4. Recognizing "blind alleys" in children's fiction, such as the boarding school story and the covert love story, and buying no new titles of those types.
Reports of reading sequences from each children's room have furnished the basis for further study of children's reading for the past seven months. These have been discussed and compared by the workers, and are now in shape for a working outline of reading sequences to be made and reported back to each room, to be used, amplified and reported on again in the spring.
While those books which are no longer used may have been at one time necessary to hold a child from reading something poorer, we did not lose children through raising the standard, and the duplication of doubtful books in the children's room is less heavy now than it was a few years ago. Also there are more than twice as many children who are reading, and almost three times as many books being read as there were nine years ago, while the number of children of the city has increased but 72 per cent. Furthermore, the proportion of children of environmental limitations has by no means diminished, and the foreign population is much the same—more than 75 per cent. Of course, the elimination of some books was accomplished because there were better books on these subjects, but the general result was largely brought about because in the establishment of these higher standards we did not exceed the standards of those who were working with the children. The standards which they brought to the work, and which they deduced themselves from their experience, were strengthened through Round Table discussion, where each worker measured her results by those of the others and thereby recognized the need of constant, but careful experimentation. A children's department can not reach standards of reading which in the judgment of the librarians working with the children are beyond the possibility of attainment, for with them rests entirely the delicate task of the adjustment of the book to the child. A staff of children's librarians of good academic education, the best library training, a true vision of the social principles, a broad knowledge of children's literature, is the greatest asset for any library maintaining children's work.
But it is true inversely that in raising the standards of the children the standards of the workers were raised. By this, I mean that there were methods of book presentation in use whereby the worker saw farther and deeper into the mentality of the child and understood his social instincts better. This has been evidenced in the larger duplication of the better books. The methods are those which recognize group interest and group association as a social need of childhood. Through unifying and intensifying the thoughts and sympathies of the children by giving them, when in association with their own playmates, a common experience of living in great and universal thought in the story hour, the mediocre was bridged and both the child and the worker reached a higher plane of experience. By giving children a chance for group expression of something which has fundamental group interest, not only the children recognized that books may be cornerstones for social intercourse and that there is connection between social conduct as expressed in books and social obligation, but, what is also vastly important, the worker learned that when children are at the age of group activity and expression they can often be more permanently influenced through their group relations than as individuals.
Through the recognition of the principle that there are standards of book use with individual children and other standards of book appeal for groups of children, it was shown that the organization of the work as a whole must be such that all avenues of presentation of literature could be fully developed. It was seen that far less than with the individual child could we afford to give a group of children a false experience or impotent interest, and that material for group presentation, methods of group presentation and the social elements which are evinced in groups of children should receive an amount of attention and study which would lead to the surest and soundest results. This could be fully accomplished only by recognizing such methods as distinct functions of the department, to be maintained on sound pedagogical and social bases. In other words, that there should not only be divisions of work with children according to problems of book distribution, such as by schools and home libraries, but there must be of necessity divisions by problems of reading. Whereas, in a smaller department all divisions would center in the head, the volume of work in the library above alluded to rendered necessary the appointment of an instructor in storytelling and a supervisor of reading clubs, which has resulted in a higher specialization and a greater impetus for these phases of work than one person could have accomplished. Here we have an instance of the benefit that a large volume of work may confer upon the individual child.
With the attainment of better reading results and higher standards for the workers, it was obvious that the reading experiences of the children and the standards of the workers must be conserved, that the organization should protect the children, as far as possible, from the shock of change of workers in individual centers. Within the past two years considerable study has been given to this, and yearly written reports on the reading of children in each children's room are made, in which variations of the children's reading in that library from accepted standards, with individual instances, are usually discussed. However, the children's librarian is entirely free to report the subject from whatever angle it has impressed her most. Also a written report is made of the story hour, the program, general and special reading results, and intensity of group interest in certain types of stories. This report is supplementary to a weekly report in a prescribed form of the stories told, sources used and results. All programs used with clubs are reported and a semi-annual report made of the club work as a whole. A yearly tabulation is made of registration from public and parochial schools, giving registration in all libraries, class rooms and home libraries. By discussion and reports back to individual centers, these become bases for a wider vision of work and a wiser direction of energy with less experimentation.
The connection between work with children and the problem of the reading of intermediates, referred to in the beginning, should not be dismissed in a paragraph. However, it is only possible to give a short statement of it. Recognizing that the reading of adult books should begin in the children's room, a serious study of adult books possible for children's reading was made by the children's librarians for two summers, the reports discussed and books added to the department as the result. A second report of adult titles which children and intermediates might and do read was called for recently and from that a tentative list has been furnished both adult and children's workers for further study. The increasing number of workers in the children's department who have had general training, and in the adult work who have had special training for work with children will make such reports of much value. It may be interesting to know that fifteen of the children's librarians have had general training and six adult workers in important positions have had special training for children's work. Four years ago there were only three in children's work who had had general training and none in adult work with the special training. In order to follow the standards of children's work, there is one principle which is obvious, namely, a book disapproved as below grade for juvenile should not be accepted for general intermediate work. This is especially true of books of adventure which a boy of any age between 12 and 18 would read. It has been possible to raise the standard of books for adults in the school libraries above that of the larger libraries. This will furnish eventually another angle for the study of the problem of intermediate reading.
In conclusion, the chief influences in the establishment of right reading for children are an intensive study of the reading of children in relation to its social, moral and pedagogical worth to them, the right basis of education and training for such study on the part of the workers, the direction of such study in a way that brings about a higher and more practical standard on the part of the worker, and the conservation of her experience. These are the great services which the library should render children, and they can be most fully accomplished through departmental organization.
These papers were followed by a discussion, led by Miss Stearns and Mr. Rush, in which advice was given to those selecting children's books to eliminate, in buying new books, those which would be eliminated later, and the suggestion was made that children's librarians should enter the field of writing children's books. Dr. Bostwick of St. Louis then gave a report on