The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-03-25
SCHOOL LIBRARIES.

The bill to establish school Libraries
throughout the group is a good idea |
Whether the details of it are good is |
quite another matter and will be under
consideration when the bill reaches it's
printed form. From what one can
judge from a cursory glance, the eX-
pense is a heavy one, and there may be
means of tightening the expense.
The idea of the bill, which emanates
from DR.. Russell, President of the Sen
ate, is not the mere establishment of
school libraries, per Sc, but the estab-
lishment of something which will form
a nucleus of intellectual thought
among those who live within a radius
of some miles from each school house.
With this idea as a central one, the
Libraries would not be confined to
merely a selection of books which would
be only of advantage to children, but
would contain scientific works, and
works of reference which might be far
above the comprehension of the ordin-
airy child.
DIR. Russers idea, as far as The Star
has been able to learn, is to secure an
intellectual center from which much
that is of the utmost mental value will
radiate. On a matter of this kind Dr.
Russell is in his element. He is essen
TALLY man coming of a set of thinkers
whose aim is to diffuse knowledge. He
comes from country where knowl-
edge has been curtailed and depressed,
and has not been in the power of every
one to reach. His idea is that it is
wise to cast the opportunity forth be-
fore people with lavish hand. This
accounts for the amount of money
which the bill asks. However the
Finance Committee has reported favor
ably upon it, even though it calls for
large funds.
The proposal has been made that the
libraries should be peripatetic as it
We're. That is that library should re-
main in one section or district, say for
three or six months, and should then
be moved on to the next district and
another movable library take its place
The idea is a good one and has shown
excellent results in many places on the
Mainland, especially in the prairie
country where transportation from
township to township is easy, and
where townships are close together.
But this is not what DR.. Russell means
He wants solid library in every
school, to which people can come again
and again for their books. Say one
of Bailey's recent scientific works OF
popular character is in the library, he
wants everybody in the radius to have
an opportunity to read it. He does not
want man to come for the book he
has heard of, and find that it has gone
along with the travelling library to an
other Island, but he can content him
self with Smiths Diatessaron instead.
AS far as one can judge what DR..
Russell wants is to establish a perma-
nent library, and not a mere circulat-
ing medium of popular books, either
of the past or the very ephemeral
present.
The two ideas might however be COM
bined. There is no doubt that it will be
10 the advantage of each school, and
therefore to the advantage of the dis
trict that the school centralizes to have
a library of reference and a number of
solid books which should always be at
hand for those who wish to consult
them, works on all the sciences, both
light and sometimes heavier. Moreover
there are certain literary masterpieces
which should ever be at hand both in
verse and prose
On the other hand should there be
the intention and the means of adding
ephemeral literature to these libraries
it should certainly be sent round in the
peripatetic form. 1t is no use lumber
ing up libraries with ephemeral trash
But it was certainly not in the mind
of DR.. Russell to load his proposed lib
raries with any such thing as ephemera
trash. He considered that the taste
of the children should be cultivated
in a literary direction, and there are
many cheap editions of interesting
works which it would be as cheap t
keep in the district as to move. Tn,
books for the elders We're, he consider
ed, to be of a character to hell
them in the particular district in which
they might be in Agricultural works
dealing with conditions in KOna woulC
be different from conditions in Kula
Maui. The debate on the bill Should
be interesting.