New Britain herald., 1918-01-01

the American bases and are to be dis tributed by the library department of the Y. M C. A. through the Red Fri angle huts.
 w. B. Briggs, assistant librarian of Harvard university and representa- tive in France of the American Lii brary association, is in charge of the problem of distribution and is making large plans to supply the literature that the soldiers are calling for,
 rowing to the fact that the supply of English books in France is small, arrangements arc being made by the Y. NJ. C. A. to meet the growing needs by securing the supplies from Eng land-When emergency orders are re- Quired, and from America for a steady stream of books through the American Library association.
 ''The varied demands from the American base camps for reading ma teral shows a great range in taste and education, and very pronounced desire on the part of the soldiers to improve their minds while in France. A section of American ambulance men serving the French army have re- uuested Greek and Latin grammars and Caesars commentaries. They pro- pose to form a class to study the RO- man campaigns in Gaul, where the larger campaigns of the present war are being fought.
 Books on the different branches of the military service are being ire quently asked for by enlisted men who desire to study in preparation for examinations for advancement in the army. There has been large call as a1n hi icrb books, algebras English grammars arithmetics, geometries, dictionaries, and histories. A letter was recently received at the Paris headquarters from a Red Triangle secretary Some where in France It read, We have 1,200 men and no books. Send us an algebra and a trigonometry
 'The American soldiers from the day they landed on French soil have shown a keen interest in everything French. The largest number of re- quests for books has been for those dealing with French history and things French. From every available source French grammars. easy lessons in French and French English die tiOnaries have been sought out to pro- vide the soldiers with means to study the French language, and the supply does not keep pace with the demand. Frnch history and biography and de- SCriptive books in modern France are also in large demand.
 '"The American soldiers crowd around the maps of France on tho walls, and will soon wear and rub them out of all recognition. The Li- brary department of the Y. M C. A has placed an order for ten thousand copies of a handy edition of books of maps of the western front and for ten thousand pocket gcographies of Europe. large number of outline maps have also been ordered and will be used in modern war geography classes in the huts this winter.
 Books on the war on Europeon history, aviation and submarine warfare, technical books, history. as tronOmy and psychology are being called for in large numbers. Fiction. especially short stories and humorous books are in demand.
 '"rhe largest number of requests for a single author thus far have been those for the works of Rudyard Kip ling. Other writers whom the re- quests show to be most popular with the men are Robert W. Service, H. c. Wells and R. L. Stevenson.
 "A Red Triangle secretary stationed at an American base camp recently made a list Of the enquiries for hooks that he had from a group of Amer ican soldiers who frequented the hut