I have said that such a demand might easily divert part of the library’s book-fund now devoted to other purchases. But the churches could afford to buy these books and present them to the library if they would cease to duplicate the library’s work in directions where such duplication is useless. Why should a Sunday-school library buy stories, for old or young? There was good reason for it in the day, now far distant, when the public library was non-existent and the Sunday-school was the only general source of decent books. Even in that day the Sunday-school library largely bought trash—the kind of wishy-washy, mock-pious stuff turned out by hack-writers at the rate of several volumes per day.
The rapid rise of the public library is doubtless due, in part, to the neglect of its early opportunities by the Sunday-school library. But no one can say that the public library has not risen to the occasion. The very best part of its collection, the most carefully selected, the most conscientiously distributed, is that which contains its books for children. We have schools for the training of children’s librarians, and we give their graduates special charge of rooms for children in our library buildings. There is no reason now why any church should maintain a library of general literature for any purpose whatever.
I have alluded above to the library’s value as a publicity agent. As a matter of fact, both the Church and the library are the greatest and most valuable means of publicity that we have. Both are unpurchasable. Both reach selected elements of the community, partly the same, partly different. To have an event announced from the pulpit, especially with commendation, gives it a prestige that it could attain in no other way. Similarly, to have something published on the library’s bulletin-boards, or on slips inserted in each circulated book, or in any one of a dozen ways that have been practised by libraries gives publicity of high value. Both the pulpit and the library utilize these methods for themselves and often for outside bodies, but not often for each other. It is rare for a clergyman to mention the public library from his pulpit, altho it is occasionally done. It is also rare, tho not totally unknown, for a library to give publicity to a church in any of the ways that are proper for this to be done.
In particular, every library, especially in a small city where there is no local guide-book, should be a repository of local religious information. Any one should be able, not only to ascertain there the location of any particular church, but to consult its literature, if it issues any; if not, to find on file authentic information about it corresponding to that usually put into print—the names of officers, a list of parish organizations, &c. Such things can be had for the asking, and there is usually no one place in a town where they are all assembled. There should be such a place, and that place may well be the public library. Large libraries quite generally collect this material; the smaller ones should follow suit. They will be apt to do so if the church people manifest an interest. If the collection and continual “following up” of the material involve more work than the smaller staff of the library can do, it ought to be easy to divide it among volunteers from the different congregations, this being the church’s part of this particular item of cooperation.
It is safe to say that the Church and the public library may help each other in at least six ways:
1. The substitution of the library’s children’s room for the Sunday-school library in the purveying of general literature.
2. The more careful and more generous provision of religious books in the library, with increased interest on the part of the church in the character of this part of the collection.
3. The offer by the library of facilities for religious meetings.
4. Utilization of religious gatherings in the church to call attention to the library and its willingness to aid and advise.
5. Publicity given in and by the library to the churches and their work.