Evening star., 1947-11-29

the District Pub Dr. bo~erman'
lie Library system seven years ago. Although
I have retained deep interest in the Library's
activities, somehow missed knowing that the
Library had this program in operation the past
three years But since January, 1947, have
been member of several of the Librarys dis
cussion groups. of which 18 are now IN progress
I believe it has come to be recognized that
the public library, here and elsewhere, is prob
ably the most important agency for adult
education Such ADULT education is, of course,
self education To the individual reader guild
ance services, lorg carried on by the WASH
ington Public Library, program OF discussion
groups, with which the so-called Great Books
of Western Civilization" are currently read IN
advance and form the basis of the discussions
The program as it operates in Washington
consists of the groups, the books and leader
for each group. The program in its f1rst year
started with seven groups, each OF ten weeks
duration, followed by six, also running ten
weeks. Two years later there were nineteen
groups going Most groups meet weekly, with
two-hour sessions though some meet bi-Week-
ly Nearly all meet in branch libraries usually
in childrens' rooms, after their evening closing
hours few meet mornings, and these are
mostly composed of housewives Registration
for each group is usually restricted to twenty.
Members are ordinarily seated around big
table, with ash trays in evidence, since the
lorary's mo smoking" rule has for this pro-
gram been suspended, in order to induce an
atmosphere of complete informality.
In the first thirty months of the program
In Washington about 1000 different individuals
came about 10000 times to about 1000 meet
ings of nearly 100 groups, for the purpose of
discussing more than 100 titles by rs authors.
Books That Have Shaped Thought.
The books consist for the most part Of those
sometimes known as THE Classics of the
Western World" They have been used in
several universities and colleges, notably at
st. Johns College, Annapolis. They are used
in Washington, but with several modern titles
added, some of which scarcely rank as classics
but nevertheless have utility in discussion
groups.
Among the hundred or so books by about
rs authors used in this program are the fol-
lowing: The Declaration of Independence
the Federalist Papers; selections from Aristotle
and Plato; from Plutarch's Lives, such as
Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great, and
other Greek and Roman writer's; several OF
Shakespeares plays, including Hamlet, Othello
and Henry v; Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter,
Tolstois War and Peace, Freud's Introduction
to Psychoanalysis, Marks Wage-Iabor and
Capital and the Communist manifesto, the
Education of Henry Adams, the recently pub
lshed abridgment of Arnold J. Toynbees Study
of History Veblens the Vested Interests and
the Common Man, and Lilienthals iva,
Democracy on the March; also selections from
Genesis, the Book of Job and other portions
of the Bible.
Most of the books used are available in in
expensive editions, such as the Modern Library
Everyman's Library, etc. The public library
regularly purchases about Is copies of each
title so as to be able to furnish copy to each
member of group. It has been interesting to
observe that good many members purchase
personal copies (through leaders at a discount)
and so are building up their private libraries.
1t should be noted that so far as public
participation in this program is concerned the
service IS Free as all public library services
The leader of each group is q highly i'm
portant part Of the program. He Is not and
should not be its teacher and he is preferably
not an expert in the subject matter of the
book under discussion, or there would be the
danger that he would lecture or otherwise
monopolize the conversation. Best results are
obtained when he or she is a well-informed
PCloO1 Will 11iIC1S LII PSOptC, pAoO1C1Ilo
ideas, who has read the book or passage more
intensively than any member OF the group and
comes prepared with questions that will bring
out vital points.
These are not courses of study leading to
degree nor for credits toward degree. They
are not vocational education, but seek liberal
education Though liberal education may and
should begin in school and college, undergrad
yates are usually too immature, too lacking in
experience. fully to grasp the ideas involved in
liberal education, which include living with
oneself family life, community life citizenship
OF ones own country and of the world. These
involve the great, basic problems of human
life and society, such as happiness, tragedy,
good and evil, Justice and injustice, poverty
and wealth. immortality, freedom and security,
war and peace the individual and the state,
science and religion and many others.
Books We Have All Intended to Read.
~ In order to reassure those who may be in
clined to think .that these books are too diff
cult wish to say that they are not written
for specialists, but for ordinary men and
women While parts of them may be "over
our heads" they are rewarding; once they are
understood, they are more ineligible than
lesser books.
Should some one ask why such liberal educa-
ton may not be secured simply by the solitary
reading of the great books, would reply that
few will have the fortitude to carry through
such private reading program. To give a
personal experience: I, who have spent my
adult life among books and have had at least
an official nodding acquaintance with most Of
the titles used in all the group reading pro-
grams and have had in addition fairly wide
reading interest and experience, must, never
theless. confess to have read only small
fraction of these books known to be great
had long known that I really ought to have
read them, but newspapers, magazines and
current books have for the most part crowded
them out. The incentive Of needing to have
recently read the book or passage to be dis
cussed was effective as no simple good resolu-
ton would have been.
Furthermore have got more out of this
reading by reason Of the discussions that
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