THE CHILDREN’S DEPARTMENT
=482. General Considerations.=--The declaration of the Library
Association that library work with children is the foundation of all
other library work represents, so far as Great Britain is concerned, an
ideal rather than an accomplished fact. The will to make provision for
the child has not been lacking, but the means at the disposal of library
committees have hitherto been insufficient for other activities, and the
child has necessarily been dealt with in a parsimonious manner.
Undoubtedly, in circumstances hitherto prevailing, the axiom that to
pursue work for children at the expense of the efficiency of the library
as a whole is to defeat its very purpose, is true. But from
comparatively early times the book needs of the children have been
recognized. So long ago as 1882 Nottingham possessed a reading room for
children, and, with intervals, such departments have been multiplied,
and there is now hardly a town of any size which does not make _some_
provision for young readers. The object of the children’s department is
to provide the intellectual workshop for the use of the child. He is
taught to use intellectual tools in the school, but the library provides
him with the material upon which they may be exercised. Usually the
department serves children from the age of six to the age of fourteen.
In a completely organized department there are library, reading
department, and study corners; and such activities as story hours,
lectures, reading circles, and the keeping of festivals are maintained.
=483. What has been Done.=--Separate, distinctive children’s departments
are a quite modern institution. Hitherto, in the majority of libraries,
an alcove, or a number of shelves, have been set aside for children’s
books in the adult lending department, and no provision has definitely,
been made for newspapers, magazines and other reading material for the
young. Many difficulties have arisen from this arrangement. The age of
admission to libraries is usually fourteen, and children under this age,
except in special circumstances, have been limited to books in the
shelves allocated to children. But children of eleven or twelve
frequently require books which cannot by any ordinary reasoning be
regarded as juvenile works; and on every such occasion special
concessions have been made, the requiring and the granting of which are
irritating both to the child and the librarian, however liberal-minded
the latter may be, and therefore subversive of the best results. More
recently the age of fourteen has been regarded as too high, and in some
towns twelve, or even ten, years has been regarded as a suitable age at
which children may be given the freedom of the whole lending department.
This seems better, and where such low age limits have been set the
results have been good. It is obvious, however, that the limited
provision we have described in this section is not calculated to prove
the “foundation of all library work.”
=484. Children’s Libraries.=--From these considerations has developed
the modern children’s department as an entirely separate part of the
library, equivalent in rank and importance to the adult lending or
reference departments. In England the most elaborate system of such
libraries is that at Cardiff, but many other towns, including Glasgow,
Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Islington, Chelsea, Hampstead, Coventry,
St Helens, and Nottingham, have such separate departments, and every
modern librarian in planning a library system provides for them. The
limits of this _Manual_ do not permit of an exhaustive study of the many
varieties of children’s libraries and their manifold activities, but an
outline of the methods most commonly in vogue here and in America (where
the work is far more highly developed than here) are an integral part of
our work.
The children’s department, then, should be an apartment as effective in
architectural character as any other department: well-lighted, spacious,
lofty, and decorated tastefully. These factors are overlooked at times,
sometimes, unfortunately, of necessity; but we insist upon them,
because the atmosphere induced by a handsome and suitable library is
necessary if we are, first, to avoid ruffling the sensitiveness of
children who are as jealous of their rights in the public libraries as
are adults; and, second, to create that feeling of reverence and respect
for books which is a factor in obtaining discipline in the apartment. An
ill-lighted, crudely-decorated basement is sometimes devoted to the
purpose, and this may have its uses, but it is certain to fall short
lamentably of the full possibilities of a children’s library. The
apartment being provided, several problems have to be settled. The
systems in existence differ in different places. In some towns the
children’s department is a reading room and reference library merely,
and books are not lent for home reading. It is thought, in such cases,
that the children can best be provided with books for home reading
through a system of school libraries, such as we describe in the next
chapter. This, however, seems to ignore the fact that such school
libraries are usually restricted to public and council schools, that
there are other kinds of schools in every town, and large numbers of
children, therefore, who have not access to school libraries; and their
claims to library facilities are as strong as those of public and
council school children. Such is the system in vogue, we believe, at
Cardiff. In other towns the department embraces lending library, reading
room, and reference library, and good examples of these are to be seen
at Islington. Here the room is divided into two parts, the smaller part
being an open access lending library, and the greater part a reading
room, with special tables set apart for quiet study, and containing a
carefully-chosen collection of reference books. These methods have both
great advantages, and are worthy of rather more detailed consideration.
[Illustration: FIG. 175.--Children’s Hall, Cathays Branch Library,
Cardiff (Section 485).]
=485. The Reference-Reading Method.=--We have used this name for want of
a better to indicate the system which limits the use of the contents of
the room to the room itself---a system, we may add, which has been
approved by the Conference of Librarians held at Manchester in 1918, as
the better of the two described. The library is usually a large room
with wall-cases for books upon two or three sides of the room, but with
one wall left blank and whitened for use as a lantern screen, and
intervals of the walls covered with baize screens upon which pictures,
bulletins, lists, etc., can be displayed. Part of the room is reserved
for children who desire to do home lessons, or make special study, or
who wish (as is more frequently the case than is generally supposed) to
become authors. For these, small desks, separate if possible, are
provided, and the use of ink is permitted. Another set of tables is
allocated to such newspapers and periodicals as are suitable for
children. The selection of the latter is a matter requiring special
care. Good daily newspapers may be provided--_The Daily Graphic_, for
instance, is interesting to most children--but there is a real need for
a definitely children’s _newspaper_, one that presents in a manner
attractive to the child mind a selection of the matter occurring in the
ordinary newspaper; the recognized children’s periodicals in English and
French, and in other languages where circumstances warrant it; such
“instructive” periodicals as those teaching shorthand, languages, how to
make things, and simple “trade” periodicals; as well as a selection of
such weekly journals as _The Illustrated London News_ and _The Graphic_.
Children are more virile mentally than is sometimes supposed, and many
ostensibly adult periodicals are quite suitable for them. The remainder
of the room may be devoted to tables or desks for the reading of the
books from the cases.
=486. Lending Library.=--All the features enumerated in the foregoing
section should be found in the department which has also a lending
library, except that the number of books to be provided for reading in
the room will probably be smaller, and fewer book-cases will in that
case be necessary. The lending section will be conducted on principles
similar to those governing the adult lending library, with such
adaptations as experience suggests to be desirable. Simplicity is the
keynote of the work, and the regulations governing the issue of readers’
tickets and the lending of books should be made as easy and unambiguous
as possible. A few of these may be mentioned:
1. Children should be permitted to borrow books upon the
recommendation of the head teacher of the school they attend. In some
libraries a more definite guarantee is required to prevent possible
loss and to recover the cost of loss or damages, as it is obvious that
the teacher cannot be expected to accept financial responsibility in
this connexion and would undoubtedly refuse to do so; and these
require the children to be guaranteed by burgesses in the same manner
as adult readers. It will be found, however, that children have
frequently some difficulty in finding a guarantor; even parents at
times refuse to bind themselves in this way; and, with careful
supervision, the teacher’s recommendation will be found to be
effective. A good form of application is as follows:
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| SCHOOL READERS UNDER 12 YEARS |
| |
| .............................................. _No._ ........... |
| |
| NEWTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARIES. |
| |
| _To be signed by the Applicant._ |
| |
| I, the undersigned, being a scholar, under twelve years of age, |
| at .......................................................... |
| School, apply for a Ticket enabling me to borrow books from a |
| Lending Library, in accordance with the Rules, which I promise to |
| obey. |
| |
| _Name in full_................................................... |
| |
| _Address_........................................................ |
| |
| _Age_.................... _Date_.............................. |
+====================================================================+
| _To be signed by the Head Teacher of the School the Applicant |
| attends._[1] |
| |
| I, the undersigned, am of opinion that the above Applicant may be |
| trusted to use the Libraries carefully, and to his/her advantage. |
| |
| _Signed_......................................................... |
| |
| _Head Teacher of_.........................................School. |
| |
| _Date_........................... |
| |
| [1] _The signing of this Voucher does not involve the Head |
| Teacher in any financial responsibility._ |
| |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
FIG. 176.--Voucher for Children (Section 486). The back is the ordinary
guarantee, as Fig. 135.
2. Children should be permitted to borrow books on the application of
the head of their household. In this case the householder may be
expected to assume the responsibilities of any ordinary guarantor.
3. In ordinary circumstances a child should be permitted to borrow one
book only at a time, and should not be permitted to change it for
another more frequently than once a week.
We desire to avoid controversial matter in this _Manual_, and this
provision, we expect, is open to criticism; indeed, when it was
suggested elsewhere an American librarian remarked that it “seemed
unnecessary.” British librarians, however, have actually been
requested by teachers to make these restrictions on the arguments that
few children do any comparative reading, and that still fewer can
read more than one book in a week and at the same time do their home
lessons and spend as much time in outdoor recreation as is needful for
their health. Another less satisfactory reason is that some librarians
have found the child population, when not so restricted, crowding the
lending library to such an extent that their staffs have been unable
to maintain the discipline without which effective work is impossible,
or to meet the demands of the children. Such librarians have divided
their register of children alphabetically, and children whose names
begin with certain letters are admitted to the lending library only on
certain days.
4. The rules should embody simple provisions governing the duration of
loan (usually fourteen days are allowed, but circumstances may warrant
an extension of this time), cleanliness, care of books, and the
disposal of books in cases where the child or any member of the
household is in contact with infection.
A difficult matter is what, if any, penalties should be inflicted upon
children in the case of undue detention of books or for other offences.
Fines are sometimes imposed, as in the adult library, but often they
cannot be recovered without great trouble, and they should usually be
remitted when any reasonable excuse can be offered. Many children cannot
obtain the necessary pence, except from their parents, and to press for
fines frequently means that the child will be forbidden the use of the
library by the parents. In this matter the librarian should have the
fullest discretion. Persistent offenders are effectively dealt with by
the suspending of their tickets for a time; but we do not wish to insist
upon this method, as the librarian naturally desires to have books used
rather than to prevent their use. Lost books must be replaced by parents
as a matter of course whenever it is possible to get at them; and the
teacher will often lend his powerful assistance in securing the return
or replacing of missing volumes, and, indeed, in seeing that the library
rules generally are observed by his pupils. Co-operation and sympathy
between librarian and teacher are first essentials of successful work.
=487. Furniture and Fittings.=--The furnishing of the children’s room
is governed by the considerations explained in Division V., but again
with adaptations dictated by the fact that the furniture is for children
and not for adults. Desks, tables, chairs, reading slopes, etc., should
be of such heights that they can be used with comfort. In regard to
tables and chairs, 25¼ inches is a suitable height for the former and
14¼ inches for the latter. Book-cases should be approximately 6½ feet in
height as against 7 feet for adults. Such rigid furnishing as that which
provides long narrow desks resembling school forms for the children, so
arranged that the children all face one way, is to be deprecated. Tables
which provide the maximum of space, comfort and seclusion are as
desirable for this room as for any other. Each periodical and reader
requires three feet of lateral space, and there should be three feet
between each table, or four where the space is a gangway. Screens of
some soft wood, covered with baize, should be placed on the walls, at
intervals; and a blackboard and an optical lantern are valuable parts of
the equipment. Any space that may remain on the walls may be devoted to
pictures, which need not be many, but should be large, deal with
definite subjects, and be good of their kind. These are the more obvious
differences between the children’s and the adult departments, except
that in some libraries lavatory accommodation is provided in order that
children may wash their hands before entering the library proper. Such
accommodation has distinct advantages, as many children come into the
department straight from playing in the street, and it is rather hard to
refuse them admission because their hands are not in a suitable state
for the using of books. On the other hand, strict supervision of such
accommodation is necessary, and this is difficult to provide on account
of the increased cost involved.
=488. Book Selection.=--A few principles governing the selection of
books for children may be given here, drawn from an immense mass of
written material upon the subject. In a general way it may be asserted
that the child is the best judge of its own literature, and the classics
for children survive as such simply because they receive the continued
suffrages of children. Excellent bibliographies and lists exist,
especially American ones, and many libraries have issued catalogues of
their children’s libraries. A comparison of these is a necessary
preliminary to stocking the department. Catholicity and a not too rigid
insistence upon high literary merit are proper attitudes, because there
is no exact definition of a children’s book, and any book likely to be
used by children should be regarded as suitable; and the variations in
taste and capability of children are so great that if there is too
pronounced insistence upon high literary quality many children will
neglect the books provided. It is better to commence with a lower
average of merit and attract children, and then, by placing better books
in their way, to improve their tastes without too much obtruding of the
fact upon them. By this it is not meant that worthless books are to be
included, but there are undoubtedly books having no claim to high rank
which are wholesome and harmless. A preponderating part of the lending
stock will be of fiction--perhaps twenty per cent. of it--and here the
librarian has the accumulated experience of other librarians to assist
his selection, and, with regard to contemporary writings, they are not
so numerous that the characteristics of any given author cannot easily
be tested. Books of classic rank should be available in such numbers
that there are always enough copies to meet the current demand and at
the same time to leave a copy on the shelves. A librarian should never
be compelled to reply to a child that _Ivanhoe_, _The Last of the
Mohicans_, _Alice in Wonderland_, _Robinson Crusoe_, or _The Jungle
Book_, for example, is “out.” It is questionable whether abridged or
adapted versions or extracts from classics should be stocked; they often
give children an entirely false impression of the work they represent,
and as a general rule works that may be “extracted” for children should
be provided in their original form. A “Bowdlerized” Shakespeare is an
objectionable work; the more virile or doubtful parts of the complete
plays rarely touch children or are understood by them. In other classes
of literature great discretion must be exercised. A balanced selection
covering the whole field of knowledge should be the aim, and although
there are still many blank spaces in this field, there are fortunately
thousands of works on the arts, sciences, history, biography, and,
indeed, upon most subjects, eminently adapted to children. Mere
simplicity is not the first essential of such books. Children of quite
tender years can make use of many books which are not intended primarily
for them, and these may frequently be admitted with great advantage.
The intrinsic side of selection may be summarized briefly: Admit all
books which appeal to children so long as they are in good English, have
no immoral tendency, do not bring the sanctities of life into ridicule,
are accurate, and have a worthy quality of humour. This last condition
is important. The average child has not a very refined sense of humour,
he prefers it of a concrete quality, without irony or sarcasm, and too
often founded upon human depravity, deformity and misfortune; this taste
must be counteracted.
=489.= The physical side of books is only less important than the
literary, a fact frequently overlooked. Good, legible, well-inked type,
good paper, well-drawn, coloured and accurately-registered illustrations
should always be sought. There is an æsthetic value in books which
should not be neglected, and this is absent from ill-produced works; and
the eyesight of children should be guarded from small or illegible
print. Bindings should be strong and durable, an almost impossible
condition at the present day when cheap machine-made cases are the rule.
The life of the book of to-day in continual use is at best only a few
months. Before the European War publishers were gradually introducing
reinforced and other strong bindings for children’s books, and it is to
be hoped that this desirable practice will in due course be resumed.
=490.= Recent events have so affected the book-market that any rigid
estimate of the average cost of books would be futile, as being subject
to probable immense fluctuations. Five years ago 3s. 6d. was a fair
average price for a lending library book for young readers; at the time
of writing 5s. would be nearer the sum that would have to be paid. It
can only be assumed that a considerable time will elapse before books
will return to their original prices. Any other assumption would be
unwise.
=491. Administration.=--Primary factors in successful work are freedom
of access, the maintenance of proper but not oppressive discipline, and
the administration of the department by a specially trained and
qualified staff. Ruskin’s theory that a child should be let loose in a
good library to choose or reject as he wills has proved to be
satisfactory in practice, and to promote that sense of personal
proprietorship in the library which it is desirable that he should
possess. Other reasons for the open access system are the opportunities
it gives for close contact between the child and the librarian, of the
opportunities it gives the child of learning what treasures are at his
disposal, in addition to every other advantage which may be said to
accrue to the system when used for adult readers. The hours of opening
should be governed by the school hours; that is to say, it is hardly
ever necessary to open during school hours; and the library should close
at a reasonable hour in order that children may not be induced to remain
there at times when they ought to be in their homes. These hours differ
in different localities. At holiday times, however, the library should
be accessible during the greater part of the daytime.
=492.= Discipline, it has been well remarked, is the problem of the
children’s department. While the dragooning methods of the parish beadle
would be deplorably out of place, it is impossible to agree with the
American librarian who declares that “children usually do not mind noise
and crowding,” because, even if in theory they do not, it is impossible
to carry on effective work in conditions of congestion and noise. Too
precise a method would defeat its object, but it would seem wise to
limit the admissions at any time to such numbers as may be controlled
easily by the librarian. Mr L. Stanley Jast has gone so far as to affirm
that the children should not be more than can easily be “contacted by
the librarian,” on the ground that more efficient work can thus be done.
It is a matter upon which a decision can only be made from a knowledge
of the conditions and the character of the child population. Clearly,
however, a qualification in a successful children’s librarian is the
power to keep order, to prevent practical joking, loud conversation and
laughter in the reading room. Firmness displayed with kindness, but with
decision, and the excluding of unrepentant offenders have been found to
be effective.
=493.= The training of the children’s librarian is special and
necessary. In England it has not been developed in any degree
commensurate with the need, and our ideals in this matter must be drawn
from our American cousins. They require a sound preliminary education in
the candidate, a knowledge of the broader lines of general library
administration, and, added to these, a study of the child mind,
practical social service work, the study of the bibliography of juvenile
literature, and practice--usually gained by actual work in children’s
rooms--in story-telling, subject-hunting, bulletin-making, and similar
matters. Cataloguing, classification, the preparing of attractive lists,
etc., for children are all somewhat modified from the forms in use in
the grown people’s departments, and all are treated specially. All these
studies premise that the librarian has the requisite “personality,” and
this is a matter of natural inheritance rather than of training. In
Europe this special training can only be gained in the children’s room,
and, as a matter of fact, is not always gained. Too often librarians
have perforce been obliged to hand the conduct of the department to any
member of the staff who might be available at the time. This state of
affairs must receive attention if the children’s department is to
accomplish its purpose. Probably the ordinary training of the Froebel
system superadded to general library training is the best preparation
that can be given to the British children’s librarian at present.
=494. Activities of the Department.=--To bring the child into contact
with the proper book is the aim of the department. Free choice amongst
books will suffice in a number of instances; but such passive methods
will not always secure good results. The assistant in charge must win
the confidence of the children and guide them in the most unobtrusive
manner possible to the books likely to be of interest and use. Various
active methods are in use to gain this end. The most popular of these is
the Story Hour.
=495.= It has been premised that children from six to fourteen years of
age will frequent the department, and there is a vast range of ability
and taste in children in the various years between these ages. Little
children require simple large-print books with plenty of illustrations,
and may be drawn to them if story-telling forms part of the librarian’s
activities. Story hours, indeed, are most attractive to children of all
ages. They are given informally, the children usually being grouped
round the librarian in a half-circle while she tells them a fairy story,
or stories drawn from the greater writers, from history, poetry, or what
not. The connexion between the story hour and the after reading of the
books which contain the stories is clear. Such story-telling requires
special and intelligent study, good elocution, fluency and the sense of
the dramatic. The objection frequently offered to the work is that it is
harmful to children for them to hear a story by a great writer delivered
in inferior language and brokenly by an indifferent librarian. This,
however, is purely a matter of experience and training, and there are
admirable manuals of story-telling method by Miss Marie Shedlock, Miss
L. M. Olcott, and others which may help in this matter. Otherwise the
value of the work is undoubted. The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh sets
the standard which has general approval. There it is found that groups
of thirty children are convenient in size, although it is often
necessary to have larger groups. “To the younger children miscellaneous
stories are told, selected chiefly from the folk-tales of various
countries, legends, myths, fables, modern realistic stories and Bible
stories. Two stories are usually told to each group, and whenever
possible variety is given by the selection of stories of different
types. Poems and nursery rhymes are occasionally included in these
programmes. Special days are celebrated if stories can be found which
express the spirit of the holiday and are sufficiently dramatic in form.
The same stories are sometimes repeated during the year because of the
deeper impression made through repetition, and the value to children of
an intimate acquaintance with a few of the best things in literature
appropriate for them. If something new is given each time, the
impressions are confused and dissipated, and material which is either
beyond a child’s appreciation or unsuitable for story-telling must
finally be used. When an additional story is told, and the children are
allowed a choice, the story requested is almost without exception a very
old and well-known one. To the older children some of the great cycle
stories are presented by telling one story each week. High adventure and
romance, as depicted in these hero tales, have a special appeal to the
boy and girl from ten to fifteen, and at this age interest is easily
sustained.”[17]
[17] Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. _Stories to Tell to Children._
See List at end of this division.
=496.= More formal lectures prove entirely successful with children,
the difficulty as a rule being to find accommodation for the numbers who
desire to attend them. They differ from lectures given to adults
principally in the fact that they are simpler, but not always even in
this particular. Lecturing to children demands a freedom of manner and
from mannerisms, decision and fluency; and it will be found that the
audience is one of the most critical a lecturer can encounter. All the
conditions of definite, clear and accurate subject-matter, refined
humour, etc., which are required in books are also required in the
lecture. Such subjects as the history of inventions and historical
episodes appeal strongly to boys, but perhaps not so greatly to girls,
who find nature, literary and similar lectures more to their
taste--although dogmatic statement on this point is entirely unwise. The
judicious use of lantern slides, pictures and exhibits enhances these
lectures, but many subjects are better treated without them. Pictures of
characters in works of imagination, for example, often destroy the
child’s own, and therefore more valuable, conception of the characters.
Good discipline is essential to successful lectures, and this depends
upon the lecturer; uneasiness in the audience usually means that it is
bored, and the lecturer is wise to consider it thus.
=497.= Reading clubs and circles often form part of the activities of
the department. In these the members, who are admitted to them formally,
undertake to read through some special book under the guidance of a
leader who, of course, may be a member of the library staff, although an
older child may be induced to become leader. Usually the children read
the prescribed portion of the book privately, and at the circle they go
over it, talk about it, ask questions, and look at pictures, maps and
other books that may throw more light on their reading or increase its
interest.
=498.= A valuable auxiliary of story hours, lectures and reading circles
is a collection of illustrations. Such collections are becoming a
feature of some British, and have long been used in American, libraries.
The collection is made up of illustrations abstracted from all suitable
sources, worn-out books, periodicals, catalogues, advertisements, etc.,
in addition to pictures separately published. Each picture is mounted
individually upon a mount of standard size--12½ inches by 10½ inches for
the greater number, and 17 inches by 13½ inches for larger pictures
have been proved to be quite suitable--of manila, art paper, or some
similar stiff material; and the pictures are minutely classified, and
may be filed in closed pamphlet boxes, or, better, vertically in a
filing cabinet. Systematic abstracting of such illustrations for the
available sources of an ordinary library will soon produce a large
collection. The rule to be observed is that the pictures must illustrate
some fact, scene or object. Pictures from the average modern novel,
views of scenes which may be found in any country, “pretty” pictures,
etc., have practically no value. An exception may be made in favour of
illustrations of classic works by distinguished artists, but for the
reasons advanced against lantern slides in illustrating such works even
this is doubtful. The collection should be available not only in the
department, they should also be lent to teachers for use in class work
in school and to reading circles and other people who may desire to use
them. Such pictures may form the basis of what is called bulletin work.
On suitable occasions, holidays, birthdays of great men, anniversaries
of all kinds, and as illustrating current events, pictures should be
displayed on screens in the room in conjunction with brief lists of
illustrative books. Sometimes bulletins are specially made for such
occasions if an assistant with the necessary artistic ability is
available; attractive borders, small appropriate sketches and similar
embellishments are added to the pictures and lists. It is possible,
however, that the bulletin may exercise too great a fascination over its
maker and too much time be spent upon it; but within limits the bulletin
is an excellent device for drawing the attention of children.
=499.= At all seasonable times additional activities recommend
themselves, but extravagance should be avoided. Exhibits of many kinds,
wild flowers in their seasons, and the common objects and fauna of the
district, are frequently displayed with satisfactory results; and,
indeed, on every opportunity the librarian should make the room of
current living interest to the children.
=500.= In almost all these activities voluntary help from interested
people may be had and should be welcomed. Large picture collections have
in some places been provided almost entirely by this means, and every
town has people in it who would help as lecturers, leaders of circles,
collectors and arrangers of exhibits. The wider the lay interest taken
in the department, provided it is directed judiciously, the greater its
success is likely to be.
=501. Library Lessons.=--Library lessons may form a useful part of the
activities of the department. Teachers may bring their classes to the
libraries in school hours and give lessons on subjects in connexion with
the ordinary school lessons. Such lessons are frequently given in the
Cardiff children’s rooms, and in giving them the teachers use the books,
illustrations, maps and other material in the rooms, and are able to
reinforce these with books or materials from the adult departments.
There is a novelty in lessons given in such conditions which removes
them in the child’s mind from ordinary lessons and gives them emphasis.
A pleasure is added to them if the children are allowed a space at their
conclusion in which they may indulge in individual reading according to
their own choice from the shelves.
=502.= The library is perhaps more directly concerned with lessons in
which the library itself is the subject taught, and these lessons fall
to the staff. A preliminary lesson may consist of a simple demonstration
of the purpose and means of access to the library--its divisions,
cataloguing and classification, and an exercise in finding books; and
this may be followed by other lessons on the making, use and care of
books; and other lessons may follow on reference work, subject-hunting,
the use of periodical indexes, bibliographical aids, dictionaries, maps,
etc. They must be purely objective to succeed, and everything described
should be placed before the children. These lessons are also given as a
rule in school hours, and inspectors have shown themselves willing to
regard them as part of the school curriculum. Their value both to the
children and to the libraries is very great.
=503. Classification and Cataloguing.=--The classification and catalogue
methods of the department should be preliminary to those of the adult
departments; but they may be simpler with advantage. Young children
would probably find the decimal classification in its orthodox form too
intricate. At the same time the system that they use should be in its
essentials the main classification of the library. The following
simplified form of the decimal system may be suggestive; it is not meant
to be more than that:
0 General Works
01 Bibliographies. Aids to Reading, Catalogues, etc.
03 Encyclopædias
05 Children’s magazines
07 Newspapers
1 Philosophy
10 General
17 Temperance
19 Conduct
2 Religion
20 General
22 The Bible and Bible Stories
29 Mythology. Stories involving the Gods
3 Sociology
30 General
32 Government
35 Army
36 Navy
37 Schools and Colleges
39 Etiquette, Customs
395 Legends, Folk-lore
Fairy Tales go in 833
4 Language
40 General
42 Grammars and Readers
45 Composition, Essay-writing, Précis-writing
5 Science (Mathematical and Natural)
50 General
51 Mathematics, Arithmetic, Geometry
52 Astronomy
53 Physics, Electricity
54 Chemistry
55 Earth, Sea, Air (Geology, Oceanography, and Meteorology)
56 Fossils
57 General natural history; Outdoor books
58 Trees; Flowers
59 Man; Races; Origin and Development
6 Useful Arts
60 General
61 Ambulance
615 Gymnastics
62 Engineering (Steam, Gas, Electrical)
629 Aerial Engineering
63 Farming
64 Domestic Economy, Cooking
65 Railways, Shipping
66 Fishing and Fisheries
Angling is 79
67 Trades and Industries, alphabetically
69 Building
7 Fine Arts
70 General
71 Gardens
72 Buildings (Architecture)
73 Sculpture
74 Drawing
75 Painting
77 Photography
78 Music
79 Games
8 Literature
80 General
81 Poetry
82 Drama
83 Stories and Tales
833 Fairy Tales
835 Animal and Other Natural History Fables
84 Essays
9 Travel (Including Geography and Descriptions of Countries)
90 General
91 Atlases and Geographies
912 Travels in Great Britain
914 Travels in Europe
915 Travels in Asia
916 Travels in Africa
917 Travels in N. America
918 Travels in Central and South America
919 Travels in Australasia; The Polar Regions; Isolated Islands
92 Lives of Famous People: Collective
921 Lives: Individual
Alphabetically by persons written about
93 History
930 Ancient History
940 History (Modern) of Europe
942 History of Great Britain and Ireland
95 History of Asia
96 History of Africa
97 History of N. America
98 History of Central and S. America
99 History of Australasia and Isolated Islands
This outline can be expanded as desired without difficulty or
dislocation.
=504.= Similar principles may well govern the cataloguing of the
children’s library. It is well that youngsters should become familiar
with the arrangement and use of sheaf and card as well as of printed
catalogues. Moreover, the Anglo-American code is here the best basis
upon which to do the cataloguing. It should be remembered that the
children use the catalogue, or ought to use it, and not adults. All
recondite bibliographical terms, and abbreviations except the simplest,
should be avoided; and explanatory notes should be written in language
such as the children may be expected to understand. Indeed, a rule that
all cataloguing should be expressed in such language--we mean all that
is added to the title--would be a safe one to follow. Some extended
rules, with examples, which may prove helpful in this matter are given
in Berwick Sayers’s _The Children’s Library_, chapter iii. It will be
seen that no particular _form_ of catalogue is recommended; librarians
differ widely upon this question. Perhaps the best printed catalogue is
that issued for schools by the Pittsburgh Library: a catalogue in
divisions corresponding to the grades in the schools, in which each
division contains books which are thought to make appeal to the children
in the grade it represents.
=505.= Reading lists follow the same rules. These, to make any useful
appeal, should be presented simply, attractively, and be rigidly
selective. A few titles, well presented, are likely to have more effect
than lists so long that they frighten the child.