WOMEN AS LIBRARIAN'S.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 336, 24 October 1908, Page 11

WOMEN AS LIBRARIAN'S.

During his reccnfc trip ,to the United States, 1 ' when ho visited many public libraries, Mr. Baillie, of the Wellington Public Library, saw a groat deal of the work of women librarians, and was much" impressed with it. The American ■ woman''<who intends to become a-, fully-qualified, librarian must go through a.long course of training cither as student in some training school or as apprentice in a libraryj and the courses .to be followed, with the • time to be devoted to study, ivary considerably in different colleges. Only women who. have already graduated are admitted to the.,-Albany College; in others an entranee examination must bo passed. Mr. Baillie has . brought with him a sot of examination papers for this examination at one _ college, and they are pretty stiff, demanding a wide knowledge of literature on the part of tho candidate, and not providing mauy opportunities for generalising vaguely in tho manner so dear to the heart of. an unlearned student. Tho women who

pass through' those colleges are almost-' certain to obtain a position at one library or another, for at present the demand for trained women librarians far exceeds the supply; Some of the head librarians do not avail themselves of the college*,trained assistants," but prefer to tako them as apprentices and train them themselves. At all the libraries these student assistants are to _be found .getting, an education both practical and theoretical., Whilo women are ,to be found'.(frequently in tho general libraries, they have their own sphere of work where they reign supreme, and that is in the chilrooms, which are such a prominent feature of American libraries. This .is very fascinating work for any woman' who.is' fondxf both books and children, and one that affords her any amount of scope.''/', "It is her function,"- says , a circular issued the, Pittsburg Carnegie Library, j "to 'awaken' an interest in good..readingin as. nifiny children as she can reach.'■ Her, work.. lies 'hvherevor children are. .gathered together, in the children's room , at.'the 'li-1' brarjv -in , the school, '. the playground,,.;the' street),' and the home," . Sfib '. is supposed to have'a thorough knowledge of-nhildrcn's' books and of children's .natures, and to fit the''two together. If any; event of special interest occurs, she tries to make the cnildreh read books connected' with it, and sq lead them on .tq now lines. ; . The children .are - impressionable,'' but- require constant attention and suggestion.. These' institutions are very popukr among the childreiiuof iho : 'neighbournoods , .'''' iSpe'cialrooms "'aro: set ajiart for their benefit,'and' sinco .thoy-find it as difficult to select a book as. do: ;their grown-ups . the . librarian prepares illustrated, bulletins; for them, -' giving. the 'names books .'they will likfe' best, and selecting *th'ese spccial book's for .special occasions. Ono very interesting feature of tho : -children's libraries is' the story-telling which is found to be one of the greatest helps in directing ■ the children to the best books. The -'- librarians tell stories _in the children's rooms, and they also -visit the schools and tell stories thero, for the schools work in conjunction with the libraries. • All through the winter months every week there is a story hour for the children, and there is nothing- haphazard • about tho selectiqn; of the'stories.. These thorough-going librarians are"'very carefully trained in the art of story-telling, being' shown' how to study 'tlio salient points of a story/ how best to bring out " the humour, and develop the climax. They ar'o warned against emphasising too ' strongly the moral-qualities,,or appealing too directly . to t,he emotions, and,anyone who knows what old-fashioned children's stories, were like, how over-nioral and almost-hysterically emotional they were, 1 will appreciate the wisdom of this. • Folk - tales, fairy tales, and myths are found most useful, and the older children are given a distinct cycle of • stories for- each year,, stories from the Iliad and tho Oflvßsev one year, legends of King Arthur and "the Round' Table or Tales of Robin Hood in another,-and,_ much as tho children enjoy these hours, it is' probable that the story-teller enjoys them even more. Thoro must bo something .peculiarly fascinating in telling the-Old World legends-to a group of . eager little children representing half a dozen Old World nationalities;