Through the courtesy of the school directors and principals, the
library was enabled to place the books, take registrations, and
fill out cards, several days before the day for circulation. Thus
much valuable time was gained, and the work begun and carried out
more systematically. Boxes of books carefully selected from the
best juvenile literature, comprising attractive stories of
history, biography, travel, nature, poetry and useful arts, as
well as fiction, picture books and the ever popular fairy tales,
were sent to each playground. Each kindergartner also received
for her special use a list of stories bearing on the thought she
wished to emphasize each week, with the books containing these
stories. Charging stations were improvised out of desks, tables,
or chairs, in some vacant room, or corner of a hallway. Walls
dismantled for the summer cleaning were made more attractive by
gay flags, or picture bulletins illustrating the books to be
circulated.
One morning spent at a playground on Library day would be enough
to convince the most sceptical that the children fully
appreciated their opportunities. As one of the kindergartners
remarked, "You'd think they had never seen a book before." They
swarmed about the windows and doors of the circulating room, and
at one school, when the impetuous but good-natured line became
too eager, they were restrained by the commanding voice of the
policeman to "Back up." Even the charms of an exciting game of
base-ball had no power over a wonted devotee, when pitted against
the attractions of an interesting book. Kindergartners from five
playgrounds agreed that by far the largest attendance was on
Library day, many of the older children coming on that day only.
They felt "too old to play," but never too old to read.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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