stantly-growing city ; rooms for individual research and study ; room for cataloguing; room for covering and repairing books; rooms for relics ; art rooms ; music rooms ; and classrooms."
The "no distant day" has come. There must be an enlarge- ment of library facilities in order to satisfy the demands of those
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who, in our homes and in our schools, have been educating them- selves for vigorous and useful, intellectual and practical pursuit. This conclusion has the cordial endorsement of men of action and men of thought. To such an extent has this been emphasized, that one writer has said with unmistakable force that the "recog- nition of the public library as a factor in public education may almost be taken as the test of a city's prosperity and promise."
In confirmation of this, and to add weight to the reflections already made, we may cite the language of a man who, in a long life of eminent and national usefulness, has shown himself to have mastery of practical affairs in civil life and national statesmanship, while he has shown remarkable ability in marshaling to his assist- ance information and privileges gained by careful literary pursuit. I refer to our senior Massachusetts senator, Hon. George F. Hoar, who says :-
"The library in the new education is to be an important ad- junct to the school. It is to continue through life, for many per- sons, the education which the school begins." And he adds what is equally important: "It is to occasion a revolution in the methods of the school itself. No town can long maintain a high rank among civilized communities unless it adds to its other institutions a well-chosen library."
Granting all this to be true, it becomes necessary that the pub- lic library should adjust itself to the present and future needs of every class in the community, the superficial reader of current lit- erature, the careful investigator in the realms of every branch of study, and furnish a thoughtful preparation for those who, under improved advantages, may be expected to make the summit of any present attainment the base line of what they themselves may build.
To bring this closely before us, let us note first of all the read- ing room. This room should be sufficiently commodious to ac- commodate the enlarging interests of the many who wish to become familiar with current literature.
How are we situated with reference to this? Very cursory examination will discover that we are lamentably unable to meet the demands now daily made. Our facilities are entirely inade-
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quate. In a rapidly-growing city of fully 55,000 inhabitants, the reading room of our Public Library can comfortably accommo- date at any one time twenty-five readers. Of course we recognize the fact that daily and weekly papers, monthly and quarterly maga- zines, and other periodicals visit many homes, but not all papers and all magazines are in every home. It is needed that there should be provided a place for the comparison of views, and it will not be thought extravagant if it is stated with some emphasis, after a careful consideration of the subject, that there should be accom- modation for at least one hundred readers. It is a notorious fact that well-nigh every day visitors come to our present reading room, find the room full, and go away disappointed. Is this right? Should our people, young or old, be so limited in the advantages they desire ?
Let it be remembered that this refers to the use of a literature which is in immediate demand, and can be consulted only in the reading room ; that is to say, papers and periodicals are rightfully to be held in this room until the next issue, then they become subject to ordinary circulation. But questions of immediate and pressing value in magazines of this country and from Europe should be open more readily to those who may desire to study them.
Let us also consider our reference room.
It should be a room open for those who desire to consult books with which not many private libraries are furnished, and which, indeed, are not sought for by many, unless for some specific and temporary purpose. It should also be a room where those who desire to pursue certain studies, or to get some information on particular subjects, can do so undisturbed. Yet our reference room cannot give any adequate accommodation to more than twenty-five. Many country villages give larger facilities. No one can deny that the provision we have made is entirely out of proportion to the number of those, in this goodly city, who may fairly be supposed to wish to make use of such a room. We all agree that the most valuable service this Library can give is from its reference room. The good that a well-equipped reference de- partment can do is incalculable. It is the most important part of a
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public library, and it is the part of this Library that has been, up to the present time, sadly and inexcusably neglected only for want of proper room.
The city of Chicago has two libraries entirely devoted to ref- erence purposes, and these libraries have been furnished and fitted up at an expense of millions of dollars each. For many years New York did not have a circulating library, but it did have the Cooper Institute, the Astor Library, the Lenox Library, and many others devoted entirely to reference work.
The present reference room is altogether too small, and can- not be used during the evening. It should be a room large, com- modious, well-equipped, and thoroughly lighted, and on the same floor with the general library from which books may be taken for temporary use.
These are matters not to be gainsaid, and I am glad that they are matters upon which you all agree. They are obvious to any- one who will give only cursory attention to existing facts.
There is still another matter which deserves your careful consideration, and to which I will call your attention, namely, a children's room. That is to say, a room where small children can have a certain freedom which they cannot have in an ordinary waiting or delivery room, or in a reading room. Here under judicious restraint they should be able to handle books, look at their illustrations, sit at tables and study if they so desire, and be aided in the selection of books by a careful, well-instructed as- sistant. I would have a judiciously-selected juvenile library in this room, and let our youth have free access to its shelves, that they may see and handle books in all the classes of literature, and they would soon learn that not all of the interesting books are in the department of stories. This room should not only be light and attractive, but its walls should be adorned with choice engrav- ings and pictures, and whatever can be provided suitable to educate the eye.
This is not a mere matter of entertainment or sentiment, but is highly educational. The necessary discipline which should make such a place orderly will teach the children self-restraint, courtesy in behavior, and a sense of responsibility in handling
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property entrusted to them. Besides, such an attractive place would help, not immediately, possibly, but gradually, in keeping from the streets, and would help awaken within them a desire for such reading as will make the home more attractive and them- selves nobler and better boys and girls.
The value of the Public Library in these particulars, and espe- cially of a children's room, cannot be questioned. In the words ·of Senator Hoar, to quote again from one of rare good judgment and knowledge, the library "enables children to begin at an early age the practice of original investigation. This it substitutes for the old fashion of learning by rote a few dry facts and dates, a process which the noble nature of the child loathes, learning with immense labor what he forgets with immense ease."
The children's room is the children's library, their own, where they are to be at home, the occupants to be especially considered, and where adults must be content with a secondary consideration.
This arrangement would relieve the present charging desk, and would facilitate the delivery of books to adults.
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