Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-06-25

| need protecting care toGay-
MY purse is light. my flesh is weak.
So Danish from my crrinG heart
All baletui appctit"S and hints
OF Satan = fascinating art.
OF first editions ard Of prints.
Direct ne in some Iocl,y walk
Which leads away from hookiSh strife.
That 4 with piouS deed ana talk
May oxtra-illustratc my life
I:ut H. @ Lord. il n"a@cth Thee
To keep me III temptations WAY.
| hrrmbly ask that ! may he
Mnst notably b"sct today;
ct nv temptation II" u book.
u hich | shall purrhs,>" hold nnd keep,
Wh.rron, when other men shah look.
They'll Will to know ! 1ot il cheap.
oh. let it such volume II"
As in rare ronpcr-plitc aboundS,
Large paper. clean and fair to see,
I'ncut, unique, unknown t" Lowndcs;
Eugene Field.
Librarians in the States where tn"
Negro question is most serious find IL
to be one of their chief problems. In
the larger cities of the South, where Il
library system is well developed, the
same division that is made III the
schools is made in the libraries. Attain
Ia received Il Carnegie gift for tn" del
mite purpose of building Il branch IL
brary for Negroes. Other cities simply
nave a separate reading room Tor lhcm.
In Louisville Ky. the "colored branch,
as it is called. has been open about nine
months Mr.. William f. Yust, the Ii
brarian of the public library, recently
wrote an account of its progress in the
Courier-JOurnal, Difficulty was expert
cnced in finding quarters. Tor many
househOlders seemed to be under the
impression that their property might
be deSecrated by renting it for such
IL purpose. Finally colored family
were induced to move to the second
story Of their house and rent the
ground floor for library use. About
1900 volumes of new books were bought,
classified and catalogued at the main
library, according to the usual
system. The library was opened with
formal exercises, held in a neighborinS
church, addresses being made by sew
eral leading colored teachers. A grad
uate Of Hampton Institute and former
secretary of the colored Y. NJ. c. a. was
made librarian in charge. He is as
formerly a teacher. The printed reGu-
Iations for the main library have been
modified only in the interests of great
er freedom. AT the other library dp-
pIicants for its privileges are required
to have their request CounterSiSned by
a real estate owner. This proved to be
such Il restriction at the branch for col
cred people that the guarantOr now IS
only required to he some responsible
person without reference to property
owning. The readers and borrowers
ere very largely drawn from school
children, ana with them, it is thought,
is the most useful work done. Minist-
crs use the reference books freely and
nxpre IS great satisfaction with the Ii
hrary. Borrowers number 142O the at
tendance for six months was 1876 and
the number of books lent has been S1l9
The books owned by the branch have
nearly doubled in number.
According to the usual experience 1t
is found that the colorcd people prefer
The books and magazines written by
and about members of their own race.
Tho "colorcd American and the
Voice of the Negro" are more popular
than Iiarper's Magazine and the Re
view of Reviews. The first book Dor
rowrd for home use was Cooker Il.
Washington's Up from Slavery" and
that and his "Workng with Hands,
tOgeth r with clcSmettS MARROW of
Tradition" Du BoiS'S Souls Of Black
Folk" and the volumes of Paul Laur
encc Dunbars poems are the most pop
ular books. Otherwise their fondnesS
for the usual novels and tales of the
day is marked by only two variations
from the taste expressed at the main
library 10y white folk. One of these is
an unexplained partiality for George
Eliot, and the other a lower fiction per-
centagc. 1t is sixty-fOur-at the main
library it is eighty-one. This may he
due to the fact that the SO-callcd leiS
ure class. who are supposed to read the
most fiction. is smaller among cOlOred
people, or that the novel does not ap-
peal so strongly to the Negro mind, or
that the library * used more largely by
pupils. teachers. ministers and Other
professional people. who come to it for
more serious purposes" The Juvenile
Department is especially successful.
with about 100 books in a separate room.
A weekly story hour" is conducted by
trained kindergarten teachers from the
colored schools. The room is frequent
~ filled before tn" appointed time and
many have to he turned away. a boys
club also meets there once a week for
reading and the consideration of books
of speciaI interest. The rooms. though
small, are kept scrupulously neat.
There is free access to the shelves and
anyone may examine any book in the
library. 1t is the qui"tcst of 2ll the Ii
braricS in the city and is an object les
son in cleanliness and order. 1t is
steadily growing in popularity and in
nucnCc.
A rather startling episode in the
office of the Philadelphia Press
recently WAS the receipt Of little
addressed to Eugene Field. ESD in
care of the Press. 1t was written
from u New Jersey resort in a neat
feminine hand and was a most allur-
ingly worded offer of an idyllic home
for rent. This letter was q practical