The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-07-01
HOME LIBRARIES
BY MARGARET E. sANGSTER.

A home without books is like a rose
without perfume. No house is COM
pletely furnished that has no library
There are. to be sure. homes without
numbers in which there are chairs and
tables, china and glass, rugs and drap-
cries, soft touches, curios and bric-a-
brac, pictures and vases, but never a
book. If you happen to call in such
house, and the mistress keeps you
waiting while she changes her toilette,
you look in vain for book to pass
away the moments of inaction If you
are staying in such a house and have
| not brought with you something to
read. you look in vain for an entertain
ing volume or an attractive magazine.
People who do not spend money for
books are apt to be parsimonious in
subscribing for magazines. A taste
for literature demands qualification.
Where the taste does not exist people
are satisfied, strange as it may seem,
to endure a state of absolute pauper-
ISM in the matter of reading.
We all know houses where the are
books enough to form the Simulacrum
of a library, but when they are ex-
amined they are discovered to be a
fearful and wonderful collection of
msfits old school books books that
have been received by the children as
prizes, books that have been picked up
by the traveller to cheer the tedium of
. railway journey, books that have
been sent into the house as holiday
presents and books that have been
borrowed and never returned. Odd vol
unles of this and the Othtr author of
repute appear in these weird and
queerly assorted cOnglOmerations. But
&c
instruct amuse and satisfy, there are
few to be seen. Hundreds of such
miscalled libraries are only fit to be
used as kindling end would find their
pest end in 4 rubbish heap or a bonfire
The secondhand shops would have
none of them. Even where people ir-
diligently collect books, there is oc-
casion from time to time for judicious
wedding and for letting go tllat which
is ephemeral. and, for all practical pur-
poses, worthless.
Although public libraries are multi
piled, every home should have its own
library, just as ii has its own beds and
tables. 1t Is not necessary to appro-
pirate a room and use it colely for
books. Very few of us have space to
spare for this luxurious accommoda-
ton of our library treasures.
Inc fNHlS IOOln IL lic rIOpcT place
for the home library: The shelves TO
hold the books may be of home manu-
facture. put together by anybody who
can manage a plane and hammer
and they may be steined in harmony
with the color scheme OF the ROOM
What to choose for the library is
the first consideration. A library that
grows as garden grows or an or
ohard. little by little. is in the end the
library that one loves best | would
suggest that the initial purchase should
be a set of Shakespeare in good type.
with fine illustrations. each volume
small enough to be held in the hand
without WEAKNESS.
Although Sir Walter is out of fash
ion, it is possible to cultivate his ac-
quaintance if one has a set of the |
Waverley novels in ones possession. !
Sir Walter Scott is a little leisure
iy in his movement, so far as the be-
einnngs of his romances are concerned. |
but once you are fairly embarked in his |
company, the pace is swift enough for
the interest of most readers. Occasion |
ally, i'm these days, one is so fortunate
as to pick up really fine set of Scott |
at a secondhand shop or at an auction |
sale. for small price. and almost
every year there are opportunities 10 |