Honorary President, The HON. WOODROW WILSON
Honorary Vice-President, HON. WILLIAM H. TAFT
Honorary Vice-President, COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT
President, COLIN H. LIVINGSTON, Washington D.C.
Vice-President, B. L. DULANY, ????, Tenn.
Vice-President, MILTON A. McRAE, ????
Vice-President, DAVID STARR JORDAN, ????
Vice-President, F. L. SEELY, Asheville, N.C.
Vice-President, A. STANFORD. WHITE, Chicago, Ill.
Chief Scout, ERNEST THOMPSON SETON, ????
National Scout Commissioner, DANIEL CARTER BEARD, ????
FINANCE COMMITTEE
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NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
THE FIFTH AVENUE BUILDING, 200 FIFTH AVENUE
TELEPHONE GRAMERCY 545
NEW YORK CITY
ADDITIONAL MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD
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July 31, 1913.
TO THE PUBLIC--
In the execution of its purpose to give educational value and moral
worth to the recreational activities of the boyhood of America, the
leaders of the Boy Scout Movement quickly learned that to effectively
carry out its program, the boy must be influenced not only in his
out-of-door life but also in the diversions of his other leisure
moments. It is at such times that the boy is captured by the tales of
daring enterprises and adventurous good times. What now is needful in
not that his taste should be thwarted but trained. There should
constantly be presented to him the books the boy likes best, yet
always the books that will be best for the boy. As a matter of fact,
however, the boy's taste is being constantly visited and exploited by
the great mass of cheap juvenile literature.
To help anxiously concerned parents and educators to meet this grave
peril, the Library Commission of the Boy Scouts of America has been
organized. EVERY BOY'S LIBRARY is the result of their labors. All the
books chosen have been approved by them. The commission is composed of
the following members: George F. Bowerman, Librarian, Public Library
of the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C.; Harrison W. Graver,
Librarian, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Claude G. Leland,
Superintendent, Bureau of Libraries, Board of Education, New York
City; Edward F. Stevens, Librarian, Pratt Institute Free Library,
Brooklyn, New York; together with the Editorial Board of our Movement,
William D. Murray, George D. Pratt and Frank Presbrey, with Franklin
K. Mathiews, Chief Scout Librarian, as Secretary.
In selecting the books, the Commission has chosen only such as are of
interest to boys, the first twenty-five being either works of fiction
or stirring stories of adventurous experiences. In later lists, books
of a more serious sort will be included. It is hoped that as many as
twenty-five may be added to the library each year.
Thanks are due the several publishers who have helped to inaugurate
this new department of our work. Without their co-operation in making
available for popular priced editions some of the best books ever
published for boys, the promotion of EVERY BOY'S LIBRARY would have
been impossible.
We wish, too, to express out heartfelt gratitude to the Library
Commission, who, without compensation, have placed their vast
experience and immense resources at the service of our Movement.
The commission invites suggestions as to future books to be included
in the Library. Librarians, teachers, parents, and all others
interested in welfare work for boys, can render a unique service by
forwarding to National Headquarters lists of such books as in their
judgment would be suitable for EVERY BOY'S LIBRARY.
Signed, James E. West.