The paper by Edna Lyman Scott, printed in the Wisconsin Bulletin
for January, 1905, was said to be introductory to a talk which
she was to give at Beloit at the Wisconsin State meeting,
February 22, 1905. The author looks upon the inauguration of the
story hour as but the grasping of an opportunity in working with
children in the library, as a means of cultivating the love of
literature and of introducing the child to books.
Edna Lyman, now Mrs. Scott, was born in Illinois, educated in the
schools of Oak Park, Ill., and at Bradford Academy, Haverhill,
Massachusetts. At the time this paper was written she was the
children's librarian in the Oak Park Public Library, then known
as Scoville Institute. Her work in story telling became known
outside the immediate field of its activity, and in 1907 Miss
Lyman severed her connection with this library to give time to
special preparation, and later to become a lecturer on literature
for children and story-telling, and a professional story-teller.
She spent portions of three years as Advisory Children's
Librarian for the Iowa Library Commission, and during that period
published her book "Story-telling: what to tell and how to tell
it." She holds the position of non-resident faculty lecturer on
Work for Children in the Library School of the University of
Illinois, and the Carnegie Library School of Atlanta, Georgia,
and lectures regularly in other library schools, before teachers'
institutes and normal schools, women's clubs and study classes
throughout the country.
When we touch the question of guiding the reading of children in
our libraries we have opened the consideration of a subject which
is one of the great arguments for the existence of public
libraries.
All about we see and feel the utter indifference of parents to
what their children are reading, or whether they are reading at
all, and the results of this indifference appear on every hand,
in the character of the books which content the child, or in his
determination to bury himself in a book to the exclusion of every
other interest.
The librarian sees this indifference and its fruit and realizes
that it adds another responsibility to her already long list, and
another opportunity to serve. She may doubt whether her province
is to educate the taste of the public at large, but there can be
no question that in the case of the children the choice is not
left for her to make; the only reason for the child's reading at
all is that he may grow mentally and spiritually. There is no way
to protect the child against worthless books except by giving him
a decided taste for what is good. Hamilton Mabie says that
"tastes depend very largely on the standards with which we are
familiar," and if these standards are acquired hit and miss,
without training, they are likely to be of a most doubtful
character.
The love of literature, like the love of any of the fine arts, is
susceptible of cultivation and is strengthened by constant
contact with the beauty and greatness which can compel it. "They
are exceptional children who read everything regardless of its
character and come out all right. We do not know that any child
is of such a make-up. We must deal with him as though he were not
the exceptional but the normal child." The influence of all that
he reads upon the mind of the child is sufficiently appalling,
but it is not to be compared with the influence on his character.
Henry Churchill King says: "It is his susceptibility to the
faintest suggestion that makes the child so marvelous an
imitator." The significance of this truth lies not only in the
fact that he responds to the example in manners and morals of
those about him, but equally, and perhaps even more exactly, to
the heroes who live within the covers of his books. If the
dangers are great, our response must be as forceful and our
search untiring for the influence which will most surely lead the
child to the best.
And what means shall be found? The answer seems ready to hand in
the use of one of the oldest, yet one of the newest arts, the art
of story-telling. You may talk to a child about books, he will
give a certain kind of response, particularly if he respects your
judgment because of previous experience, but tell him a story and
you have fastened him with chains he does not care to resist.
The inauguration of the story hour then is but the grasping of an
opportunity, first of all to give keenest joy to the child, and
at the same time to set his standard for judging the value of
other stories by those he hears, to give him a love for beautiful
form, to introduce him to books he might never choose for himself
and to bind him to the friend who tells him stories, so that he
will feel a confidence in her suggestions.
Before choosing our stories for telling it will be well to remind
ourselves of our purpose in telling stories, namely, to give
familiarity with good English, to cultivate the imagination, to
develop the sympathy, and to give a clear impression of moral
truth. With this purpose in mind we shall gather our children
into groups whose ages are near, and will be reached by the same
tales. We must be methodical in this as in all our library work,
and have our campaign well planned before we begin.
Not everyone has the gift of telling stories, but if one is not
gifted with the art himself, there will doubtless be someone who
is, who can be secured for the purpose, if we only feel that the
need is great enough.
The way is open to the minds and hearts of the children. Shall we
neglect it because it is old, or because it is new, or because we
seem somewhat hampered by existing conditions? Why not follow the
successes of others, and then find our own?
The above paper by Miss Lyman is offered as introductory to a
talk which she will give at Beloit at the Wisconsin state
meeting, February 22, 1905. The story hour has been most
successfully conducted in a few of our libraries. To be sure
every librarian is not qualified to conduct a successful story
hour, but it is usually possible to find someone in the community
who will tell the stories. The story hour requires a good deal of
preparation. In Pittsburgh the librarians who were to tell
stories had special training under Miss Shedlock, a well-known
English story teller, and gave thorough study to the subject
before attempting to interest the children. This library has
published a pamphlet on Story telling to children from Norse
mythology and the Nibehulgenlied. This pamphlet contains
references to material on selected stories, an annotated reading
list for the story teller and for young people, a full outline of
a course, and many valuable suggestions. The same library
published in its bulletin, October, 1902, the following outlines:
LEGENDS OF KING ARTHUR AND THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE
Story 1. Merlin the Enchanter Story 2. How Arthur won his
kingdom and how he got his sword Excalibur. Story 3. The
marriage of Arthur and Guinevere and the founding of the Round
Table. Story 4. The adventure of Gareth Story 5. The
adventure of Geraint. Story 6. The adventure of Geraint and
the Fair Enid. Story 7. The story of the dolorous stroke.
Story 8. How Launcelot saved Guinevere; or, The adventure of
the cart. Story 9. Launcelot and the lily-maid of Astrolat.
Story 10. The coming of Galahad Story 11. The quest of
the Sangreal Story 12. The achieving of the Sangreal.
Story 13. The passing of Arthur.