Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-05-12
ONE BOOK ISN'T ENOUGH

TT Is evident from the complaint made at
L n convention in Atlantic City that the
chorus girl Of the story is representative Of
a large class. II will be RECALLED that when
she was advised to give a book to q friend
10 whom she wished TO make n present she
replied. He already has one"
The American Booksellers Association is
considering how to reach the people who
do not read books, and they have summoned
to advise them lot Of people 1ho cannot
find time to read all the books in which they
are interested
They are not likely to find out in this
way. Magazine editors and authors know
why they read, but they cannot for the life
of them tell any one why other people do
not find what they write and print worth
their while.
The only way to find out why people do
not buy and read books is to ask those people
themselves. The opinion OF all other sorts
of people has been asked on a wide variety
Of subjects. 1t used to be a common trick
Of editors TO send out requests to public men
for their views on the proper way to cele.
brate the Fourth Of July or on the place Of
Lincoln in history or on the rhetoric Of the
Declaration Of Independence But so far as
is known no attempt has been made to find
out just why Anastasia Jones, q most charm
ing Young woman whose sparkling conver.
sation enlivens every gathering she adorns
docs not spend an hour or two a day with
a book in her hand, or why the conductor Of
a trolley car spends his spare time with
newspaper or at the movie shows.
There must be reasons, and IL they could
be discovered they might be illuminating to
others besides the booksellers. To hazard n
conjecture, one Of the reasons may be that
in their youth reading was made task
'ka oh tn1I thak hn oh 20 81 L.,
or that book because IL would do him good
Now every one acquainted with children
knows that there are few things 10 which
they object more strongly than TO being
done good
II the boy or girl had been told that the
book would interest him or her it might
have been read and remembered and an ap-
petite might have been created for other
books II may be laid down us n general
rule that for the child or the adult there are
few less profitable occupations than reading
an uninteresting volume. No one ever gets
anything out Of such n use OF time. 1t
might better be spent in talk or play with
interesting people.
The non readers are as rule those who
have not discovered that there is anything
in books that they care 10 know. II there is
TO be campaign To increase the sale Of
reading matter between covers IL must begin
by an appeal to the interest OF prospective
readers. No restaurant proprietor has any
trouble in selling n juicy broiled steak TO a
hungry man who has the price. The man
buys il because he likes II. No ono has To
tell him it is geod for him and It is likely
that If he had been compelled to eat it In
his youth as he had been forced TO take mcdi
cine he would buy some other kind Of food
when he could choose for himself.
The number Of people able to buy books
is as great as the number able TO eat sirioin
steaks In restaurant, yet when 10000
copes Of novel are sold or 10000 copies
Of a book OF non fiction the publishers boast
of their success. More than $50 900 copies
of Ambassador Gerard's book about his life
IN Germany were sold, however, because il
contained things in which that number o,
people were interested and because they had
been told through extensive advertising what
the book was about.
There are published every year books that
should be read by from half n million 10 q
million people, but they do not reach sale
Of anything like this number because the
people do not know that the books contain
anything which will interest them.