Mr. Gilbert O. Ward, supervisor of high school branches, Cleveland public library, led the discussion on Miss Hall's paper. He said in part:
High school pupils after all are a very small proportion of the school community. Why should a public library put an expensive assistant into a high school, where, after all, the actual numbers affected are small? One answer is this: High school students like college students, though in a less degree, are a chosen few. They are in a position to become naturally leaders in the community. And it seems to me that public libraries which have the chance to establish high school branches should consider the possibilities of the indirect influence on the community as well as the direct influence on the limited number of high school students.
In considering now the relation between high school library and public library, let us first sum up the needs of the high school, the points in which the public library fails to meet the situation, and the points in which the independent high school library is liable to failure:
The high school needs:
1. Books, freely duplicated, including general reference books, books relating to school work and selected general reading adapted to the abilities and appreciation of high school students.
2. A trained librarian.
The progressive high school needs these in the building as it needs a chemical laboratory in the building. There is no better reason for making a student go to the public library for an ordinary bit of class work, than for sending him to the Y. M. C. A. for his gymnasium work.
The public library fails with the high schools as follows:
1. It generally lacks official standing in the school plan, hence it has to work with the individual teacher or principal as chance offers.