The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1914-10-01
e ID IT 0 II / A L -.
LETTER FROM STATE LIBRARIAN

lE TAKE pleasure In printing herewith
WI letter received by us from the state
brarian. Miss Miriam E. Carey, who has r.
Gently returned from her annual vacation
TIT and we assure Miss Carey that at a
I'll times do we delight in hearing peopl
IL tell of their experiences when they hav
II something to say as in the case of tn
following, in which we read of Mis-
ii Careys meeting with Hon. Thomas NJ
Osborne, of Auburn, N. Y.
Our readers will no doubt remembe
Mr.. Osborne's self-imposed sentence t
Auburn prison in order to study NOR
thoroughly the prison conditions and wha
measures might be taken to help the unfortunat
men and women behind the bars
Miss Carey's letter follows:
st. Paul, Sept %, 1914
Dear Mirror
Of all the tedious people in the world
there are none more to be stunned than the
persons who have just got back from vaca-
ton. They are always trying to button-hole
somebody and tell all the particulars of their
trip. That's me! I've had vacation and
want to tell you about part of it because l
saw, heard and shook hands with Honorable
Thomas NJ. Osborne, of Auburn, N. Y.
1t was at Ithaca, N. Y, where the librar-
ians of that state were having their annual
meeting They have committee on libraries
in charitable and correctional institutions
This committee had been asked by Governor
GIyn to prepare a report with recommends
tions as to libraries IN the state prisons and
reformatories. And Mr.. Osborne was invited
to attend the session at which this report was
presented
1t was on Friday, the eleventh of Septem-
Der and at the hour appointed Mr.. Osborne
arrived. He is big man, tall and rather
heavy-as big as Deputy Sullivan. | should
say His hair is dark and he has lot of it.
which he wears rather long. BY that l do
not mean that it is down on his collar, how
ever. He has big nose and good chin. He
was dressed suitably but rather careIessly; not
as most New York men dress who seem more
particular about their clothes than we north
westerns.
Mr.. Osborne is a good speaker. He has a
fine voice and is trained to use it effectively.
What he says is to the point and i'm
pressive
The most noticeable thing about his talk
was his sympathy with men in prison. The
week he had spent in Auburn seemed to have
opened his eyes to as many points about the
men themselves as about the administration of
the prison.
Conditions are very different in New York
state from what they are here. confess that
was amazed and much depressed by what I
heard. But in Mr.. Osborne powerful ad-
vocate has been raised up and much may we'll
be expected from his influence.
/ have just been compiling biennial re-
port on the condition and use of the libraries
in the state institutions under the Board of
Control. Taking my data from the prison in
ventory, reported your library as contain
ing 6,307 volumes, of which &c had been pur-
chased since the last report and 662 added by
binding.
AS to the use of books in the prison. from
August, 1912, to July 81, 1914, there we're
Isl, 1926 books and magazines borrowed from
cent were magazines. There being no one
here but ourselves, l do not mind stating
frankly that this seems poor showing.
[ wish more men would read for something
else than amusement. Mr.. Osborne fears that
books will be so associated in mans mind
with prison life that he will not use them after
leaving prison. l think that might be true of
man who reads only for recreation. But
man who had learned that from books he could
fisd inspiration and durable satisfaction
wouldnever lose the habit of turning to them
for help, it seems to me.
Sincerely yours,
MIRIAM E.. CAREY,
Supervisor of Institution Libraries.
We sincerely thank Miss Carey for remembe
ing us and can assure her that we will be mo-
chan pleased to hear from her any time that 81
NAV wish to write to us.