The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-05-26
FREE SCIlOOLBOOKS.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE UNIQUE S'Y5.
TEN Or BROOKLYN.


The thanks of nearly 100000 pualic
school pupils of Brooklyn and their mr.
ents are due to the board of educ i
for at least one OF the features OF tit
body's adn;nistration-the free book
system. 1t is a fact not commonly known
that the pupils of the public schools il
this city are furnished with all the outfit
of books, states and paper necessary
throughout their course at school free of
charge. To do this entails an expense of
about 800. 900 every year and a vast dcal
of work in procuring and distributing
the required supplies. Only one other
city in the state, that of New York.
treats its school children as munificent-
~. The system has been in vogue in
Brooklyn for some years and is found to
be SO satisfactory that no change is el-
pected or even considered at all.
The books used in this city's schools
are selected by the board of education's
committee on studies, who report their
selections to the full board for confirma-
ton before the books are finally listed.
There are now on the catalogue of text
books and works Of whatever sort for
which need is found to exist in the
schools upward of 1000 different kinds
of books ranging from primers to alb
struse works on philosophy. The list
includes a variety Of algebras, arith,ne-
tics, books Of astronomy, bookkeeping,
chemistry, civil government, compost
ton and rhetoric. dictionaries in Eng
lish and several other languages, books
on elocution, etymology, geography. ge-
ometry, grammar, history. languages.
literature, methods of teaching, physiol-
ogy, readers. maps, charts, copy books.
drawing books, music books and charts,
science and natural philosophy and sup
Elementary readers.
The modus operandi of getting the
right books in the right quantities to the
several schools is this: The principal of
a school makes up from reports furnished
by his subordinates a requisition which
is written ont on q blank form with the
titles of the books, gradesfo which they
are to be used. and the price of each book,
and the total for the whole reuuisition.
Demands for maps, globes, charts, die
tionaries, blackboards, janitors' supplies,
etc, must be approved by the chairmen
of the local committees. The requisi-
tons after passing the committee on IL
braries are sent to the secretary Of the
board Of education. George G. Brown,
who controls the distribution of the sup
plies for the schools.
The acquisitions are tabulatei once a
week. and upon the basis o. IT, l. ult
of the tabulation orders ere made out
upon the publishers. Lack OF room for
the storage of the supplies and sco-oity
Of money forbid airy considerable gu n
tity OF books being carried in stock. All
the books are delivered ct the bookroom
in tie Office building of the board Of ed
ucation. where they are counted, and
each Il is stamped Property Board Of
Education, City Of brooklyn" and en-
tered on the receiving book. The clerks
make up the orders for the several
schools. and the packages are sent to
their destinations by express.
A separate uou of books received
and returned is kept at the headquarters
OF the board of education with each
school. The books are charged to the
principals. who in turn charge them TO
the teachers, the latter keeping track Of
the disposition OF the volumes among
the pupils. When the books become I'M
fit for use, they are turned in and re-
bound if expensive, and if cheap sold
for waste paper. All books when they
cannot be used any longer, whether fit
for reminding or not, must be returned
to the board of education. If pupils
willfully destroy them, they are obliged
to pay for others to replace the books de-
stroyed. In the case Of books lost by
pupils the teachers are vested with a GER
tain degree Of discretionary power
touching what measures if any shall be
taken to make good the loss.
How long the average schoolbook lasts
is a matter for speculation. The life of
the average book differs with the locality
of the school and the character Of the
pupils. In some sections, for instance,
the books are converted into playthings
for the baby at home, while in others
the greatest pride is manifested in pre-
serving the books clean and unimpaired.
So, too, a geography of a good kind
will last frequently several years, while
n season of work is generally the limit
of endurance of a primer. Whatever
may be the total number of books used
up in a year, it is certain that the en-
ployees of the board who handle them
haven't an overplus Of leisure. From
the middle of January till March l three
express wagons are kept constantly On
the move distributing the packages to
the schools.
The number of pupils on register is
about o. 5000, SO that the per capita cost
for books is only a little overs 81 per year.
In the primary grades, where a large
portion of the total registry is found
many Of the youngsters require only
states and primers. Higher up, however.
in the grammar schools and high schools
the cost of books for each pupil, if it
were not borne by the board, would
range from IS OF "a to 81 or . pe1 year.
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