ELEMENTARY LIBRARY INSTRUCTION_Library Work with Children

Principles and methods and the part of the public library in

giving library instruction are presented by Gilbert O. Ward,

Supervisor of High School Libraries, Cleveland, Ohio, in Public

Libraries, July, 1912. This and its allied subjects are more

comprehensively treated in several of the articles included in

the first volume of the present series, entitled "Library and

School."

Gilbert O. Ward was born in 1880 in New York City, and was

educated in the New York City public schools. He was graduated

from Columbia University in 1902 and from the Pratt Institute

Library School in 1908. In 1908- 1909 he was an assistant in the

Pratt Institute Free Library. Since 1909 he has been a member of

the staff of the Cleveland Public Library, as librarian of the

Technical High School in 1909-1910, and as technical librarian

since 1910. From 1911 to 1913 he served as Supervisor of High

School Branches. Mr. Ward has published "Practical use of books

and libraries: an elementary textbook for use with high school

classes."

The term "elementary library instruction" is limited here to any

instruction given in the technical use of books and libraries to

students under college or normal school grade.

The object of this paper is to review briefly, (1) the reasons

for giving such instruction, (2) subjects and some methods

suitable for grade and high schools, (3) the part of the public

library in giving such instruction.

The subject of bibliographical instruction for school children

has become more important in recent years because of changes

which have taken place in school methods. Schools now place much

less reliance than formerly upon text-books, while on the other

hand they require of the student more collateral reading and

reference work. This is especially true in courses in English and

history; for instance where the high school student formerly

studied about Chaucer in a textbook, he is now more likely

required to read a selection.

This method while more fruitful in results than the old text-book

method presents new difficulties both to teacher and to student.

On the teacher's part, it is no longer sufficient to assign 10

pages for study and have done with it. References must be

consulted and assigned to the students for written or oral

report. With the troubles of the teacher however, we shall have

nothing to do in the present paper. On the student's part,

instead of being able to sit down to a compact account in a

single book, he is required to use perhaps a dozen books in the

course of a month, to say nothing of possible magazine articles.

In fine, instead of a single book, he must use a library. The

practical effect of this condition is that without some

understanding of the scientific use of books and of the

possibilities of either high school or public library, the

student wastes his time and finds these studies an increased

burden. The ordinary student is ignorant of how to handle books.

The primary purpose of formal library instruction is clearly then

to do away with the friction which hinders the student in his or

her work. There is no charm in bibliographical information as

such and no excuse for attempting to teach a child merely curious

or interesting facts for which he has no natural appetite or use.

An example of this mistake is the attempt to acquaint the student

with very many reference books, or go deeply into the subject of

classification.

The subject of library instruction in public schools conveniently

divides itself into two parts, (1) instruction in grade schools,

(2) instruction in high schools. I have elsewhere rather full

tentative outlines by way of suggestion, and limit myself at this

point to more general discussion.

In elementary classes, the subject matter must be simple, first

because the needs of the student are simple, and secondly because

it is more easily and willingly taught if simple. The subjects

which suggest themselves are: (1) The physical care of a book,

(2) printed parts of a book, (3) the dictionary, (4) the public

library.

The physical care of a book comes naturally first because

children have to handle books before they can read them for

pleasure, or need to use them as reference helps. The subject is

important both to librarian and to school boards because it

affects the question of book replacement, and hence the

expenditure of public money. Speaking broadly, it is a question

of conservation.

The ordinary book, not the reference book, is the one with which

the student will always have most to deal; therefore as soon as

he is old enough, or as soon as his text books can serve for

practical illustration, the important printed parts of the

ordinary books can be called to his attention. It should be

sufficient to include the title page (title, author's name, and

date), table of contents and index.

The study of the dictionary (the first reference book) should be

taken up first with the pocket dictionaries when these are used

in class and the children should be practiced in discovering and

understanding the kinds of information given with each word.

Then, when the unabridged is attacked later, the essentials will

be familiar, and the mind freer to attack the somewhat complex

problems of arrangement and added information, e.g., synonyms,

quotations, etc.

After proper care of books, and the use of an ordinary book, and

the use of a simple reference book, the next natural step is to

the use of the public library. The talk on the public library

obviously includes some description of the library's purpose and

resources both for use and amusement, a very general description

of the arrangement of the books, possibly some description of the

card catalog--personally I am somewhat skeptical as to the

utility of the card catalog for grade pupils--and finally,

possibly an explanation of the encyclopedia.

The instructor for all the subjects mentioned excepting the

public library is logically the teacher, because the subjects

must be introduced as occasion arises in class. For instance the

time for teaching the physical care of a book is when a book is

first put into the child's hands. For the talk on the public

library, the library itself is obviously the place, and the

children's librarian the instructor Some special methods which

suggest themselves are as follows: for the physical care of a

book, a class drill in opening, holding, shutting, laying down,

etc., rewards for the cleanest books, etc.; for the card

catalogue, sample sets of catalogue cards (author, title and

subject). The latter method is successfully used by the

Binghamton (N. Y.) public library.

In high school, students vary in age from the grammar school boy

on the one side, to the college freshman on the other, and the

subjects and methods of instruction vary accordingly. In the

matter of bibliographical instruction this greater range is

reflected in a closer study of reference tools, including those

parts of an ordinary book not taken up in the grades, (e.g.,

dictionary, selected reference books, card catalog, magazine

indexes, etc. The intelligent care of books can be re-emphasized

by an explanation of book structure from dissected examples.

The specific subjects to be taught will vary with the time

available, the class of the student, the subjects taught in

school and the method of teaching them, and the material on hand

in the public or school library.

As to general methods of instruction, these also must vary to

suit the subject, the age of the student and the time available.

Straight lecturing economizes time but makes the class restless

and inattentive. An oral quiz drawing on the student's own

experience is useful in getting the recitation started and

revives interest when interspersed through a lecture. Each point

should be illustrated by concrete examples from books themselves

when possible, or from the blackboard. The lesson should be

concluded by a written exercise, not too difficult, which should

be marked. For example, the dictionary might be illustrated from

the sample sheets issued by the publishers; and the class should

then be given a list of questions to be answered from the

dictionary. The questions can frequently be framed so as to be

answered by a page number instead of a long answer, and each

student should as far as practicable have a set of questions to

answer different from every other student's.

If the high school possesses a library, much of the instruction

is most logically given there. This save the time of the class in

travelling back and forth from the school to the public library,

particularly if the course is an extended one.

But why does the instruction of school children in the use of

books and libraries concern the public library?

Because if children learn to use ordinary books intelligently it

means a saving of the librarian's time by her not having to find

the precise page of every reference for a child. It means a

diminished amount of handling of books. It means less disturbance

from children who do not know how to find what they want. Other

results will doubtless suggest themselves.

It is not proposed to train the student to be a perfectly

independent investigator. That would be impracticable and

undesirable. It is simply proposed to give him such

bibliographical knowledge as will be distinctly useful to him as

a student now, and later as a citizen and patron of the library.

But what part may the public library play in this instruction? It

obviously may play a very large part in high schools, the

librarian of which it supplies, as in the city of Cleveland. In

high schools when the librarian is appointed by the school

authorities, it can cooperate with the school librarian by

lending speakers to describe the public library, by furnishing

sets of specimen catalogue cards for comparison--for public

library cataloging may differ from high school cataloging--by

lending old numbers of the Readers' Guide for practice in

bibliography making, etc., etc.

Where there is no high school library and instruction must be

given by the teacher or the public librarian, again the

opportunities of the public library are clear. First there are

teachers to be interested. English and history teachers most

obviously, and department heads of these subjects are strategic

points for attack. The subject of course should never be forced

and a beginning should be made only with those teachers who seem

likely to take interest. In the Binghamton public library before

referred to, the librarian contrived to get the teachers together

socially at the library, and the plan was then discussed before

being put into operation. In laying the foundation for such a

campaign, the librarian should have a simple, but definite plan

in mind, based on her experience with school children so that

when asked for suggestion, she can advance a practicable

proposition.

Finally, under any circumstances, the public library can always

be open for visits from classes, and ready to give class

instruction in either library or school room as necessity or

opportunity suggests. These methods are of course well known.

Much informal instruction can also be given to students on using

the index of an ordinary book, or the encyclopedia as occasion

arises.

Summing up the chief points of this superficial review, we have

seen (1) that the change in teaching methods has made the subject

of library instruction important. (2) That the subjects of such

instruction should be simple, and that both subjects and methods

must be adapted to the occasion, (3) and finally that the public

library is interested in the subject from a practical point of

view and is able to take an influential part in shaping and

administering courses.