Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-06
A LIBRARY DELIVERY STATION.
A Description of One of Boston's Pub
lie Library, Branches.

lie Library Branches.
From the Boston Herald.
From a public library point of view, the
patronage of any one of the ten branches
and eighteen delivery stations of the Bos-
ton Public Library is at least technical
basis on which to make an estimate of the
intelligence and literary needs of the dis
tricts and communities of the city. The
stations-which are chiefly reading rooms
and catalogue conveniences that save a
journey to branch or the central library
to obtain book-afford, of course, less ac-
curate opportunities for estimate than those
to be found in the branches. But, as every
community has its general literary charac-
teristics, so each station offers basis for
general study of them-that is to say, all
of the eighteen delivery stations except
one.
This one is station S. No 1173 fremont
street, little north of Roxbury Crossing.
1t was established two years ago, and is
one of the largest stations. The principal
visible features of it are a reading room
that contains seven tables. each accommo-
dating four readers, a f1at-top desk for the
custodian, book case that had about 100
volumes in it yesterday and, for special
note, large solid wooden counter that
looks like lunch counter in a third-class
restaurant
Thls wooden structure marks the office
of the superintendent of the Boys Insti-
tute of Industry. That is to say, the de-
livery station and the headquarters of the
institute are in the one room; and when
the boys assemble for their classes in cob
bling and carpentering and other industries
they go to their rooms through the library
reading room, past the custodianS desk.
The institute has nothing official to do
with the delivery station, but the boys
patronize the reading room, and the par
ents OF a few of them take out books. Next
door to the station is the Peoples Institute
and only very small percentage of its
members take out books or use the reading
room. About a mile from it is the Rox-
bury branch. Station is the handiest
convenience for about 10000 people-the
population of the community
But station affords very little oppor-
tunity for estimating the intelligence of the
10000, and for this reason there is no other
part of the Boston Public Library like It,
Nearly all the patrons of station are
children. The average daily attendance in
the room is about 100, or, say, 10000 a
month, and about 1000 books are taken
out month or sixty-five a day.
The station is open from pm. until G
o'clock, and from o'clock till .. Children
are coming in and going out all the time.
They sit at the tables and look at maya
zines or read books, which they are prvi-
legged to take from the case. The shelves
contain chiefly volumes of light history and
travel fairy tales and popular science and
fiction and natural history.
The patronage of the station is growing
rapidly, and there is an excellent chance
for the Boston Public Library to develop
it into what it is almost prevented from
being-a distinctive reading room for poor
children.
The children of the community appear to
be very bright. Yesterday afternoon a
nine-year-old girl asked the custodian for
The Scarlet Letter. 1t would be pretty
hard to beat this instance at the central
library. And the child was no exception
in the experience of the affable Gust odian.