The Irish standard., 1898-01-29
Public School Libraries.
Editor of The Irish Standard.

Inc description which you give in
your columns of some OF the books found
III the public school libraries Of Minnea-
apolis applies to other places as we'll.
The instructors Of the teachers training
school in this county prepared n list Of
books which they recommended to the
teachers as the most useful that could be
selected for country school library.
Among those on the list is Myers
General History" which the conductor
OF the school took particular pains to
recommend. Another work on this
training school list is THE Building of
the Nation" by Charles Carleton Coffin,
author of The Story of Liberty" The
writer has lately seen a copy of his
book, which one Of our districts lately
purchased-of course on the recon-
mendaticn of the teacher, backed by
that OF the training school instructors.
This book, in its chapter on California,
uses the following language In descrh-
Ing the founding of the city of San
Francisco by the devoted Franciscan
Fathers, who labored so long and nobly
to teach the Indians of that region
Christianity and civilizations: They
built church. set it off with red and
yellow pictures; built Il house. a black
smith shop, granary. and store house
of bricks dried in the sun. They gave
the Indians rings for their ears and rcd
blankets, sprinkled them with holy
water and set them to work" In his
chapter on Religious and Moral
Forces" he does not mention the Catho.
lie church except for the purpose OF
Vllifying her. He uses the name of 4
Protestant preacher from ireland, dc.
scendant of those who came from The
Palatinatq in Germany to Ireland during
the seventeenth century, and attaches 20
his name all about Madame De Main
tcnon doing rcnanrc for her sins Ivy
persuading Louis XIV. to cxtermina,c
the heretics Of the Palalinatc. In tell
ing OF the French revolution and its
causes, hc says: Prom the cradle to the
grave the people must give 10 the
church If they were to expect any hap
illness in this world or in the next.
Many of the priests were living lux
urious lives" Wherever he mentions a.. C
church it is only to heap rdicuc and
abuse upon her.
The catalogue from which this book
was selected was compiled and recon-
mendcd by the public school library
commission, composed of the state SUPER
intendent and the presidents of the rour
state normal schools, which commission,
appointed by the authorities for the
purpose selected and named in This
catalogue books what they thought most
suitable for a public school library
LOGO volumes in ALL
Now. it seems to me that there ought
to be some way devised to prevent such
authors as Myers and Coffin from infls-
ing their biogtry into our public school
libraries. Would it not be a good plan
for committee of fair-mindeu Men
having leisure and opportunity to make
~
recommended by the library commits
siGn and to publish u list of those that
ara objectionable on account of their
biogtry? Then. at least, Catholic teach
crs could not DO so easily entrappcd in,o
recommending such books, and Catholic
members OF school boards would not be
giving their sanction to literature shat
holds their religion up to the hatred and
contempt of their neighbors
believe with you that the work of
preventing sectarinn bigntry from get
ting into our public libraries, and of
driving 1t ont of them wherever found,
cannot be- begun too soon. or be too
earnestly pushed, especially of kcrping
such literature out of rural libraries,
where there are SO few Influences TO
brought into them, they will remain
there for years; their falschoods will,
in q; measure, have the Endorsement OF
the state. and they will instill prejl,liccs
into the rising generation which will be
in time Il potent factor In Keeping alive
the fires of religious hate and discor,l.
and prevent that harmony and good I'M
Outstanding which, especially in thl.
enlightened age, ought to prevail among
all Christian people
A MURRAY COUNTY TEACHER.