T CHAPTER XXIII. Board Schools as Branch Public Libraries. HERE is no waste in nature. It is only man who wastes and misapplies; and the waste of power and material in England is a crying shame upon us which calls for immediate attention. Those who control churches and chapels content themselves with, as a rule, keeping these places open about six hours a week, while gin palaces and public-houses are open something like a hundred and twenty hours during the same time. Probably in no department of our national life is waste more apparent than in the allowing of Board Schools, which are the property of the people, to be unused from, say, five o'clock in the evening to school-time next morning. It is noteworthy that many of the old voluntary schools had a lending library attached to them for the benefit of the school children, but too often the books in them were of an unsatisfactory character. They frequently relied for their collections on the voluntary contributions of the local residents, which meant usually that the school library became a receptacle for odd volumes, obsolete books, and the general rubbish of drawers and bookshelves. An odd volume of "Blackstone's Commentaries" was once sent to a library designed for children under sixteen, and in another case a quantity of Italian works were given for the same object. Volumes of sermons were a favourite donation, as they are to-day if books are solicited. These can be had at any time by the cart-load, at the price of waste paper, and it would require one of Sam Weller's "double million magnifying glasses' to discover what good a very large percentage of them have accomplished. The mere fact of there being school accommodation in England and Wales for 5,468,108 children for the year ending August 31, 1889, and an average attendance of 3,696,525, shows, in a very brief form, the educational machinery which is in operation. The total number of schools receiving annual grants is 19,398. According to the last report (1889) of the Education Department, there were on the registers the names of 4,755,835 children, of whom 1,495,770 were under 7 years of age; 152,348 between 13 and 14; and Of these 3,682,625 were, on an average, in daily attendance throughout the year. Here are the readers for School Libraries, but where are the books? One-sixth of the entire population of England and Wales are at school, and it is to these that political, commercial, and social power will by-and-bye come. Let parents in particular think of the influence for good which a well-selected library will have on the minds of the scholars. To schoolmasters and mistresses it is unnecessary to urge the advisability of establishing school libraries, for they are already alive to the great need of them in schools. All this goes to show what an absolute necessity a good library is in our schools as well as in the universities. Fortunately, whether we look to England, Scotland, or Ireland, we find huge strides have been made within the last decade or two towards the improvement of university libraries. Unfortunately, this same march of progress has been by no means so regular and marked within the walls of our schools, both great and small. And yet, wherever youth is gathered in numbers to learn, there should be found a collection of books, the voluntary university of these latter days, where the studious may retire to consult, "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest" the lofty thoughts and useful knowledge poured forth by the illustrious dead on their behalf. For there is no room for doubt that a thoroughly good and popular school library is an incalculable boon to the scholars, and a great help to the teachers-for they are silent counsellors who "fly not from the suppliant crowd," neither do they wax wroth nor laugh at the ignorant. This question of school libraries ought to be gone into very seriously by the vast army who have charge of our boys and girls. To a certain extent, the future of the youth of our country is in their hands, and the spending of idle hours when the restraints of school discipline are not upon them may influence the whole of their after life. Athletics and outdoor exercise are by no means to be despised nor discouraged; but then there are many boys who are not fitted for very much athletics, and, in our climate, we may always safely reckon on a certain percentage of wet days, and then the library will be recognized, both by boy and master, as a haven of rest where half hours may be passed that are far more enjoyable than some other modes of spending time. The library should, therefore, afford material for recreation as well as information on natural science, travel, history, etc. There is in the Education Blue Book for 1890, consisting of over 700 pages, a strange absence of reference on the part of the various inspectors to the need of establishing School Libraries. In former reports, one or two inspectors referred in brief paragraphs to this important matter. But whether officialism has discouraged this or not it is impossible to say. The tone of those paragraphs was certainly to the effect that in schools where libraries are provided, the intelligence of the scholars is of a higher and more practical character than in schools where a library does not exist. In one of the Welsh Divisions the inspector says that "school libraries, I am glad to say, are becoming common, and if the habit of reading at home could be established by their means, the work of the teacher in securing thoughtful reading would be greatly assisted." Why do not more inspectors direct their attention to this question of school libraries? After a vain search through this voluminous report the only reference to libraries in elementary schools found by the author is the brief paragraph above, printed in small type, and sandwiched among a mass of other matter. Will the scholastic papers take up this point? If this is done there will, no doubt, soon be a change, for inspectors are, as a body, too much in touch with their work to overlook the question when it is brought home to them. The inspector for the north-western division of England calls attention to what is a great drawback to the advance of the pupil teachers in his district-the want of books, especially good reading books. Their reading, he observes, if they ever do read as part of their education, is generally limited to the standard books in use in the school, or to a compilation of rhetorical selections. There is nothing in such books to cultivate any taste for reading. He comes to the conclusion that in all centres there should be a selection of suitable books on the subjects of their course with good books of reference as well. In dealing with the work of the recreative evening classes in the east central division of England, the chief inspector says, Nothing is more depressing to all who are engaged in the work of elementary education than the sense of waste which is always present. The universal testimony, and certainly my own conviction is, that while everybody is doing his best to perfect the work up to the age of fourteen, a deplorable proportion of the energy expended vanishes into thin air." This is truly a serious matter. While millions a year are being spent the provision for young people carrying on their education on leaving school is strangely absent. This is on the eve of being adjusted in some districts by means of the recreative evening classes, and in a less advanced stage by means of school libraries. In some districts board school managers and teachers have taken up the question in a practical way, but the fringe of it has yet only been touched so far as the greater part of the country is concerned. At Laxfield, in Suffolk, there is a boys' endowed school with a library. This cost about £13, and contains 250 volumes. The money was obtained by concerts, subscriptions, and a grant from the school managers. The Religious Tract Society, the Pure Literature Society, and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge granted books at half-price. The volumes are changed every other Friday afternoon, only those boys who have attended regularly during the previous fortnight being allowed to take a fresh book. To meet the expense of repairs, &c., residents in the village are allowed to join on payment of one penny per fortnight per volume. The average attendance for the winter quarter is 91 per cent., and the master attributes this greatly to the library. He also says that the attendance at the night schools had been better since the library was formed. The School Board loan library system has been worked in Birmingham with the most satisfactory results, In some cases, as at Leicester, libraries had been bought by the School Board. At Norwich a similar system is being worked with considerable success. The Borough librarian has introduced a system of loans to schools in Plymouth. His plan is to obtain from the Public Library committee a certain number of carefully-selected books to be lent to the pupils of the school for the time being, instead of leaving them to run riot undirected in the general Public Library. It is justly claimed for the system that it spreads the benefits of the Public Library over a larger area, with many conveniences to pupils who may live far from the main institution. Useful supervision and advice can be given to the pupils in the selection of books suitable to their ages and attainments, without unduly restricting individual preferences. Mr. Wright's main suggestion is that "In connection with each district library, such as that proposed, there should be a small collection of books approved by both library and school authorities for the use of the children attending that school; and that those children should not be allowed the run of the central or general library, except at the special request of parents or teachers. This arrangement might be supplemented in various ways to suit the particular circumstances of each case." In nearly every case in the Plymouth board schools the teachers take a warm interest in the matter, and do their utmost to preserve the books in good order and to encourage the children to be punctual in their return, as well as careful in their use. It is found that the books carried home by the children are in many cases read by other members of the family, and the advantages of the library are thus far more widely diffused than would otherwise be possible. The Leeds system of using their Board Schools is very frequently referred to and quoted as an example. Leeds has now 33 branches, but in stating this it should be remembered that none of the branches are housed in specially-erected buildings, as are many of the Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, and other branch libraries. Leeds covers an area roughly of thirty-three square miles, and a member of the Town Council made it a boast not long ago, there were not 10,000 out of the nearly 370,000 inhabitants beyond six minutes' walk from a Public Library or news-room. This may appear a good thing of which to be proud, but it has its drawbacks; and it must be acknowledged that while the libraries and news-rooms in Leeds are doing a most excellent work, it is a serious question whether a smaller number would not have accomplished quite as much useful work. Judging from an outsider's point of view it is really a case of too much of a good thing. It would appear that it owes its origin to the preponderance on the library committee for a number of years of members of the Council representing suburban constituencies, and to please these, and bring votes for them on the polling day, this extraordinary extension in the branch system has been adopted. Letters from residents in the town and personal observation reveal this fact; and the evil-for it really has become an evil-has not ended, seeing that every year brings a number of new men in the Town Council, some of whom are placed on the Library Committee, and other districts through their representatives are crying out for a branch to be opened in their constituency. The boast of so many of the population being within six minutes' walk to a Public Library is really not a creditable one. If an institution is worth anything at all it is at least worth a little trouble to get to it. One good, strong, and vigorous central library, and a few good branches would do a work equal in effect, and as useful in results in the majority of cases. This is said in order that towns adopting the Acts may not go in for too much discursiveness, and are urged not to take one town or district exclusively as an example for their plan of operations. It may be again stated that Leeds is doing with its branches at Board Schools an exceedingly good work. Some of these are open from six to nine on the evenings of Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays of each week. One is open four nights a week; three are open two nights a week; and others are open one night a week from six to nine, or for an hour only in the middle of the day. They contain books varying in numbers from over three thousand to one half the number, according to the size of the district, and some are supplied with copies of the local papers and popular magazines. Four Branch Libraries, containing about 1,000 volumes each, and consisting wholly of juvenile literature, have, with the co-operation of the Board, been established, the library committee purchasing the books, and the Board undertaking the supplying of the bookcases, &c., and the management. These branches are open one hour on a certain day of the week to the scholars attending the schools and the children of the neighbourhood for the issuing and changing of books, this work being done by the teachers. In addition to the juvenile branches, other branches that had been established some years have been handed over to the Board, and these are also open one hour each week, and are worked by the staff of the schools. No rent is charged by the School Board for the use of the various schools, nor is any charge made for cleaning, heating, or gas. It is entirely through this public spirit of the Board that the committee have been able to establish branch libraries in all parts of the borough, and the Board has done everything it could to help, rightly judging the establishment of libraries the keystone and completion of their work. The assistants at these branches receive 1s. 8d. for each night open; and ls. per night is also paid to the porter of the school, who removes the shutters of the bookcases, arranges the room, and preserves order during the time the library is open. At any branch where the work is too heavy for one assistant, a boy is engaged to help him, and he receives payment at the rate of 1s. per night. The Board have not provided bookcases for any of the branches, except in the cases of the three special juvenile branches. In Bradford the School Board charge the library committee |