LITERATURE IN THE SCHOOLS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1227, 8 September 1911, Page 2

LITERATURE IN THE SCHOOLS.

THE LENDING LIBRARY IDEA. Considerable interest will bo manifested in tho statement that the Libraries' Committee of the Wellington City Council has approved of the proposal to make an experimental test of tho American school library idea, about which scheme for supplying scholars with suilable literature a good deal has been heard since Sir. Herbert Baillio (Public Librarian) returned from America. Tho movement was ini; tinted in Wellington by Sir. W. T. Gnuuly, headmaster of the Clyde Quay School. The proposal is, subject to the adoption,of the committee's report, to bo tested at first in tho Clyde Quay School, aud, if it works satisfactorily there, and a good basis of finance can bo established to provide books for all tho children, there is little doubt but that tho movement will develop. With tho lending library in operation on American lines every "child who wishes to do so is placed in a position to obtain books—works of fiction, histories, simple works oil the arts, sciences, and sport, poetry, etc.— which otherwise would be quito beyond their reach. Tho proposal has been placed before the Libraries' Committee of tho City Council, as the Public Library becomes, under (ho scheme, the source of supply, and'it will be the duty of tho Public Librarian and his staff to select the books to be purchased for school libraries. These, it is proposed, will, in the first instance, be purchased at the expense of the council, with a possibility of a subsidy from the Government. It is proposed that tho scholars of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth standards should bo entrusted with books, the character of which will be graded to meet the capacity of assimilation on tho part of tho reader. When in full swing, boxes of books are forwarded to tho schools, and distributed among tho children by tho teachers. A certain timo is given for the reading of a book, after which they arc redistributed until every scholar has read practically all tho books in this section. Then they are packed up and sent on to another school, and tho books from that school come to the first, ''o illustrate how firmly-rooted tho school ■library idea is in America, it is authoritatively stated that in Boston, U.S., the Freo Library supplies 108 public and parochial schools. Not only the Central Library, but each of the branches and reading rooms is a reservoir from which bonks are drawn for uso by teachers in schools in its immediate vicinity. This applies also to photographs and pictures of different kinds, mainly for uso in schools in connection with the work of the teachers. It is Sir. Baillic's intention to interview the school teachers, without whoso co-operation tho schemo would be of little practical value.