Many of the boys have been obliged to leave school before entering high school or even the upper grades, and in many ways we can supplement their lack of school training—especially if we can discover a gleam of interest in any one subject, such as mechanics, electricity or history.
All our work, our aims, and our possibilities are crystalized in our Library Bulletin, a home product in every sense of the word. The direct object of this little publication is to attract all ages and all classes of our employees. It is sent to every department, and from there distributed personally. We try to have in each issue a section to appeal to popular demand, as well as to promote some special feature. We hope to make this bulletin a strong factor in our work, a lever that will gauge not only the circulation of our books, but will be the connecting link between the library and the employees, and make it the medium of a new energy and a new enthusiasm radiating from our small quarters to every activity of the plant.
And so, in these few pages, I have tried to show that the commercial house library, although in its infancy, has come to stay. And as the pioneering becomes more and more an established fact in library work, more commercial houses will recognize the need. They will be more than ready to respond to the progressive public libraries, whose efforts to expand and to bring their resources to the very centers of civic activity will thus establish a more intelligent relationship and efficient co-operation with their very means of support.
Miss Grace A. Whare, of the Houghton, Mich., public library, was present at the meeting and asked the privilege of presenting a very attractive exhibit of colored slides and illustrations which she used in telling Miss Lagerlöf's Story of Nils. Each of twenty-six illustrations depicted an adventure of Nils.
Business Meeting
The regular business meeting of the section was held at Chateau Laurier, June 29th at 9:30 a. m. Miss McCurdy presided.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and adopted. The chairman announced that the terms of two of the five members on the advisory board had expired and that only one member was appointed at the last meeting, instead of two. This raised the question as to the advisability of having an advisory board since none of the other sections had such boards. It was urged that an executive committee be formed consisting of the three officers of the section and two other members to be appointed by the chairman, and that all the members of this executive committee be actually engaged in some phase of library work with children. It was finally decided, however, to continue the advisory board as heretofore and the chairman was requested to appoint members to fill the vacancies. Mr. Hill and Miss Titcomb were appointed to serve for three years each. The chairman appointed the following committee on nomination for officers: Annie S. Cutter, Gertrude Andrus and Adah Whitcomb. The meeting then adjourned.
SECOND SESSION
(Monday afternoon, July 1st)