Fair play., 1891-10-10
SCHOOL liBHARY DAY.
In Earnest Appeal 10 Raise n small H.
brar. Fund on November -. 1891. in All
the school Districts Of the state.

.IEFFKF>o> CITY. Mo, sept -. 1891.
To THE EpIIoK-l fondiy look for
ward u the time when majority If
the country school, "f Missouri Will
have Il. i,,a>. II small library nf choice
books suited io the pupils If the first,
second. third. fourth and ii;.h readers.
respectively. Probably not one III forty
of the school districts of the state has u
library IL any kind. OF those having a
library, probably not one il! five has Il
library of choice books suited L. the
capacity Of the pupils IF the respective
grades II yod will examine the school
libraries and also the books found in
the homes You will find that most of
them are suited 70 grown folks Thrs"
libraries, a. Il rule, are composed Of re-
lIriuus debates. difficult works on his
tory and a large per cent. of rubbish
patcn, office reports, etc. In the build
ing of these libraries very little att,.n-
ton has been given to securing books
suited To the children. lsuppu>c II was
thought that If these children were not
grown they ought To be-. and would III
if they lived long enough and were well
fed
But why should the more than S1n. o0J
children of school age in Missouri have
access to good books Have not they
open eyes and ears tn all the occur
Fences around them? Can not they read
nature? suppose they do not have a'-
cess To books. have they not access 10
nature and man? Yes. but access ~
what naturc' the little patch Of earth
called the ucighborhoud-to Mr.. Jones
and Mr.. smiths farms: to Turtle creek;
10 Il stretch of prairie; t" IL few hill,
hardly To he digniticd with the name.
In good Juvenile books this neighbor-
hood stretches away over continents
and seas and brings the reader
in contact with the great educator
-nature in her most diversitic | and
wonderful forms. Turtle creek be-
comes the lnr,lly Mississippi, making it,
way from the melting SHOWS in the
mountains "a the Eads jct,ic> at the
gulf: the Hudson with its palisades and
its highland; the Nile with its cata-
racts. The miniature falls down in the
meadow becomes the Yosemite, the
aw ful Niagara. The little knobs and
hills Of the ghborhood become the
sublime panorama of peak and pass,
spur and canyon. guarded by Pixies
Peak. the sentinel of the Rockies The
corn and wheat and oats are earnest of
4 bawilderinr variety of tropical and
temperate productions Through these
books the reader is enabled tn clasp
hands across the continents and down
the centuries. to annihilate space: to
make the knowledge of the race his.
Through the reading Of history and
biography the commonplace and every
day occurrences are replaced by grand
achievements "f peace and war: hv the
t'cathlcss deeds of IA Cesar. "a Crom
well, a Wiberforce The gossip of the
ncighborhonI becomes the annals of
empires. statesmen and warriors
But said that these children come
in contact not only with nature. but
with man. With what man? With the
man of the neighborhood- Farmer
Sampson and squire Hawkins both
model men of their kind and perform
ing well their part. Each with his own
little round of thoughts and feelings
and aspirations, with his conversation
about corn and cattle and hogs. each
important in its place.
But during the centuries past The
Creator has dealt out sparin"ly here
and there great and gifted souls whose
lives are an inspiration n-mcn and wo:n
en- full of lofty thoughts. high purposes
and noble aspirations. These. in their
best moments. when standing upon the
peaks of high courage and unselfsh
purposes. with divinity streaming
through their souls. when thus upon
the dclcctable heights they wrote, and
there in their books is crystallized for
all time tn. best thoughts and feelings
that stirred these great souls in the dead
centuries past. Few of these great char
acters lived in any one state or in any
one generation. but through choice
books the reader is cna bled to come
into spiritual contact with :hes.. char
;.ctcrs across the continents and down
the centuries. read Il book by an au-
thor who may have been dead for cen
turies. and my mind is enlightened and
nv heart kindled with the thoughts
and feelings that stirred that author
when he pcnne'i that page. such is
literature. II brings the reader in con
tao: not with the commonplace of the
neighborhood. but with the marvellous
and diversified of tie world not with
rncdiocrity, but with the literary giants
and the inspirc,! of all times.
Patrons OF Missouri. and especially
the country schools. shall the children
of Missouri be denied this incstima bic
privilege? Through the School journal
and the institutes every possible effort
has been mad. To reach the teachers
upon this subject This article is writ
ten to reach the patrons through tire
columns of this paper. In order to Sc
cure success the te1chcrs and the pa
irons must cooperate. Finally, per-
NIT me tn appeal 10 the patrons who
shall read this article not to fail 20
raise az least a small library fund in
their district by private subscription or
entertainment. What you need is CO.
opcration-twenty yfiye cents or fifty
cents from every patron: five dollars ~
more from some who are able to give
that much.
In the confident hope that this Ii
hrary Dav, Friday, November %. isal,
will prove great day for The children
of Missouri, | am, very respectfully.
L. T.. WOLFE.
DIR. J. H. Sandber:. the government