The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1901-10-11

Der of buildings. Additions will
therefore be asked to the support,
repair AID contingent funds. Some
provision will be asked whereby the
library building, which is the most
urgent need of the university at pres
emit, can be built at once by antici-
pating the tenth of a mill tax for
building purposes. The university
was never in a more prosperous con-
dition, and never had as good pros
poets as now, providing the legisla-
ture makes the necessary provisions
for the continuance and enlargement
of it's work.
Notes Progress.
The bulletin of the Iowa library
commission notes progress in library
affairs. The Ericsson public library, at
Boone, was dedicated last week by
Judge H. e. Deemer, of the supreme
court, and johnson Brigham, presi-
dent of the Iowa library commission.
Clinton is to have a new public Ii
brary building, paid for by a 100000
gift from Andrew Carnegie. George
w. Schee, of Primghar, has given 5000
to the public school library of Hol-
stein on condition that the citizens
give an equal amount. Mrs. Still
man, of Nevada, has given ST 1000 to
Simpson college, at Indianola, for a
working library. A new free public
library will Dol be opened in JEFF
ferson. Denison has just voted to
have a free public library, and a fund
has been raised to buy books. A chill
dren's department has been added to
the Des Moines public library, and is
proving to be one of the most popu-
lar features of the library, which will
next year move into a magnificent
new building. The state university
library is now temporarily housed in
a part of the new collegiate building.
The departmental library system has
been adopted, and the looks are,
many of them, scattered. Miss Har-
riet A. Wood, of the New York state
library school, recently of the Gin
c%innati public library, has been elect
ed head cataloguer in the university
library, and is now at work. The
Iowa City public library nov occu-
pies new and larger rooms.
Growth of Interest.
The growth of library interest in
the state during the past three or
four years has been very rapid, and
has been especially so during the past
year and a half since the library COM
mission began its work of stimulat-
ing interest in the establishment OF
new libraries and the better organiza-
ton of existing libraries. Several
munificent gifts to library buildings
have been made by wealthy men in
the state for the benefit of their
home towns. Besides the Ericsson Ii
brary in Boone, which cost about $1O,-
900, and was the gift of State Senator
G. j. A. Ericsson, eX-Gov. Drake has
presented his home town, Center.
vile, with a library which, it is under.
stood, will cost about $4,000. Philip
NJ. Grape, of Burlington, erected a
magnificent library building in that
city, and it has been occupied about
two years. This building cost some
where in the neighborhood of $780,
900. The Musser library in MuscatiMe
was built as a gift of the wealthy
lumberman of that name, and is to be
a very fine structure, costing about
$4,000. Several other gifts of this
kind have been made for the benefit
of the public.
Rural School Consolidation.
An important feature of the next
report of the state superintendent OF
r11h1io nctr,1ati0 r . n Rn rratt will
be the investigation which has been
made into the system of consolidat-
ing small rural schools and trans
porting the pupils to central schools.
The system has been extensively
tried in many states, notably in Ohio,
Indiana, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Kansas and several other states be-
sides Iowa. 1t has proved to be al
most universally satisfactory to the
patrons, to the children and in edu-
cational results. 1t is growing in
popularity in Iowa, and during the
coming year it's adoption will be ex-
tended greatly in the state. The
chief obstacle in the way of the eN-
tension of the system is the bad
roads that prevail in many sections,
particularly in the spring. If the
roads were good many small schools
which nave an attendance Of less
than ten-many of them less than
five-and are unable to get good
teachers, would be closed and the pu-
pills transported at public expense to
centrally located schools. This has
been found to be more economical
than maintaining the small schools,
and the central school, combining the
resources of several small ones, is in
variably a better school, with better
teachers and better equipment than
the little schools can possibly be.
Three-quarters of the schools in the
state nave an average attendance Of
less than 20, and about a third have
an average attendance of less than
ten. These schools cannot afford to
pay good wages, and good teachers
cannot be secured for them, so they
have to put up with teachers who can