The first rule made for the club was, that at roll-call each boy
should respond by giving the title, author and a short synopsis
of the book read the preceding week. This proved to be the most
interesting part of the meeting, and was placed first on the
program to insure prompt attendance. Often the entire period was
taken up with the roll-call, the boys often calling for the
entire story of a book, the synopsis of which appealed to them.
This method was thought to be a good way to get the boys
interested in the books on our shelves.
Our first course in reading was Lamb's "Tales from Shakespeare."
Much profit was derived from the discussion brought about by
assigning each character to a different boy and having him give
his opinion of the same. We modified the program to include
several debates during the term, using the "Debater's Treasury"
for topics. The following year we read the plays "Merchant of
Venice," "Macbeth," "Midsummer night's dream."
A large per cent of this first club are still patrons of the
library. Six of the original number are now in college, and most
of those remaining are connected with the Boys' Debating Club.
Shortly after the organization of the Boys' Club the girls of the
sixth, seventh and eighth grades insisted upon having a club, and
a Girls' History Club was organized with about 30 girls.
At the urgent request of some pupils of the freshman and
sophomore classes of the High School a club was formed for them,
and also one for the members of the junior and senior classes for
the study of mythology. Very few of the members of any of these
clubs had read much beyond their class books and the same general
plan was followed in each, with the result that the library has
been successful in creating a love for the reading of books that
are worth while.
The story-hour has outgrown itself and our limited supply of
assistants. We started with a very small group of little folks,
and now we tell stories to between 150 and 180 children each week
in our building. The story-hour begins at 3 p.m., and children
who are dismissed at 1:30 p.m., come directly from school and
wait patiently till the children's librarian returns from her
station work at 3 p.m. The majority of our children have never
had stories told to them, their parents being compelled to work
out from home all day, and during the evening they have not the
time, though they may have the stories to tell, and the little
ones have been deprived of every child's birthright--a generous
supply of good stories. Boys and girls from the High School have
begged for permission to come to the story-hour, and have come
from long distances to hear the stories and enjoy them as much
as the younger ones do.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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