Yours very truly,
EMERSON HOUGH.
New York City.
Why should not the libraries amplify the work they are already doing by the promotion of the public schools as well as libraries as social and civic centers? Schoolhouses should be constructed with all equipments for branch libraries, just as they are now equipped with gymnasiums and baths. The library should not be an accident in the public school; it should be an integral part of it. The schoolhouse is the natural place for the library. To it the children come daily—little messengers who would secure books from printed slips for their parents, too tired or too distant from the library to serve themselves. The library should be the school rest and reading room. It would relieve the tedium of regular school work. It would lend variety to education; it would enrich it and beautify it.
In addition, great economy would be effected by converting the school into a library; there would be a saving in construction, in maintenance, in operation. The fine social sense of the modern librarian would have a reaction on education and would lead to other activities being introduced into the schools.
The American library is the model of the world in many ways. It has led the movement for the widening of public services to old and young. It is one of the most inspirational achievements of the American city, and it could do a substantial service by promoting the social center idea, which is so actively engaging the minds of people all over the country.
(Signed) FREDERIC C. HOWE.
New York, N. Y.
April 30, 1913.