Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-03-27
THE CHILD AND THE LIBRARY.

since educators first turncd their nj
tention toward the children and be
gan to devise methods by which the,
might he encouraged 10 aequirl
knowledge of their own yolitlon. Like
the poor, we have had them with "a
Away. but the importance Of making
learning pleasant to them has onll
been uppcrmost IN the minds OF cdu'
Gators since about the nineteenth cen
tury. Mankind was long In finding
out that love will lead where thcrod
cannot drive. but this important dis
coyery once made soon Instituted a
revolution in educational methods and
in no other branch OF work are these
new methods more marked than in
the so-callod library science. Where
formerly a library was Il collection Of
| books and the librarian "A sort of GUS
todian, today his duties are not only
to preserve the books but to sec that
| they are used also. In every train
| ing school throughout the country,
| larage and small. We find especial
| stress laid upon the work with chill
aren. AS the twig is bent. 50 the tree
IN inclined and nowhere Is this more
truly cxcmplifIed than in library
work. While one can hardly promise
that proper reading will create brain
where brain is not, yet the habit Of
good books. implanted early viii do
.tn 49, Ns.Itt..ast.r ttaRlef
taste aud the thinking faculty. Thus,
IL IN desirable to make the children
welcome In the library. Give them
their own room whenever il Is pos
sibic. and by means Of growing plants,
pictures and low tables and chairs,
make the surroundings attractive to
them. Illustrated bulletine. with q
little explanatory text, calling attcn-
lion TO the books pom the subject
which are 10 be found in the library,
are usually very successful.
Today there is little excuse for
placing unworthy books and pictures
before the child. A few years ago il
was different, indeed, 10 procure good
Juvenile publications AZ a reasonable
price; now the market Is OVERLOADED
and from every hook dealer and the
larger libraries ana training schools
come classified lists without end. OF
the best books for young readers. All
realms OF literature and many az SCH
have bcen invaded. everything
has been brought within reach Of the
child. Too much care can not be cx-
in the choice of books for Il
Is much simpler TO place nothing but
the desirable before the child than to
try to Influence him 10 select the bet
ter from an indiscriminate collection.
reh work OF choosing the so-called
non-fiction is comparatively easy for
among these books are included the
folk tales, the books on nature and
ana the travel and history
but II Is In selecting the fiction
we meet our worst difficulty. |
is so much that Is not worth
while II It Is not actually harmful.
A child demands action first of an
and II IL too often made at the ex-
pcnse of probability. Not that proba-
bility Is the bc-ull and cnd-ali OF ju-
literature, but the tale must
be properly proportional. Nothing
could be more utterly improbable than
folk and fairy tales, yet tho child
knowing them TO be myths, accepts
them as such and no harm is done. on
contrary, the Imagination ana po-
etic fancy are q~uickened, which is u
very good thing in this ma~terialistlc
day. The child that does not read
fairy tales with pleasure is to be pitt
led for he lacks the essential spirit
II childhood.
The greatest problem that we meet
In our work with the children is with
90 the care OF the books. We
ask that they he returned In as nice
condition as they are taken out, and.
L the hands OF the small borrower
are very dirty. We sometimes suggest
what would help them . In spite OF
an, our books come back smeared
candy and the overs hanging by
/ thread We would earnestly request
he cooperation OF the parents in
eaching the children to handle the
books carefully. There VIII be more
money 60 spend for new books when
ne are not Forced to replace 50 many
81 h old ones so often.