The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-05-20
THE OLD SCHOOL LIBRARIES
"Where Are They?''-A Question of In
terest.
Especial Correspondence

terest.
Especial Correspondence
NEW YORK, May 5.-"What has become
of the school libraries?" Such was the
question often asked me during recent
visit to my native Indiana and since re-
turning to New York 1 find that the old
district library is also an extinct institu-
ton in the rural regions of this state Is it
because private libraries have greatly null
tiplied, or because Of the growth Of maya
zines and enormous expansion of weekly
papers?
A little of all these, perhaps; but is not
some part of the decline due to mere neg
Iect? The township library" for so it was
called there, was once wonderful power
in Indiana and did splendid work in edu-
eating the generation of boys who soon
after did the states share of fighting for
the Union. Some Of our old heads think
they can definitely set the time when In
diana's citizens became a reading people in
the fullest sense of the words They GER
tainly were not such in 1910, and the char
acters depicted in DR.. Eggleston's ''Hoosier
Schoolmaster, 4" Roxy and 1.-The End Of
the World" are not very gross exaggera-
tons of people one might have found in the
most backward districts
Fifteen years later they certainly were a
reading people, and that to an extent not
excelIed in any part of the United States.
The New Constitution" of 165o-51 deserves
the highest praise ever given it. 1t may
be studied as the exponent Of past progress
and the basis of far greater progress to
come. It was followed soon by the estab-
lishment Of a school system so complete
hat hnS aI n For
newer states; and with this came the system
of township hbraries-one in each town
ship in the state lam positive that there
is not a library in the country now in
which the books were selected with better
judgment than were those. There was
not an inferior book in our particular Ii
brary, and dull ones were rare. The 500
volumes of history, travels and carefully
selected light literature were literally
read to pieces" by the young people of
1855-G0, and the second set Of books were
well thumbed when the system came 70 an
end
1t had a splendid effect. The boys and
girls talked over the most popular volumes
and they were often engaged in rotation
for many weeks ahead. The Saturday
afternoon gatherings, when we met at the
library to exchange volumes and have them
registered anew, often took on the nature
of debating and literary clubs. The gem
eral tone OF conversation was greatly i'm
proved, and [ cannot resist the impression
that the boys and girls Of that time were
better informed on general history than
their successors are. No doubt the high
school boys Of today would dissent.
But the war came-the iconocIastic war,
which changed so many thingS-tne news
papers prevailed over ali rivals, and where
but two or three dailies we're taken in the
little town ia 1866, st least seventy were
taken in 1862. The great magazine soon
followed But now I observe that very
large section OF the people never buy
magazine, and patronize only the county
weekly paper OF their political party.
Should not the old township library, the
school library of New York, be restored for
this class? If as good a set OF books be Sc
lected as Indiana had thirty years ago, the
good results would be inc2lcuable.
j. II. BEADLE