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 our heartiest 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 Chief Scout Executive. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Acknowledgements are due to J. Harper Skillen, Stewart Flagg, George Yardley, W.G. Wood, and E. Howe Stockwell for the use of photographs; and to C.B. Hayward and Allan H. Seaman for the use of notes and diaries. [Illustration: THE NAVAL RESERVES LEAVING NEW YORK--GOING OFF IN THE TUGBOAT TO MAN THE "YANKEE".] THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY RUSSELL DOUBLEDAY NUMBER FIVE OF THE AFTER PORT GUN OF THE YANKEE TO THE NAVAL RESERVE ORGANIZATIONS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, WHO HAVE MADE SUCH AN ENVIABLE RECORD DURING THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR AND BEFORE WHOM SUCH A GLORIOUS FUTURE OPENS AUTHOR'S FOREWORD 1898 April 1917