Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-04-15

addressed the members of the Eastern
Librarian Association at their meet
ing at Clinton. His subject was
w hlch of the Stale Reports Should
the Library Have" Mr.. Carver talked
vigorously on the subject saying that
! there WAS not one of the reports which
| COULD be eliminated from the shelves of
the public libraries. His address in
full follows:
1t has taken more than fifty years to
demonstrate the fact that the public Ii
bfarE is an educational institution
which supplements the work of the
common school and forms a necessary
and integral part of its course of in
ST. uction. But the library has Il larger
and broader field of action; Il greater
work to Go than this. When you school
days are over, and you go out into the
world to engage in the real struggle for
! existence and Development the library
swings wide its doors and invites you
to enter there and continue and enlarge
the instruction of your school life.
The public library has become Sc
curely and firmly established along
side the church and the school. lis
existence and permanence are secured.
| 1t NOW, enters; upon its second stage OF
| development and seeks to perfect its;
work and enlarge its sphere of in;u-
/ ence and usefulness.
If he would assist in this work it is
incumbent upon the intelligent and
ambitious librarian to multiply the
uses to which his books can be applied.
| This Guty is becoming more and more
| Imperative in its demands upon US.
That we may not fail in this undertake
ing every librarian must become &C
quainted with the subject matter con-
tanned i'll every set of books upon the
shelves of his library. He cannot as
! sumo that books issued from Il depart
ment of State are confined strictly to
one subject: he will know by actual
! investigation that they touch deeply all
! kindred subjects of interest. The use
fulness of the library rarely rises high
or or extends beyond your own general
! Knowledge and interest in its treasures.
Its books become available only to the
extent that you can make known their
! hidden contents to its patrons. You
may speak with enthusiasm of the lat
est novel on your shelves and create Il
great demand among the readers of
Unit lcGlll VI llleEdtuIt lou llldy us
course upon the beauties of thought
and expression i'll the essays of an
Emerson or a Van Dyke and so induce
some of your readers to indulge in Il
! higher form of literature You may
even discuss the life and lahors Of
some Statesman with Intelligence and
feeling and thus induce boys and girls
to enter upon u course of biographical
l,,t oil l,.,r
ever made known to Il patron the great
value that lies hidden in the reports of
our State departments? In the pres
| cncc of these publications you stand
silent. Who among you all has any
general or special knowledge of their
contents. Of the help that lies in them
for every man, woman or child in your
community. 1t is in this part of the IL
brary that we all fail and come short of
our duty. We all have prejudice
against these publications: a prejudice
born of dense ignorance-for ignorance
is the mother of prejudice and hate.
The request has been made that [
should advise this association what de-
rartment reports. State and national.
should be preserved and kept upon
your shelves for reference and study.
In the short time allotted here it would
be impossible to discuss this subject 50
thoroughly as its Importance demands.
in the reports of our agricultural
DEPARTMENT Is to be found a vast
amount OF scientific matter touching
every interest in life. This set Of
books should be in every library i'll
Maine. 1t contains the reports of the
Experiment Station at Orono. and of
the Pathological Society. There is q
general subject index of the first fifty
volumes. published in 1897, and also 4
photography by Samuel l.. Boardman
published some years earlier. If you
Geeirc to study the rocks and soils of
YOUR native state, in the volumes of
1851 and 1852 you will find the geologi-
! cal reports of Hitchcock. Goodala.
Packard. Holmes and others. Do you
wish to investigate the very beginnings
Of life, as n postgraduate after you
have finished college course, you can
find ample material and instruction
urcn this subject. Here can be found
specimens of both animal and plant life
in their lowest forms. reaching back to
the dawn of creation. Are you Il chem
ist. YOU can here find n text book on
the elements and compounds that fis-
ure always in the finer maninulations
of that mystical science. Here the
youth enamoured Of nature will find a
safe guide to her secrets. Here he will
discover the haunts and habits of the
wild beasts that roam our forests; he
will learn the vices ana virtues of TIL.
birds that fly with song about Our
homes Of the moths and butterflies
that float in the balmy air of summer.
of the insects that buzz in the evening
twilight and Of the worms that crawl
beneath our feet.
In this set of books the good house
wife may learn how to prepare ana
cook ralatable food. ana she will dis
cover also the relative values of differ
ent articles that serve 70 nourish her
loved ones. Here the woman who be-
longs to the improvement league can
come with confidence to gather know
lcdge for her essay entitled low to
Make Home Beautiful" The land
scape gardener. the student Of forestry.
the carpenter ana builder and the
farr7er may each and all find in these