There are 61,423 to whom the printed page must speak for they hear no other voice, and 44,310 to whose touch the raised letters bring their message. Shut out from so much which others enjoy shall these be denied this means of recreation and instruction?
The charitable institutions shelter 268,656 dependents which include the old, the sick and the children in the state public schools, orphanages and homes. The former need books to cheer them in their fight for health and strength, or to while away the hours of waiting for their final summons. The children need them not only for the enjoyment which comes from childhood reading, but as a means of development of mind and character. I would lay especial emphasis on the importance of libraries in these and in the industrial and training schools. Useful as books are in the other institutions, there the help which they bring is but to the readers themselves. Here we have citizens in the making and the state has not only the opportunity of laying the foundations of character, but by laying them deep and broad and strong of receiving returns for their efforts in intelligent and useful citizens. To librarians I need not speak of the value of books in giving the education which makes for intelligence and the ideals which make for usefulness.
To meet these needs what do the institutional libraries offer? I shall not give you figures which at best would be inaccurate and incomplete, but such information as could be obtained showing the efforts which are being made to provide books and reading for defectives and dependents, the adequacy and suitability of the libraries and their use of modern library methods.
The list of states is incomplete, some failing to respond, others giving vague information, and an omission may not mean that nothing is being done along this line. What is given will serve to show the general trend of interest in the work.
California plans to serve the institutions through the county system of libraries, but just how this is to be done or whether any institutions have libraries or have received assistance was not stated.
Colorado reports libraries in all the state institutions, the best being that at the state penitentiary where the visitors' fees yield a considerable income which is used for books. In Georgia two institutions only have libraries, which are reported to be neither well selected, kept up to date nor administered according to modern methods.
The only information received from Idaho was that traveling libraries are sent to the industrial school.
In Illinois libraries are reported in the eighteen charitable and three penal institutions of the state, though not all are adequate or suitable in selection.
In Indiana several institutions receive annual library appropriations ranging from $1,000 down to $200. No institution is without a library though not all are organized or well selected or large enough for the needs of the institution. The library commission lends an organizer to assist in this work and in some cases the book selection and the affairs of the library are put into the hands of the commission. The librarian from the School for Feeble Minded Youth will attend the summer school.
In Iowa libraries exist in all of the fourteen state institutions; all are classified, organized and administered according to approved library methods. All except the penitentiaries have appropriations of $300 to $500 each for the purchase of books. In the penitentiaries the fund received from visitors' fees is used for this purpose. Reports are made each month to the Board of Control showing the reading done by classes in each institution. A trained librarian appointed by the Board of Control gives all her time to the institutional libraries, superintending the work, doing the book selection, supplying the technical knowledge, instructing the librarians and stimulating the reading.