Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1903)
The Traveling Library What it Should Give the People as Indicated by Nebraska's Experience V I " I the Nebraska Publio Library with experiences that It ought not to be difficult to discern wrae- thing of what the commission should be to Nebraska by considering; what It has been. Although the traveling; library represents but one of the many activities of this com mission, It Is, perhaps, our most success- -ful Instrument In the work of library ex tension. The term "library extension" la Interpreted to Include everything;, from the purchasing of a book by a citizen who has no library In his home, or the substitution of a good book for a poor one on the family book shelf, to the smarting of a school library In a rural school, or a public library In a village or city. Thus It comes that this commission Is Just as much Inter ested In awakening the desire for good and useful reading In the remotest home as in encouraging the establishment and cor rect administration of public libraries. We believe that there Is no surer way to In spire people with a desire for books at home, at school, and In the library, than to give the people an opportunity to see and read the best and most attractive books the book trade affords. This, then, is the first task set for the traveling library, task so magnificent 2n Its possibilities that the accomplishment of but a small portion of It would Justify the expenditure of all state funds so far devoted to this com mission, as well as affording ample satis faction to those who have had the work In charge. The first traveling library was sent out from this office In December, 1901. It went to a barber shop In Loup City, where, dur ing the three months of its stay, 2T books were borrowed. The barber was an Intelli gent man, and deeply Interested In the wel fare of his community. He had the true library spirit. If he found a book that he thought would Interest some special per son, he called that person's attention to It He read or looked over all the books and was able to talk about them with the bor rowers. We have had many other librar ians who were equally Interested, and to whose Intelligent and helpful spirit has been due, in a large measure, the results that Justify our pride as Nebraskans, the achievements of the past two years. The librarians of our Traveling libraries are not paid for their work as librarians, except In terms of satisfaction In being of service to others. The libraries have been kept In school houses, dwellings, stores, hotels, postofflces, depots, newspaper of fices, parsonages and a variety of other places-and the business men, ministers, teachers and others who have served as librarians have responded loyally to the Instructions and suggestions from this of Some Recent Contributions to History's Light -gk a s, wa visj is yaci o un I the early history of what is now " Sfc I itn.lnn.t a tUa. - nn pear in a volume by Rueben Gold Thwaltes, under the title. "How George Rogers Clark Won the Northwest." 'Prof. Thwaltes Is a member of the staff of the Wisconsin Historical library. His papers have been printed sep arately heretofore, but have been revised and made more cohesive in the present volume. The chief historical sketch which gives title to the volume comprehends the operations of Clark's expedition against the British during the revolution. In 1777, Clark, then a typical frontiersman, organ ised an expedition of 150 border pioneers, with the approval of Patrick Henry, gov ernor of Virginia, for the avowed purpose of capturing the chain of forts extending from Detroit to the Mississippi, controlled by and under the Influence of the British. The first of the forts to succumb was Kaskaskia, In Illinois. Next Cahokin sur rendered. The following year Clark and his bold frontiersmen marched 230 miles to Vlncennes and captured that post, the Strongest of all, without firing a shot. Vln cennes was the richest prise captured and Its fall practically ended British control of the then northwest, or what now com prises Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. Besides driving the British from this vast territory, Clark became a terror to hostile Indians north and south of the Ohio. Even at this early period Clark had In view an expedition to and through the real northwest to the Pacific eoast and had consulted Thomas Jefferson and other publio men cn the subject The honor was reserved for his younger brother, William Clark, who with Merriwether Lewis, ac complished the historic trip In 1803-5. Other papers In the volume Include the division of the northwest Into states, the Black Hawk war, the stories of Mack inac and La Points, the Draper manu scripts, etc. Published by A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago. "A Short History of Mexico." by Ar thur Howard Noll, of the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn., is one of tha very few histories of our neighboring re public In the English language. The author spent eighteen months In tha Mexican cap- fice. We have insisted that the use of the books must be free to all members of the community, and that all who get mail or trade In the town are eligible as borrowers. In this way, the books have reached many femote neighborhoods. At intervals, ad ditional suggestions go out from this office. As soon as the finances of this commission will permit, some one from this office will systematically visit the places where trav eling libraries are located, helping to or ganise local library associations, and to create interest In the books and extend their usefulness. In time, we expect to emulate the example of the Wisconsin Free Library commission and hold library institutes for the librarians of our trav eling libraries. ' These are some of the things the trav eling library should accomplish. It Is a mistake to suppose that collections of books, however choice their selection mny have been, can be live factors In education without intelligent and earnest administra tion. The locomotive is a magnificent cre ationbut It has to be manipulated with brains, as Well as" brawn, or It Is of no more use than a heap of scrap, iron. The same may be said of libraries. The right book must reach the person who needs it, as well as the person who wants It, If the library Is to act as an educational leaven. The lumj will remain a lump un-. less the leaven is properly distributed. We have now sixty-one traveling libraries, and the sixty-one librarians In charge of them have so generally caught the spirit of us ing the library as an educational force that we feel that the time Is at hand when personal work with them will prove the efficiency of the leaven, and Justify any reasonable demands that this com mission may make upon the state treas ury or the generosity of public-spirited Nebraskans. Our traveling libraries have gone to eighty-nine different places in fifty-seven counties. At this moment they are' visit ing points ranging from Salem in Rich ardson county, around to McCook, Bridge port, Alliance, Gordon, Laurel and Wlsner. A number of them are In rural school houses or at crossroads stores. In the two years since the first library went out, the libraries have made 163 round trips, and fifty-nine libraries are now out. During this time, 19,748 volumes have been bor rowed. The total number of volumes Is about 2,400, so that each book has had an average circulation . of 8.2 times, and the average number of borrowers at a place Is fifty-one, so that the total number of different persons enrolled as borrowers is in the neighborhood of 4,500. When It is considered that most of the books borrowed have been read by several persons In addition-to the borrower, it can be seen that our 2,400 books have been made good use Ital, collecting material for the volume, which he has condensed and arranged In convenient form. Apart from the his torical Importance of the volume it has enhanced value by reason of the commer cial ties which are drawing the two repub lics closer together. Americans In Increas ing numbers are mighty factors In the development of the resources of Mexico, furnishing the capital, the energy and skill needed to upbuild an Industrial republic. Knowledge of the history of the country Is necessary to a proper understanding of the people and their institutions, and - this Prof. Noll supplies in a compact Biography Ranges Wide iflPTPlTTfl ist Ik. . BI-rHaa" ViW P Justin McCarthy,' is an exceed- US) -f - -VSBj BS-WS Sr-B WB BMM portraits of men and women prominent in the life of London forty years ago. Mr. McCarthy settled In London In the early sixties for a life of Journalism and literature and became Inti mately acquainted with the subject of his sketches. The author has worked entirely from his own- abundant store of Impres sions and experiences, without depending upon the records of others. Dickens, Thackeray, Carlyle, Tennyson, Cardinal Newman and a long list of people of note are pictured as Mr. McCarthy saw them and knew them In dally life. To his de lineations of men and manners he brings the gifts of rich experience, trained pow ers of observation, a genial sympathetic spirit, and a polished and agreeable style. Harper & Brothers, publishers, New York. It would be a difficult task to discover in John A. Howland's brief biography of James Whltcomb Riley a verification of tha maxim, "Poets are born, not made." No one questions the Infinite charm and homely pathos of his muse nowadays, but his biographer does not present any symp toms of the divine afflatus In tracing Riley's youthful years. Young Riley did not dream the Idle hours away or pore over books, wear long hair or lose himself in mental cogitations. lie was Just Ilka any of. Up to this time the commission has cost the state about 17,000. If we had done nothing but purchase the books and ad minister the traveling libraries, the aver age cost of buying one book and circulating it eight times would have been $150. Any one at all familiar with library statistics would tittlfy that the money was well spent, provided that the books were of proper character. A traveling library, as we make It up, contains forty volumes, one-fourth of which number are fiction for adults, one fourth Juvenile fiction and the rest, his tory, travel, useful arts, etc., equally di vided among children and adults. Expe rience has proved these proportions. The fiction Is most carefully selected. Each li brary contains some of the old, standard novels, and somo of the later, popular books. Many novels of the realistic school, that could, with perfect propriety be put on the shelves of a large city library, are omitted from our traveling libraries. We aim to have nothing that Is not whole somo In tone and uplifting In Influence, or that may not either Instruct or amuse. Special attention Is given to the selection of children's books, for we believe It pays to give the boys and girls of Nebraska every possible chance. That the libraries have been appreciated could be shown by the correspondence of this office. Several small publio libraries, whose entire Income 1 exhausted in the expense of administra tion, are permanent stations for traveling libraries. This arrangement gives such libraries fresh books every three months and enables them to keep up Interest. A permanent station Is a place that has paid for one traveling library upon condition that we send a succession of libraries for five years. Harvard, Osceola, Culberigou, Douglas, Murray, Wakefield, Dann.brog and Valley are our permanent statloi ' and we are shortly to have several othe.". The permanent traveling library station Is a nucleus for a little local library. In a number of cases the traveling library has grown Into a full-fledged publio library in an incredibly short time. The presence of the books In the community helps create the desire for more books and for a per manent collection. We have four school traveling libraries In the hands of the county superintendents of Burt, Hamilton, Box Butte and Kimball counties. These books are being used by . the super'nlendents to interest teachers and pupils in rchool libraries, In the expectation that the establishment and better selection of schorl libraries will result therefrom. Our special lean collection Is part of the traveling library tcheme. Any Nebrarkan who finds that the resources of his own community are inadequate In any givrn line of study Is entitled to our assistance, so far as our limited means permit. Ws have volume. Published by A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago. "Raiding wifii Morgan." one of "The Young Kentucklans" series, by Byron A. ' ' Dunn. This volume concerning one of the most picturesque figures of the civil war reveals some of the most stirring Incidents of these exciting times. In it are men tioned only the greatest of General Mor- - gan's raids, and the author has endeavored to narrate them with historical accuracy as regards time, place and circumstance. In many Instances the general's own re ports have been followed. There Is, too, harum-scarum boy of a country village, fishing, hunting and swimming In season, raiding orchards and melon patches, and earning the customary tattoo of the par ental strap. Perhaps his chronlo dislike of work Indicated the poetic spirit. He pre ferred the village band to his father's law books, and, like every healthy boy, con sidered a circus a Joy forever. Sign paint ing was his first trade. Then followed a season of patent medicine, vaudeville, and after that real work on newspapers. It was In such inspiring surroundings that he burst Into poesy and song and started up the ladder of fame. Mr. Riley is El. but he doesn't look It In the picture. Published by Handy & Hlgglnu, Chicago. Julian Ralph, the well known corre spondent, undertakes to tell In a 200-page volume the essential elements for "The Making of a Journalist." The first essen tial Is brains; the second, newspaper work. These two elements properly assimilated constitute the foundation of success In Journalism. The Journalist, so-called, la one who has graduated from the newspa per treadmill and carries a roving com mission. Mr. Ralph has gone through the various grades of newspaper work, and draws upon his varied experiences of twenty-five years to show the trials und hardships, successes and disappointments lining the paths of Journalism. many books now In the hands of Individ uals, clubs and schools as special loans for study purposes. A wide range of subjocts Is covered. One man In Logan county has borrowed books on stock Judging snd poul try; tn Burt county we sent a farmer's lfa books on child study and domestio topics; a farmer In Pawnee county has a number of books on American history; wom en's clubs all over the state have books on the subjects they are studying. This feature of the work Is capable of In definite extension. Indeed, If it were not for the books given to us by the Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs and the pos sibility of sometimes supplementing our resources with those of our university library, we could not do this work with the limited funds at our command. In the future we txpect to greatly extend our special loan work along practical lines, working In cooperation with the officers of farmers' Institutes, women's clubs, state associations, schools and libraries to the end that the arts of comfortable living and Intelligent industry may be promoted. A beginning of what we expect to see become a large collection on veterinary, medical, technical, agricultural and related topics has been deposited in this office through the efforts of Dr. Peters of the Nebraska Experiment station. These books are deposited here to be loaned to the peo ple of Nebraska. Any state socloty having a loan collection along the lines of Its special Interest may deposit its books with us, to be cartd for and loanrd to those who need them. There Is no limit to what may be accomplished In this direction. Only last week a library association was lormed In a school district In Otoe county, with a traveling library as a foundation for its work. The library Is In a farmer's home, and, under the intelligent guidance of this man, what splendid work those forty volumes can do this winter! If the secretary of this commission had but the means and the time to organize similar associations all over the state, what a wonderful amount of latent possibility could be developed and directed! The traveling library Is our best appli ance for promoting the mission of books for a good book Is ever Its own best argu ment. It is the endeavor of this commis sion so to use the traveling library as to encourage the publio and private purchase of more and better books by the people of Nebraska. The results of the past two years are only partially tangible, as the best results of all such work can never be a matter of record. The future of this phase of the work Is magnificent and In spiring, and has no limit save the bound aries of Nebraska and the provision made by the state for forwarding the work. EDNA D. BULLOCK. Sec'y, Nebraska Public Library Commission, Lincoln, Nov. 28, 1903. a beautiful romance, In which Lieutenant Pennington, one of General Morgan's bravest and most daring officers, makes his last raid into what was hitherto tha "enemy's country." This time no enemy is In sight, but Instead there are beautiful flowers and wedding bells. Published by A. C. McClurg 9c. Co. Since seed must be planted in the .spring in order that they may germinate and grow, and since youth is the spring of life, it is equally true that the Impressions made upon the mind of the young are the ones which endure. So in the light of thia reasoning Mr. Sprague has a valid excuse for bringing out a life of Napoleon Bona parte, written with a special view of In terest In the boy. Mr. Sprague has suo oeeded in adopting a conversational style which Is well calculated to attract young readers. He brings the little Napoleon down to the ground and unites him In spirit with the boy of today. This Is a great advantage gained, inasmuch as the average boy has no use for another boy who Is, or was, a prodigy. Let the youth feel that the famous man was once only a careless and Irresponsible boy like himself and you may awaken ambition, but let the hero be covered with a mystery, and set apart as a wonder, and you find no spirit of emulation awakening In the young read er's mind. Mr. Sprague says: "We have seen that he was one of a number of chil dren, and that the home was not one of ease and Idleness. The little Napoleon had no doubt his sharo of the work to do. How well he did It we are left only to sur mise from the nature of the man Into which ha developed. He says of himself that he was not a good-natured boy, and that he was inclined to be morose and quarrelsome. That hs was always getting Into trouble with his brothers. We can al most venture to guess that he was Inclined to be Imperious and want his own way, which does not always make a boy popular nor conduce to peace. He must have been something of a warrior from tha beginning. The book la well bound In cloth and tha cover is adorned with a picture of the Lit tle Corporal. There are 236 pages, clear print, and a number of excollent engravv lngs. A. Vcsscls ft Oo., Publisher, V