Evening star., 1902-03-01

ufacture OF motors or carriages Of what
ever kind. So in books upon railways,
| steam, marine. ETC., We want the latest
| elementary works, giving the history and
statistics, while we do not want elaborate
| treatises upon steam navigation or railway
| construction and management
| Latest Text Books Needed.
| Without amplifying these illustrations, or
extending them to other departments Of
science. we should have the latest text
books in chemistry, geology and mineralo-
| gy, astronomy, applied mathematics natu-
| raj history, botany, zoology, agriculture,
| horticulture. etc.
In other directions, we should have a
| wide selection of books which relate to the
| history of man. And these will include not
| only biography and history proper. but
| voyages and travels, sociology. govern
| ment economics and political science gen.
| orally.
| In a library for popular reading. the
| whole field of what may be called educa-
| tional literature should be literally COW
| cred. The newest elementary works on
every subject should be added as fast as
| they appear, thus giving the people aSsur-
| ance that our Public Library is up to the
| times. AS the institution itself is an indis-
pensable adjunct to the public schools, we
| should aim to have most, If not ALL of the
| books that illustrate every field Of instruc-
| ton.
| Teachers should he able to apply with
confidence to our library to find most If not
| all, of the recent school books in reading,
| spelling, elocutiOn, grammar, rhetoric, logic,
geography, arithmetic, higher mathematics,
| astronomy, physics, geology, chemistry,
natural history, botany, zoology, drawing,
| music, mental and moral science, athletics,
kindergartens, etc. They should also be
| sure of finding a full selection Of collateral
| works, illustrative of all departments Of
| science.
| And the pupils Ia the city schools of all
| grades can also be supplied with the widest
| selection of instructive and attrac ctive books
| to awaken and to keep alive their interest
| in knowledge. 1t is a cardinal aim of the
| board of trustees to render the public libra
| ry public educator in the best sense of the
word. Reading for the young will be in
most liberal supply and will include the
| freshest books as fast as they appear from
| the press.
No Costly Gallery of Art.
| Books on the fine arts, including painting
sculpture, architecture. music and deco
rative art. as they involve many expensive
| works, will require special care in the Sc
| lection. The costly galleries of art should
| be left to be consulted elsewhere But
| there is large and interesting variety Of
| less expensive works illustrating each of
| these arts in popular manner, which
should be indispensabIy acquired. since few
departments of science are more attractive
| than these.
Passing now from science to literature
we want a wide and liberal addition of
books in biogra ply. These form a most at
tractive as well a most instructive class
of reading. and contribute to the forma ton
of character and to wide intelligence of men
and events. Narratives of travels and voy-
ages. also. should be acquired in large
number And whatever illustrates The globe
on which live. including geographical
explorations in every field, will be found
valuable and will attract readers.
The literature of history is vast and re-
quires discriminating selection Assuming
that the most notable histories ancient and
| modern, are already in the library we
should add literally those of the more i'm
portant nations AS they appear
While we cannot multiply books to anv
| large extent in foreign languages there
| should be one set Of the Greek and Latin
| classics. in the original (besides the best
transiatlons). for general reference. And In
| the modern languages, especially French
German. Spanish and Italian it would be
| wise to provide inexpensive sets of the most
| noted authors of each nation. Poetry and
| drama should furnish q somewhat restrict
| ed field of acquisition securing however
! the most meritorious English and American
productions. We Should have also q good
selection in the field of essays, letters or
| correspondence and oratory. in all of which
| highly attractive and instructive books are
| to be found.
Should Embrace the Best.
| and especially in the histories Of literature
| In each nation, our library should embrace
the best avoiding the purchase of mere
| catalogues. bibliographies of incunabula,
| and special lines of science, for which the
| great reference library of the government
| can always be utilized.
| Our list Of periodicals. already pretty
| large, should be moderately extended. per-
hans but in view Of the vast collection
ot nf nd
| of the fact that periodicals are not books
| of circulation, for home use this depart
ment should be kept within reasonable
bounds. air.
| Finally, we come to what forms in many
| libraries, the largest class Of all, namely
| books Of fiction. In view of the vast ex-
tent Of the story IN every form (England
| alone producing more than fifteen hundred
| new novels every Year,. no field of selec-
ton presents more important call for dis
elimination than this one. Discussion Of
upon in this Gbriefs report, but it may be
| said in general that it is much easier for
| US to err on the side of a too liberal than
on that of too rigid standard of selection
| NIT no novels OF an immoral tendency,
| many will be- found to urge a too indis-
| criminate puEShase of all others Yet there
are multitudes of works Of fiction written
| in a slip-slop, wretched style, furnishing
| nothing but models to be avoided which it
| would be An abuse of our responsibility, as
in some sense purveyors for the public
taste to put before the people. Careful
| of the book committee may avoid many
| mistakes in selection, and we may hope
| that the result will be such as to elevate
and not to degrade the taste Of the read
ing public
| How far we should authorize the accumu-
lation OF duplicates, or OF many copies of
| new books OF fiction, or of the standard
and much-sought-for works in other classes
| of literature is a question not without diff
fculty. We should have specific reports
| from the librarian to the book committee
tact that almost everybody wants to read
| a certain new novel is no reason for ex-
pending our limited funds In trying to sup
| ply cycfy one with the same book at the
same moment. A judicioIs apportionr ent
Of Tbs 1un9a should be maoe among the