The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-08-26

Along tables, oblivi0uS of those
around them, sit men and women, boys
and girls. Along the shelves, intent
and busy, others are seeking books.
There are men with patriarchal
boards, students with the student stoop
of the shoulders; teachers, looking pc
dantic through spectacles: there are
also men in poor clothing, typical ho-
/ boes, neutrality-suspicious. from almost
! every class and condition of life, says
/ the Detroit Free Press.
/ What do you read? Have you ever
wondered? Do they come for amuse-
ment or for instruction. to read fiction,
Or to get an education?
! A Syrian boy, brown of face and
! browner of eyes, appeared in the refer
I ence department of the central branch
/ Of the library several years ago.
/ His face, as mobile and soft as a
/ girls. was not lit by a smile. His eyes
rarely flashed. He seemed solemn,
very much in earnest, and the young
women attendants at their desks won
+ dered at the seriousness Of the lad
And they wondered still more when
they discovered the work which the lad
was reading, over which he bent day
by day-a Cyclopedia of General Tnfor-
nation, in three volumes, containing
concise information about everything
under the sun from A to z.
At o'clock every morning he was
found waiting at the door of the insti-
tuition; until o'clock every night he
pored over the volumes.
Sometimes he went out for lunch;
most of the time he brought it with
him-a roll, a ham sandwich. an apple
or an orange. And he ate as he studied.
Sometimes one of the young women
would approach him-sometimes his
face seemed peeked and he seemed
in need. No, nothing was wrong: he
was all right, he would say with a
forced smile. And he would turn to
his book. Perhaps he had gone as
far as chemistry
He came a year, and the coverings
on two books had to be replaced. He
was delving through the last volume
He still came in the morning and stay
ed until the evening. He still munched
his sandwich as he read. Those in the
library who had come to watch him
saw he was approaching the last pages
in the volume, reading avidly. with
ager eyes.
Then one morning he did not come.
He had finished his education
He was only one of many who came
to the library to obtain knowledge. His
queer way of getting knowledge, how
ever, was what puzzled those who
watched him. What was his purpose?
Of what use could he put the miscel-
laneous and fragmentary bits of infor-
nation he had cleaned from the en-
eyclopedic pages? What became of
him?
No one ever learned.
In the free libraries of the country
today there are thousands of people,
children, young folk and elders. who
are seeking an education or amplify-
ing their education in the reference de-
partments.
In the big city, foreigners, learning
the language. burning with a thirst for
books, haunt the reference rooms. Any
day you can see them; any day you
can look over their shoulders and you
viii be amazed at what men seek at
the modern temple of free learning
at what they read. /
Can a person secure an education in
a public library? In certain branches
of learning, yes.
And most assuredly one can widen
the scope of his education, increase his
knowledge by applying for books on
any particular subject.
What do people read and study in
the libraries? What is the extent of
serious reading? Take the May report
af Of u
There were secured from the rooms 379
volumes on philosophy. $40 volumes on
religion, $40 volumes on sociology, $40
volumes of works on the useful arts,
945 on the fine arts, 2,415 volumes on
literature and $40 volumes Of history.
OF course, a greater number of books
of fiction-20, 063-were read.
students of architecture and en-
cheering. perhaps more than any other
students" declared the head of a big
library, "get much information from
books in a free library. Those who are
studying get valuable information here.
We keep the best authorities on all
subjects, and the architect, engineer,
or whoever he may be, can get infor-
nation here which he probably can
not in a school. The library, however,
is not to supplant the school, but sup
plement it.
During the school terms thousands
of children who engage in debates
come here for knowledge on anything
from George Washington to the do
mestic utensils of Pompeii.
Each day when school is over they
flock into the library they pore over
books that are given them: they take
notes, and vie with each other in get
ting facts.
And they remember. Yes, indeed.
1t is surprising how they can dig into
books and get instructive and interest
ing data which would be difficult read
ing for other folks.
And they like it. Ny, with what
zest they pore over the pages! Some
times they cannot understand; then
the attendants explain to them. And
they go away happy.
Some time ago the archaeologist de-
partment of a great university offered
prizes to the school children of the