Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury [Connecticut]) 1900-1903, 1902-12-05
BOOKS FOR GIRLS
Librarian Sperry Talks Interesting
~ Of Her Experience.
POPULAR WORKS THEY READ
Miss Sperry Has Been Connected With Some Of
the Largest Libraries in the Country
Tastes Of Girls Are Of a Sentimental
Naturc--Even When They Grow
Up To Maturity They Gener-
ally Follow The Same
Line of Reading.

8 +
Books are our most steadfast
friends; they go with us on our jour-
neys; they await US on our return;
they are our resource IN loneliness;
they await US as ministers Of age and
cheer; they put US in the center of the
world; they bring the world OF men
and things to our feet. What beau
tiful words and what depth of mean
ing and truth they contain. A good
book is the best of company. Who is
happier than the man Of learning and
ability as he sits in the seclusion and
solitude of his studio, deyouring eager
ly the words Of a fayorite author?
What picture of quiet contentment
the tired laborer presents as he sits by
the CHEEKY hearth, reading q fayorite
STORY after the days labor is over. A
book exerts much influence over the
mind of the reader; this is especially
true in regard to a youthful mind. Ii
the tone of the book is of an eleyating
nature the reading of it is very bene-
fetal to the mind, but on the contrary,
the reading of book of a low moral
tone has a baleful influence. Care
should be taken by parents, therefore,
to see that the books selected by their
children to read are of a proper ma
ture. Sad to say, however, this is not
done very often. To many young
girl books wouldn't be worth reading
unless every page was full of senti-
ment and love.
A Democrat reporter had a short
talk recently with Miss Sperry, Ii
brarian at the Bronson library. in re-
gard to the sort of books taken from
that institution by boys and girls. Miss
| Sperry had the following to say on the
| subject !:
In a general sense boys and girls
from infancy up are more imaginative
and more easily appealed to by works
of fancy than by works of fact. Boys
show a taste for adventure at a very
early age and like to read books about
American history, the lives of Wash
| ington, Grant and Lincoln. which they
prefer to the lives of Penn and Frank
lin. The stories of the lives of the lat
| ter appeal less to their ideas of adven-
| ture than those of the former. Boys
are also of a practical turn of mind
and many like to read books about cleo
tricity and those relating to the useful
: arts. The range of reading for the
/ girls is more narrow. There are a few
girls who are interested in the same
books which boys like. They like to
read some little books about cooking
and domestic matters, which are writ
ten especially for girls Outside of
domestic matters their taste is for
! stories of sentimental nature Few
books are written for girls of 16 that
do not deal in some way with a love
I affair. Stories of a boarding school
life are popular, but the tone of even
! these books is sentimental. All IL
brarians find much difficulty in procur-
/ ing good books for girls. The best and
! most popular Of girls books are those
written by Louise Alcott Next tic
these are Laura Richards's and Eliza
beth Stewart Phelps's. The Elsie
books, which are immense favorites
are disapproved of by librarians be.
cause of their false standards Fol
that reason they have been withdrawn
from the juvenile department of the
4 Bronson library.
When girls graduate into the adult
department they naturally read along
/ the same lines as before. Mrs Clara
Louise Burnham's books are very popu
lar and are entirely harmless. They are
lively stories of young men and youns
women. The young people are always
well bred, the incidents lively, the tone
i cheerful, the moral good. Rose Cary's
books come next There are a mum
i Der of books of that grade which thu
assistant librarians recommend tt
young girls.
In each of the four libraries, Car
I negie library, Braddocr Pa; Carnegi,
library, Germantown, Pa; State library
Albany, n. y, and the Bronson library
with which I have been connected, m,
. experience with girls has been yer.
much the same Higher education, til,
women's club, the women's suffrag,
agitation. the development of the ath
letic life, have not made any apparen
change in the tastes Of girls and wo
men as far as reading is concerned
The people who deplore the advance o
the new woman mourn the indifference
to marriage shown by young ladies a
the present day are. reckoning on
false basis It is probable that tn
lack of early marriages is due to tn
increase in luxurious habits. in whicl
men indulge as well as women, and il
the increased cost Of living"