The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-07-10

that readers go from poor to better sorts
OF reading. No case has ever been cited
philosophy, pure religion, profound
science. and useful information, has .gra-
dually. run down in his reading, until ms
declining years were ~disreputably wasted
on dime novels and story weeklies. The
idea is ridiculous, even on the bare
statement of it. But the experience Of
librarians is unanimous to the contrary,
that those who begin with dime novels
and story weeklies may be expected to
grow into a liking for a better sort of
travels. of biography and history, then
of essays and popular science. and SO on
"If those who cannot make use of any
better reading than novels and stories
and jokes. are not furnished with these,
worse alternative; and to exclude such
reading from a public library Will, in
general. reduce the extent of its use to
one-quarter of what it would otherwise
be. The records of our libraries show
that about t~hree-Quarters of the reading
in them is light reading, and but little
the greater or less proportion of novels
and other light books to the whole coll
lection."
BUSINESS PRINCIPLES ALWAYS.
Libraries should be carried on just as
we would conduct ny other business;
so soe high nIiaf in the ene Clouds n0 as c to forget pgs mat that
the vast majority of people are bowed
down by their cares and burdens, and
| Cdie liOTS u Iicildl TGldAdllOu lIldu III
struction. The business maxim that ia
vors quick sales even at small profits,
applies. just as surely to library work as
to business. The merchant is well sat
istied if he sees crowds ~thronging his
place of business although many of them.
are in search of a ten cent bargain. 1t is
filled with a crowd. eager for the ten cent
bargain. than to ave only an occasional
customer in search of his more costly
wares.
The comparison is oblivious. The libra
rian in ike manner enjoys seeing his
library crowded even by those in search
the fashion for the librarian. who has
a smaller circulation than a neighboring
rival. to saw that the amount of good
number of books it circulates. 1t seems
to me that the matter reduces itself to
a question Of pgre mathematics. It is
whether large or small, the rate per cent
of library circulation is nearly uniform
in all la5raries, showing ing that, for every
something better than fiction. Such
tshnG the ease 9se,ra at tt the ve end T Of the y yeaEF'
which of these two showings would you
prefer? A circulation of lO0,oo with
f reading? per Or ee a library wv Wttc Ht by st eSeiadl
ing trash. has reduced its usefulness to
o~ne-fourth of what it might ba-which,
the same twenty per cent. 5000 Of
Time forbids that I should go
his subject. From what has already
been said. it will be plainly seen that I
favor the freest admission into our
public libraries of all kinds of fiction,
except that which is positively impure
and immoral. To use a familiar quota
tion:-'It is a condition and not a theory
that confronts US" Soy What we will.
we cannot get rid of the facts as they
exist. We are not called upon TO apollo
| finds expression in the large percentage
| of fiction shown by our library statistics.
The fact. unwelcome as it may be TO
the theorist, remains that, uniformly in
all libraries. this percentage is high, and
but one conclusion can be reached: name
w, that there exists a craving. or demand
which must be satisfied, and which, IT
properly directed. will result In much
good. If the pubic library IS for the
| benefit of 8 few scholarly men, who may
happen to live In zach community. where
II Is located. 1t must supply this demand
! or the public will be perfectly justified
| in withholding its support from what
ceases to be of the greatest good to the
greatest number
*The continued high per centage of
fiction. shown by. a library,,s statistics
| assertion. New generations of readers
| RAPIDLY arise, which take the place OF
the older ones, and these must go
through the ascending grade of reading,
from the lowest upward, as have their
| nredaceSSorS.