Many libraries report that they find the topics habitually well
chosen. The gist of the criticisms is as follows:
(a) The teacher should make clear to the child just what he is to
look up and how to ask for it. An eastern library furnishes this
incident:
"I want a book about flowers."
"Do you want a special flower?"
"Yes, I want the rose."
A book on the cultivation of roses is handed her. Her companion,
looking over, exclaims, "Why she wants the Wars of the roses!"
The same librarian was invited to provide something on American
privileges; whether social, religious, political, or otherwise,
the child did not know.
(b) The teacher should be reasonably sure that there is on the
topic something in print, in usable shape, that can be gotten at
with a reasonable amount of labor.
(c) The subject when found should be within the child's
comprehension. The topic Grasses is manifestly unfit for
children, since grasses are difficult to study, and the
description of them in encyclopedias and botanies is too
technical. An eight- year-old had to investigate the Abyssinian
war. Pupils under 16 were assigned the topic Syncretism in the
later pagan movement. A western librarian was asked by some girls
for Kipling's "Many inventions" and "Day's work." Both were out.
"Well, what other books of Kipling's on agriculture have you?"
"Why, Kipling hasn't written any books on agriculture; he writes
stories and poems." "But we have to debate on whether agriculture
or manufacturing has done more for the welfare of the country,
and we want a book on both sides."
(d) The topic should be definite and not too broad, and should be
subdivided when necessary. The briefest comprehensive description
of Rome is probably that in Champlin's "Persons and places,"
where the six columns, already much condensed, would take more
than an hour to copy. A young girl came to find out about Italian
painters. None of the several encyclopedias treated them
collectively under either Italy or Art. Mrs. Bolton's book of 10
artists includes four Italians, but it takes some time and skill
to discover them, as the fact of their nationality does not
introduce the narrative. How should a sixth grade pupil make a
selection from the 60 painters in Mrs. Jameson's book? Three
names were furnished by the librarian, and the child made notes
from their biographies. The next day she returned and said she
hadn't enough artists.
(e) The question should preferably be of such nature that the
child can be helped to find it rather than be obliged to wait
while the librarian does the work. One inquiry was, "What eastern
plant is sometimes sold for its weight in gold?" This is not in
the book of "Curious questions."
(f) The topic should be worth spending time upon. The genealogy
of Ellen Douglas will hardly linger long in the average memory.