The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1916-05-13
The Boy and the Book

! MArmion' but by the time he il ] 4
years old he will have walked with
the Master and other strong char
acters of the Bible. lived many, many
happy hours with Grimm, ph!loso-
phized with Aesop, sympathIzed with
/ Jean Vatican sailed with Ulysses.
studied with Homer and supped aud
dlned with Shakespeare. Rusk!n.
Kingsley. Milton and others too nu-
merous to mention"
( Florence X. Curtis, associate, U;il-
yersity OF Illinois Library School.
UEbana. ILL.,, told OF Libraries in Pub
lie Institutions:
That good book In proper hands
may be a balm for many ills that
public institutions can only partially
cure, was shown by Miss Curtis. She
has just completed study OF libra
ries in six hundred institutions sup
ported by the national and state gov
ernments caring for all classes OF
dependents, detectives and delln-
quents. Aside from facts bearing
on the particular val.e Of books in
the lives Of all OF these classes. Miss
Curtis entered into a series Of rec
concentrations for the improvement
OF library work as a type Of social
service, speaking especially Of tbs
activities of state library comm:s-
sions and similar agencies. Some Of
the states have supervising librarl-
ans over institutions OF this class.
THE Value OF Books in Institu-
tons for the Special Classes" was
the subject OF a paper by Edith Kath-
leen Jones. librarian, Mclean hos
pital. Waverly. Mass. Among other
things she said:
What constitutes a library? Not
mass OF books lying idle on the
shelves. Not even n well selected,
classified and catalogued collection
of books left to itself. library is
never finished; IL It Is. II is dead; 1t
must be vital and progressive to be
of any use.
Private hospitals and the larger
prisons and reform schools should
have their own Libraries and develop
individual Libraries. State institu-
lions perhaps cannot afford extra
salaries for this. Iowa. Minnesota
and Nebraska have worked out solu-
tons OF this problem-they have
state institution library supervisors,
appointed by the state board of con-
troll in the first two cases, and by the
state library commission in Nebras-
ka."
D. Frank Garland, director, de-
partment OF public welfare, Dayton,
o., read paper on THE Municipal
ity and Public Welfare" saying in
part:
"The dominance OF social ideals in
our American life is now assured
The public is demanding that the
government realize that 1t Is the
business of government, as the pre-
amble of the national constitution
clearly states, to promote the general
welfare. 1t is under this view of the
broad purpose of government that
1t has now come to be clearly regard
ed as the duty Of the nation, of the
state and of the city to concern itself
with the special problems OF human
life, of community efficiency and bet
terment. just as much as 1t Is the
duty of one of these government
agencies to concern itself with the
special problems Of human life. OF
community efficiency and better
ment, just as much as 1t is the duty
of one of these government agencies
to concern itself with the question OF
tariffs, foreign relations commercial
trade and police protection.
Dayton has undertaken in the
organization OF the department OF
public welfare. to give expression
to this new conception of the duty OF
the state to all its citizens. Under
the new commission manager plan
of government. the Dayton charter
has made provision for the organiza-
ton of perhaps the broadcast and
most far-reaching department OF
public welfare ever laid down for
city in America. Under the present
outline. the department of public
welfare includes in the scope of it5
activity, seven divisions; public
health, recreation, parks. correction
and reformatory institutions, out
door public relief. legal aid and nut
nicipal employment. The salaried
force of employees covering the work
or this department numbers seventy
four"