The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-02-26
One WAY TO GET COUNTRY SCHOOL LIBRARIES
ID EGGlEsTON il, supt Schools Prince Edward County

poor In material resources. But she and
the children raised sis; 1.-The publishers
gave unusually low prices. Ono citizen
/ OF another community was SO much
Impressed by tho determination or tho
school. that he gave forty volumes from
q little library Of 100 volumes which tho
children nre reading with an eagerncss
that cannot DO described. In, this school
are three little girls whose father is
ina Better financial condition than any
one else in the neighborhood. When r
asked him last summer to support o.
movement for nm extra tax Of ten cents
on the 500 IT property, he strenuously
objected The extra tax would have cost
him less than 50. The instance Is men
toned to illustrate#one OF the condl-
Etions under which libraries were obtained
lin the county. 3s 3Ff i'' 81; }t$ 3sS
a Nine children out w Of ten are reading
the books. The teachers report an In.
creased interest lin the school itself, bot
ter attendance, and asmore Intelligent In
tcrest In the regular studies. Cne teacher
writes: Robinson Crusoe and tho fairy
stories Were the most popular books At
I first 7 could get. tho children to read no-
thing elsc;f but 7 read selections from
the histories ana other books. and as
soon as Il did this, t llese books were In
demand. X Some Of the larger boys and
girls told me, they had mover READ q book
or newspaper until this winter and that
now they read and enjoyed all the papers
they could get. One OF the most favor
able features OF the movement is that
the parents are reading the books hat
the. children carry home. This means q
new life for the children, and to the
parents 1t is a. relief from the daily
work. In tho country, where too little
comes to tighten the drudgcry from days
light to dark, and to refresh the mind
when the lamps are lit. During the
past summer the books were placed at
convenient points so that the children
could read them during vacation. NH
n In several communities I was told that
Il the children would abuse or destroy tho
books. "They break window panes, cut:
the desks, mark on the walls. and are
up to all kinds Of lncanness,""B was the
refrain. My reply was that I could not
blame tho children for doing these things
in some OF these school houses, for the
children very naturally concluded that
If they were sent to ahantles instead Of
TO good schools. they would act In har-
w
the children abused the books? OF course
not. I'here was little danger Of it. These
books are the children's very own, bought
largely by their personal efforts. They
prize thcm s such. Children do not
,ruthlessly destroy heir own precious pos.
sessions. Tho books are covered with q
smooth hardware paper, and little harm
has come to them beyond the wear Of
everyday handling. II e
IS At what age are they allowed to take
tho books from the library? At tho school
age. If child comes to school to learn,
and asks for a book, ne is given one,
and his parents or older brothers or Sis
tors can read It to him. Mo Their Goose
Is Of course, a prime favorlte with these
tots. Any one who Is Interested enough
to purchase ticket can got q book to
read tai3 IN 5 N e. IA 3;5lEl
/ asked the teachers to write the fol-
lowing in tho front Of each book. and to
talk to the children about tho books and
their authors, so rs to establish, In the
children a. feeling of personal relation
ship to the books: i35 III
q 5l5 aI AM. A. BOOK. S38
Ny mission is to give you pleasure.
Please, then put an apron on me.
4 Please touch mo with clean hands,
Please make no marks on me,
Please don't turn down my leaves. j
Please don't break my back.
Please help mo to help YOU and your:
friends. n n Il 81
Sincerely yours. ass3. 4 II;
Ell (Name of book) q
This personal relation between the book
and the child is worth moro than a ton
of preachments and threatened punish
ments. i't8 s 38j3s
Almost rs essential rs the library Is
the patriotic spirit and tho knowledge Of
tho irresistible power OF social co-opera-
ton aroused In the children and parents
who raise the. money or put forth the
effort to do SO. The self-effort is the
most important things at tho start. We
could have placed Il library in every
school--there are about seventy-fve--lf
we had appealed to friends out Of the
county, This session tho work is go-
ing on. and we shall he Satisfied when
every school in the county has a library,
and each library. gyows from year to
year.
81 1t is In no boastins spirit that this
article has been written, From one
point OF View very little has been DONE
One thousand books in ono session in
one county--surely this Is nothing to-
boast Of Many counties In tho State
could quadruple this with little effort.
But froa, another point OF view 1t does
mean something Four districts out Of
five IN this county with q population Of
about 1900, pay taxes on prQ,crtM valued
/ mt Sl,292,44S, or less than $3.50 for each
voter.
What has been done here can be done
in any county In the State; and
in many counties fiYe to ten
+ times rs much can be accomplished. In
a few of our counties the library moves
ment is growing steadtly-ilotably In
Washington county. where libraries are
going into every school. If every county
would do only this-place twenty-five
libraries in their country schools Of
thirty volumes each--tke children Of this
State would have access to 5000 volumes
of good books But why stop AT this.
few YearS AGO good reading for