Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-03-28

current and back numbers; with pam
| phlets. clippings and governmental re-
ports.
| Municipal reference departments are
J maintained with the design to help the
| city government to be more efficient and
1 to aid citizens to know and demand the
| best government. This comparatively re-
cent development of library work is han
| died in different ways in different cities.
| In New York there is distinct munich
pal reference library, in st. Louis this
| library is maintained at the city hall as
| branch of the public library, and in
Washington it is handled as a depart
ment of the Public Library in the main
library building.
One of the most popular and for that
of library
Industrial Department work is
One of Most Popular. the, H'p The
pittsburgh library leads in technical
work, while such cities as Los Angeles,
Newark and Washington are rapidly de-
Velopfng their resources and activities in
this field. 1t is surprising how popular,
even in cities, are books dealing with agri-
culture and poultry subjects. A feature
OF this department is the domestic science
library, which is steadily increasing in
popularity in every city. Good cook books
circulate almost as well as novels
Ihe library was once a retreat for
schoiars Later 1t opened its doors to all
ADULTS Now it is most popular with chill
dren. 1t introduces university exten-
sion work. with the kindergarten. The
chlidrens room In the library at Wash
inston. for instance, a few years ago,
occupied only small corner Now IT is
the largest single room in the library and
IS the busiest section in the whole build
ing.
Even in the small libraries In the small
towns there is children's corner and
nearly everywhere there is a children's
story hour In this story hour children
100 young to read are taught to come TO
the library and are inspired with the de-
sire to know literature. The fairy tale is
the beginning of the gospel of knowledge
The modern American library does not
wait for school children to come to it.
it goes to ths
Modern Library school children.
Goes to Children Classroom libra
rIes are main
tanned. assistant librarians visit the
schools to assist the teachers in train
ing pupils in the use of books. libraries
are maintained in connection with public
Fairgrounds, and the heartiest co-opera-
ton is maintained with the school au-
thorlties. Clothes hampers filed with
BOOKS go out from the library to the
schools all over the city, and the pupils
thereoy are enabled to pursue supple
mentary reading that helps them get
away from the conventional text book
theory of learning a lesson only. the
while neglecting to learn the thing itself.
There are some things that may not be
learned in books that may be learned in
pictures. The library today is tending
more and more toward the utilization of
pictures in its work. One library, with
the expenditure of an absurdly small
sum, has obtained a collection of thou
sands of pictures clipped from maya
zines. picked up here and there, donated
by this. that or the other person or So
ciety. 1t is astonishing to the uninitiated
to examine the records of how much de-
mand there is for these pictures. A
series of bird pictures on file In the Ii
brary at Washington is one of the most
popular things in the entire collection.
Stereopucon views have long been a
feature Of public library lectures espe-
c1ally on travel and nature subjects and
now the moving picture is knocking at
now it will be poorly equipped library
that will not maintain an educational
moving picture program for it's patrons.
The new library at Portland, Ore, is the
pioneer in this work.
The spoken word was the vehicle of
knowledge long before Cadmus invented
books. The library has a lecture hall;
some Of them have several. These lecture
halls are rarely idle BY reason of their
existence the library becomes a social
and civic center. Paid lecturers. when
possible, discourse on subjects of general
interest, but more often the lecture hall
is utilized by some society. such as the
Drama League, the Associated Charities.
the Sanitary League, the Parent-Teacher
Association. and the like. With reason
able restrictions concerning controversial
political subjects and sectarian religious
discussions, these lecture halls are open
to any organization for the free discus
sion Of all public questions. The library
is become a forum.
The library does not live to itself alone
The stronger helps the weaker, and, by
various methods
Stronger Libraries of cooperation,