The Springdale news., 1918-11-15
WORK OF THE WELFARE OR
CARNATIONS.

Z Ao4NtsH
Tho peace has come and our sold
iers have gained their much deserved
victory and rest, we still must car
ry on
The best authorities say that the
reconstruction period will last any
where from two to ten years. What
ever the time may be the Allied
Armies must remain modified until
it is over. This period will be a
most trying one for the soldiers.
There will be no great battles to pre-
pare for, no top to go over" no
Hun to take prisoner Lonesome
ness and monotony will be the result
unless the people of the United States
come to the rescue.
A number of ways for relieving this
monotony may be found but it is for
US to provide the right way. If the
soldier enjoys out door games, there
are foot ball and base ball games
supplied by the Y NJ c. A This
organization has sent over 10000
base balls, $4,000 bats and 5000 Rug
by foot balls. And yet there are
calls for more, for not only the Amer
leans but the French and English are
interested in the games.
But no wide awake man, as our
soldier has proved himself to be, can
put in from two to ten years of his
life watching foot ball and base ball
games. He is progressive and his
thoughts naturally turn to his life
when he is at home once more, and
to the game of making living. He
wants to prepare himself more thor
oughly for this game. The best
means offered for this preparation
are the books provided by the Ameri-
can Library Association.
When steps were first taken for
providing the soldiers with reading
matter it was thought that magazines
and fiction were all that were need
ed but the A. l.. A. soon found that
these men wanted more than mere en-
tertainment. Some had begun train
ing along certain lines before they
left home, while others had become
interested in military science and
wished to know more of it. As
result the A. L. A. has provided the
camp libraries both at home and over
sea with vocational books, courses of
study and instructions The work
the soldiers do is similar to the uni
yersity extension courses of our
country. The instructors go from
one camp to another giving lectures,
each instructor remaining about one
week in each camp.
In speaking of the founding of these
camp Libraries, Major General Glenn
said, This is not charity Our
soldiers give up excellent Libraries at
home and should. if possible have
them available during their spare
hours while serving in the ranks as
soldiers. All forms of healthy men
tai and physical entertainment OF EN-
listed men are desirable, but none
more SO than fine suitable reading
matter"
Not all the reading matter sent to
camp libraries is of vocational
nature. An effort has been made to
place in each camp news papers
printed in the localities from which
the soldiers come
The story is told of ward master
in the base hospital at Camp Upton.
who wanted Rabbi to have look
at a Jewish patient whom he thought
out of his head because the boy per-
sisted in clinging to an old newspap-
er in spite of all they could dc. 1t
developed that the Jewish boy, al
though quite scholar in his own
language could neither read nor speak
English and for ten days had had
nothing to read but this old yiddish
paper The Rabbi appealed to the
camp librarian and he provided books
for the boy to read
The library work has grown rap
idly. Thirty-two libraries were
erected with the $1,000 Carnegie
Corporation fund and more than nine
additional libraries since. l40 hos
pitfalls and Red Cross houses and 800
small military camps in this country
have been provided with book col
lections, $50 trained librarians have
been sent into the field Over 400
naval and marine stations and YES
sells have received Libraries while
1900 branches and stations have been
placed in Y. M. C. A. and X of C.
huts. The American people have
presented 100000 books.
But still the demand increases
hourly. Not only must the soldier
still on duty have amusement and
education but the crippled soldiers
who have not yet been discharged
must be looked after A great
many of these men must, because of
permanent injuries received in battle,
seek new work and new trades They
may begin their new training right in
their hospital ward if the people of
this country respond as they should
to the call Of the American Library
Association for $4,000 The
American people have not yet failed
their boys over there and, surely
with the joy Of Peace so fresh in
their hearts they will not fail them
now.