How the Conditions Vary.
The home reading box will prove a success in any plant, no matter how simple the installation and running plan are, but it can only retain its best results when a careful consideration is given to the conditions that affect the particular problem. The important feature is, of course, the type of worker who is to receive the literature. Where the group of workers consists of foreigners, many of whom read no English, and speak it little, the picture magazines are the most sought. Where you have a group of highly skilled mechanics, technical magazines and trade catalogs are highly appreciated. There is such a great difference in the workers of any one place, that the rule is to give them anything and everything—from the Outlook to the Police Gazette, inclusive. If you give them enough to read, they will sooner or later waste none of their time on anything but the best. The desire for good reading is almost wholly a matter of education, and the best way to become educated is to read, read, read. If you are at a distance from civilization, old magazines will be almost as welcome as new.
You must realize that the problem is different in different cases. What some people need is general education. Of course, that is what we all need, but the worker in particular. What others need is specialized teaching. What still others need is relaxation. All need amusement and entertainment. We want, of course, to supply what is interesting and profitable, but the final test is giving the worker the thing that will please him most, that he will delight to have, that he may increase his vocabulary and learn to read quickly, for not till then will he acquire the reading appetite and habit. Give the foreigner who reads with difficulty the pictures with the simple captions that he can “spell out.” Give the factory girl the woman’s magazine that will show her how to trim her hats and fix her dress, and that may give her all sorts of useful home ideas besides. Give the inventive mechanic the technical and trade magazine that may supply the missing link in his invention or suggestion. Give the socialistic worker the “Political Economy Journal,” that will put his ideas in more logical shape. Use discrimination in your distribution when you can, but, if you cannot, put the box in anyway, fill it with reading matter, and start something to-day.