Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-25
SCHOOL GIRLS AND
THEIR SCHOOL BOOKS
BY MARGARET E. sANGsTER

Copyright, 1905. by Joseph B. Bowles)
am about to confess to you, Dorothy
l little weakness of mine. 1 cannot
endure book that is covered either
with a loose paper protection or a tightly
fitting extra garb of any fabric whatever.
When a new book comes into my hands
the first thing I do. unless 1 expect to lend
1t, Is to throw away the pretty outside
covering which in these days publishers
put on new books. If I think that l shall
have occasion to lend the book after awhile
to friend or to a girl neighbor or per-
haps to one of you. to whom l am writing,
l take pains to preserve the portable cover,
and slip 1t on before the book leaves my
possession.
Let me whisper to you that very few peo-
pie love their books as L love mine, and
That very few people care for them as 1 do
enjoy the beauty of fair type. fine paper
and choice Illustrations and / have a great
regard for beautiful binding. never hold
book In hands that are soiIed, or leave
1t face downward and open on chair or
lapie, or hand IL over to child that IL may
keep the child quiet.
L have lent books before now to very
dear friends, and have had them returned
In such a condition of loosened leaves. spot
Cd pages, stained bindings and degenerate
L
thrown them into the fire and bought 9TH
ers One may really wish to share the
pleasure book gives her with some one
she is fond of. and still may hesitate If
learned to treat a book with respect tor
Its worth and regard for its cost.
Take your school books. for instance
Dorothy. They are really charming books
From the mechanical point of view a good
many people have invested time, thought
learning and skill in their making In the
FIRST place, the author spent iaborious
months and years in mastering the subject
OF the school text books and he toiIeu
over IL that he might condense a great
oea! OF information into concrete and com
paet statement, making Ii so simple so
lucid and so clear that the beginner in
science or literature could comprehend IL
IN daily task.
You may fancy that 1t Is easy to write
dehnifions and formulas and rules In re-
atty. nothing in literature is so hard More
brains and more conscience and more labor
go into the production of standard school,
DOCK than into the writing of an enfc
poem or three-volumed novel
saw Rosamond In fit of vexation toss
her arithmetic across the ROOM to the det-
riment of the poor book, and felt a queer
little throb of pity for the man who had
made that arithmetic A set of reading
books into which have gone specimens OF
the best English literature, culled from
many fields. Is treasure well worth
school girls incest care.
Cover you book If you like, If it is the
custom in your school and the teachers
insist on your doing so, but use the books
SO well that if they are not covered they
may be passed on to other classes or to
younger children without having suffered
harm
Besides the authors who are the creators,
so TO speak. of our books, there are the
publishers and the printers and the paper
makers and the artists and the people who
finally sell the books, all of whom have
their separate fingers in the pie before 1t
is ready to slip Into your hands.
When book is your own. where do you
keep II?
hope If you have your own room that
one portion of It's furnishings includes q