The Washington times., 1914-10-15
Library No Longer
LiteraryGrog Shop
Women's Clubs and Public
Schools Have Turned Trend
of Circulation, Says Libra
rian.

Women's Clubs have turned the
tide of reading at the Public
Library against the circulation OF
fiction.
The public schools, in adopting
the discussion of "current topics"
have also aided in increasing the
general use of informative Works.
The Library, according to DR..
Bopermdn, is no longer a "Iiterary
grog shop dispensing a tipple of
light frothy reading"
He sees in the increasing use of
his archives as a source of REFER
ence, a growing interest among
Westinghouse in matters pertain.
ing to cipic betterment and general
progress, rather than a falling off
of the old-time "dpid reader" Who
devoured a polume of fiction every
day.
By KENDRICX SCOFIELD.
When DR.. George F. Bowerman, Of
the Washington Public Library, an
nounced that. within ten years. the
fiction circulation of the Washington
Public Library had decreased from
"a to Sc per cent. it became apparent
that some force was at work con-
trolling the literary taste Of the
Washington reading public.
DR.. Bowerman places the bulk of
the responsibility for this change
with four words: "Women's clubs
and the public schools
But there has been no definite
campaign against fiction as a mental
pabulum. Few persons other than
perhaps DR.. Bowerman and his as
sistants have definitely fought the
trend of public Libraries to become
what he terms literary grog shops
through the preponderance of light
reading matter upon their shelves.
The transition from lurid tales to
preponderance of educational works,
leavened with safe and sane" fic-
ton. has, in the opinion of the IL
brary officials, come with very little
effort on their part. 1t is true that
DR.. Bowerman has adopted the
policy Of excluding from his shelves
two classes Of fiction. In the first
may be fund such books as are i'm
moral. Or which depict fast life. In a..
the second are included books which
are not Objectionable morally, but
which are not faithful or useful
criticisms of life.
But aside from these two classes,
DR.. Bowerman has no wish to de-
nude his shelves Of the imaginary
tale, SO long as the story measures
up to reasonable literary stand
ard" But even the efforts of DR..
Bowerman and his assistants toward
controlling, so far as possible, the
taste of the readers of Washington
took no account of a stronger force
which was to ally itself with them.
Amusement Gives Way.
This is how DR.. Bowerman tells it:
Ten or fifteen years ago the av-
era&e woman's club was a semi
social oganization, whose character,
If it could be said to have a definite
character, was of a purely literary,
rather than practical, nature. The
members of these early clubs We're
mutually avid readers. and with
minds which had not then explored
the projects of civic betterment, the
building of homes, the scientific
care of children, or matters Of gen.
eral information, they amused them
selves with fiction and other light
forms of literature.
Then came the forerunners Of the
women's clubs of today From the
literary field. their efforts took an
informative turn. The papers which
their members prepared were no
longer mere essays upon authorship,
but began to be of practical value
to those before whom they We're
read. With the woman's club de-
veloping along such lines, the neces-
sity for their members to be better
informed grew day by day and IL
brary research became the rule
rather than the exception.
To-day many of the women's
clubs of Washington hold their