Extreme measures are not resorted to among the older boys and girls except on rare occasions. If, after being spoken to once or twice and perhaps sent out, they still prove obstreperous, they are suspended for a month and this has always resulted in reform.
In no case have we found it necessary to resort to aid from the police. I should like very much to have a club room, or "conversation room" perhaps it might be called. The shelves of the newspaper room are filled with magazines for binding and these are often misplaced and even torn and lost when that room is used; besides it is in the basement and out of sight. The ideal room would have glass doors and the occupants in sight of the staff all the time. Then the high school students could come from the strict discipline and restraint of the school room and have a quiet discussion of their work or even a social chat and be in a much better place than the cigar stores or post office.
Miss Grace Blanchard, Concord, N. H.
When a librarian is much "dressed up" and can take time to play that she is an agreeable hostess, all children, whether little aristocrats or arabs, enter into the civilized spirit of the occasion and become more mannerly.
Miss Lucy Lee Pleasants, Menasha, Wis.
To achieve the best results, the librarian should never make an enemy and should lose no opportunity of making a friend. If children talk at the tables, separate them by asking them politely to change their seats. If they have really something to talk over, such as a lesson or a sleighride, permit them to go into another room to discuss it. They will appreciate the privilege and will behave better in consequence.
I have known a gang of little boys, who had the habit of coming to the reading room to make a disturbance, completely won over and converted into agreeable patrons by being captured red handed and told an amusing story. Children who come to the library are like everybody else—very apt to treat you as you treat them.
Mrs. C. P. Barnes, Kenosha, Wis.
About a year ago, I submitted a rule to the Board for their approval, and asked permission to have it printed on cards, for use on the tables in the reading room. It was worded as follows:— "A rule has been made that no whispering nor talking shall be allowed in the reading room, even for purposes of study. For the good of the public, this rule will be strictly enforced, and anyone failing to observe it will be requested to leave the building. By order of the Board of Directors." It has been more effective in promoting order than any other experiment. Of course it occasionally happens that the card is overlooked or unheeded, but it is a very simple matter to hand one of these cards to the offender, and with a pleasant smile say, "We have no choice but to enforce this rule" and the deed is done.
Miss Helen L. Price, Merrill, Wis.