Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-02-21

Il
books. Blanks are then provided, and
The students fill them out, the an-
swers. when complete, covering just
those points which The librarian de-.
sires to know. They set down no mag
tcrs of opinion, but only matters Of
fact. This is to give the pupils Drac-
tice in estimating the value OF books
for library purposes, taking account Of
the points that the librarian should be
informed upon before buying. can
see in this the germ OF something
greater, a central bureau, where COM
petent persons will prepare estimates
of books TO be sent out 10 Librarians.
ct is manifestly impossible for the Ii
brarian to read all the books that are
published. Different employees about
the library may read them, but the re-
suit is haphazard. And yet every book
should he read from beginning to end
before it is placed on the shelves A
librarian may glance it hastily through,
or read several chapters carefully,
and pronounce the book suitable, when,
as Il matter of fact, he has missed
something that is very Objectionable
indeed. This brings one to the first
point which should be covered in the
estimate of the book. The appraiser
should state whether or not there are
any scenes, any features, discussions
or language in the book which render
it unfit for the shelves of a public IL
brary. If there are the book must be
excluded, even though, from & literary
point of view, the book may lie great
one. and even though it may appeal to
people of cultivated tastes and high
character. But in a public library
there must be nothing which would
provoke criticism as unsuitable for
young folk.
"A very important point for the APP
praiser to pass upon would be the
personality of the author. rs to fitness
and previous preparation for his work.
Ii there is a new book on volcanoes we
want to know whether the author got
his information from volcanoes or
from the encyclopaedia. II personal
Investigations have made him an au-
thofity ON the subject. we would buy
the book. even though it were badly
written. and otherwise a Door speci-
men of a book. Of course, this would
apply generally to books other than
novels. Still. there might be a novel
which would not amount to much as a
story, but would present delightful
pictures of life in Japan, or In'lia, for
instance. If we knew the author had
lived in those countries and was in
formed upon those subjects, il would
render the book valuable for that rea-
son alone.
las TO style, that is largely matter
of opinion, and as such would not be Il
proper subject for appraisement. But
if the writer Were guilty OF gram
NAUTICAL errors, or equally fragrant
sins. that would be a matter of fact.
Novels should be classified in the
appraisement as religious. sociologi-
cal, historical, and so on. If there were
a particular demand for stories on the
relation of labor and CAPITAL, for in
stance. we might buy a new one. even
if it were not so very well written. The
interest of the matter to the reading
public would compensate for the lack
in style.
This plan would save librarians a
lot of uncertainty and labor. and oc-
casional mistakes. The question then
would be reduced to one of literary
values. And as to that, / don't think
any hard and fast rules can be made.
As to the exclusion of a new book for
three years after its publication, that
would have deprived the libraries of
three years reading of David Harum'
or When Knighthood Was in Flow
err And, while those books have
lived three years, their final position in
literature is no more fixed today than
it was three years ago. Their position
to. ha thnft
when they came out Librarians feel
that many books are being put out in
which the writer's are MT masters of
their weapons; the English is not first
class.
rs there anything first class COM
pared to the standard authors? Why,
YES as far as the English goes. There
are writer's today who can use the
fngfsh language jus1 as we'll as any
novelist has ever done. The matter of
their books may not be great enough
Ito make them live, but the style is frs
| class.
Broadly speaking, it is only these
books written in thoroughly good. pure
| English, which should be put in the
| library, But to pass upon all the new
| books with this in view is a matter re-
curing much time and critical judg-
ment. It can't be done by rule. There
are certain authors whom we know II
l