The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-19
IN A CHILDREN'S LIBRARY.
RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENT. Ar
III PRATT INSTITUTE.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS from tire ChiidFep
Tho Hrst childron's library established In, tAis,.
country was at Brookllnc, Mass, in 1890 thN .
second In Boston In 1892. and the tnirdIp Brooksk
Ign in 1s94-that is. children under Ia years Of
age were thon admitted to tho privileges OF the a
Pratt Institute Library. After, the childreo.
were admitted to membership In the ReAtAA
library II was found that they AND tho olAeap
folks would he better separated. 10. So when the
new library building was opened an Juns Lii
1895, one of the finest rooms was given, to- khehS
children to enjoy all by themselves, With tpe-s
older folks to disturb them, -.s I'D
Tho library IL FREQ for all children under IA
who reside in Brooklyn and who writa or )
print their own names. Thore are 5000 chill.
dren on the roll of membership, and oyAS 2,O0O
books for them to select from. These are ,hnOS
large books. and almost all arc well illustrAtod. I,
When the library was first opened the children
had direct access to tho shelves. They turned
out In large numbers. and their ongl1ught On
the books was terrifying. II n book was we'll
Illustrated and popular. a dozen children, got
hold of It at once and fought. There was dis
order and clamoring, wild boys jumped a. In and
out of the windows. slid down stair rails. and
whooped at the echoes in the halls. Tho chill
dren disputed about every library treasure, and
one of the little girls sadly remarked: j
"If all the books in the world were hero I
could not get o bit Of one Of them, there In so
much grabbing"
Some timid people were afraid that tho chill.
dren's library'idea would have to be given up,
but the Pratt Institute folks understand the art
of governing people by means of the people
themselves. They simply smiled and took pro-
cautions against q recurrence. They confined
the privilege of access to tho shelves to q few
of the best behaved children, extending Il a.
others improved in their department. p
Miss Mary Plummer 10 tho Pratt Librarian.
Sho has ideas and plenty Of patience. After
three months Of experiments she got tho sort of
assistant she desired TO superintend tho chill.
dren's room. This young woman has been In
charge of the children ever since, and 1t was to
her that the writer applied for information
about the results Of what many people still con.
slider an experiment.
Sometimes there are as many as 200 chill
dren In this ROOM said the young woman.
They are all well behaved. There is very sci.
dom necessity for reproving any of them. They
know that some of their companions are road.
ing in this room and that older people are read
ing in an adjoining room. They arc allowed
to converse in low tones and they quickly CON.
form their conduct to the rules. Thorc Is a fine
playground outside and II they get too full Of
spirits they can go there. The fact that they
are allowed to converse in low tones helps to
keep order, 1 believe. They try to be orderly
and show In many ways that they appreciate
tuS BOOu IOhlulcuJ lucy kCl. o..
Amy child under II from any part Of Brook.
lyn can come hero and join this library. For
eigners who themselves have no education show
appreciation of this and some Of the Polish and
German Hebrew children are among our bright
est. The italian children, too, come to us. We
used to demand that a child should be guaran-
teed by a property owner who would undertake
to pay for books lost or destroyed. but We gave
that up and take the promise Of tho parents
now. There ia M limit Qq m VOuth nf fha
members. They can join this library as soon
as they can sign or print their own names.
They begin to come here and look at the pic
lures when they arc only a year and n half old.
All the children now are allowed access 10
the shelves, but only a limited number can
come within the rail at the same time. The
assistants here are increased during a rush,
times as many as eight assistants are here.
Sometimes the name OF a book in tho catalogue
gives a child a totally wrong idea, which Is cor.
rsS "Hfte wnsn time nS ct the sSS e6 8RdH se ase in 1G the i Ssbit Of
consulting the librarian and then there is q
give some. aim and direction to the reading.
Some Of the young ones come in with funny
Sat e aged sDG 90 Years. came Sne here and joined this
library. She was asked If she did not want to
did not: as she considered faiTy, tales siiliy. She
finally took out something solid enough to suit
found out that when she had pronounced
about them; She had aftorward encountered
fairy tale In a book which contained other
ing, this one story she got the fairy tale habit
and soon vas caught in the vortex OF Grimm:
are some children who don't care for fairy tales
and am very sorry for them: The brightest
from Sf nm them i%iin! 10 the S"1 myths gsh" and sns i so On to a'f f elGfE3lGrea'
We don't try to force anything on the chill.
drcn. We throw things in their way to arouse
their interest ana make them ask questions.
hung 6SI1 Y on oom the gas 9 gItpF" som wlth S%itJ any P aS:
served them and said they were great coccoong.
ity thoroughly arGused:thsy went at the books
about the paper wGsps and Their habits.
Some very unexpected things are found on
in and took out Lochinvar. He puzzled over
II a long time, AID I'D finally sliy vas - asked I{S IL II any as s
, write a compensation about .Loo6lnTar.' and
> gould not make head .H1d or tail tail OF \; The story Of
.aPpnise. Are Ares there fSS 70 fto ai% f IN those no S! :PosmsP
t he said, ! thought they we're Just EnymmeS;.
. don't see the connection between tho pictures
! S '6Id m the t6 PSsd IN did @1 aSs care a fto oEy 'siotSIa.I bS Y
considered that they were only for children,
4 little later ! .S Sbs9 ,TtS t this do! crave and Ire Tev 9 end
,,UUIrSs book < / took occasion aston , to idPqH = and he
der not TO hurt his companions feelinGa. We
: got on the subject of Joan of Arc, and I showed
Q connection between tho reading and pictures
1t was a revelation TO him. and soon he was In
" structinR his companion in IL all.
d We can't always tell how much q child'l
selections are due TO choice and how much te
the studies being pursued in school. Many OF
% the members OF this library como here to write
p their school compositions. Many of the book
they get are taken out In connection with theiE
school work. SO when a book is'taken No don't
know that it represents a teste. Thu, boys
taste seems better than the girls. The latter
d read Miss Alcott's and Mrs. Burnett's books
n and then are ready to proceed to the regular
It s S%s IN 1Ss o loys s sIpF With W sseS sy 10 t ssS Chen
" healthy. virile authors. We try to get them
d away from the purely domestic toward which
m they tend.
'"The boys arc less trouble. They. enjoy his
,t tory and biography. travels and adyenturoni
"a stories Of heroes and wonders, and thoro 10 n,
NJ danger of their minda hecominR morbid. Dam