Of the 15 libraries reporting, 11 circulated books from the
children's room, three making an age-limit for this, while the
four remaining contented themselves with giving the children a
reading-room, in which a number of books--about 300--were placed,
for reading on the premises. The temptation for a child who
becomes interested in a book, to carry it off when closing- hour
comes, in order to finish it, is a strong one, and of these four
libraries one reported 35 books missing in its first six months,
or over one-tenth of its stock. Two others which circulate from
open shelves to all borrowers lost 100 children's books in a
little over 12 months. A number of others reported that as yet
they had taken no inventory of the books in the room, and were
evidently willing that ignorance should remain bliss a little
longer. Several report that very few books are unaccounted for,
and one or two that not a book has been taken. Free access to the
children's books is allowed in all the 15, and in about half of
them the room is open all day, and in two cases in the evening
also.
The number of volumes shelved ranges all the way from 300 to
20,000, the average number being from 3,000 to 4,000. An age-
limit for the use of the room is set by seven libraries, three of
these making the limit for circulation only, while eight admit
children of any age, and doubtless make provision for the very
youngest The circulation of these rooms that lend books ranges
from 65 to 350 as a daily average, frequently exceeding this. As
a rule, one attendant is kept in the room, with assistance when
necessary, two libraries only reporting two regular assistants
and the Boston Public Library three. The Detroit Library has two
attendants in order to give the children personal attention. The
library at Kalamazoo has for one of its assistants a trained
kindergarten. Eight libraries report no reference-books on the
children's shelves and the majority of the others only a few such
works. The largest number of periodicals taken appears to be our
own list of 10, though by this time the libraries reporting in
1896 may have increased their number. Instead of taking a
variety of periodicals, they seem to prefer duplicating a few
favorites. One library reports a number of copies of Puck taken
for children, the wisdom of which I should doubt, and two
subscribe for Golden Days. The Minneapolis Library circulates 10
copies of St. Nicholas. The Boston Public Library, having a large
foreign clientele among children as well as adults, takes one
German and one French periodical for them. In the Detroit Library
the Scientific American is on the list, and in our children's
library we take a copy of Harper's Weekly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account