CALIFORNIA. OAKLAND. W. A. F. sends a leaflet entitled "A Short Reading List in U.S. History," to accompany a topical course of history in the public schools. The list is divided into periods, subdivided into classes, is well chosen, and well arranged.

SAN FRANCISCO. (F. B. Perkins, Librarian.) "The state of the library and its staff has not thus far admitted of any endeavor to bring the work of the library into any organic connection with the schools, to my regret, as it is a favorite idea of mine to do something like that which Mr. Green does at Worcester. In a few cases pupils from the Girls' High School apply for assistance in writing compositions."

CONNECTICUT.

BRIDGEPORT. (Miss Agnes Hills, Librarian.) "Our library has no official connection with the schools, but is actively used by teachers and pupils. Children are sent for information bearing on their daily lessons. Many teachers superintend the reading of their pupils. I am always at home' to the children, and think they know we are glad to help them. We make it a rule never to 'lecture' them when they demand unsuitable literature, but instead offer them the best and brightest specimens of healthy literature at our command. I post manuscript lists of books suitable for children, every week. In these I do not confine myself to juvenile books, but try to induce them to read works, or portions of works, of standard authors."

HARTFORD. (Miss C. M. Hewins, Librarian.) "The North School has, since last October, had the use of ten or twelve books at a time to aid in the study of U.S. History; the teaching being entirely by the topical method, with excellent results, and the pupils have used with interest nearly one hundred volumes of historical stories, biography, poetry, etc. I have given a talk to the older classes in the North School, and am going to give another to about twenty-five boys of High-School age." An excellent manuscript list of the books loaned accompanied the report, which it would be well to print for the use of other libraries.

NORWICH. (Mrs. F. W. Robinson, Librarian.) Teachers and pupils use the library, and advice is given when desired.

ILLINOIS. CHICAGO. (W. F. Poole, Librarian.) The Annual Report, of June, 1885, says: “The joint rules of the Library Board and Board of Education, under which principals can draw books for the use of their pupils in the study of special subjects, have been so modified as to enable teachers to draw books for their classes under the same condition. One High and fourteen Grammar Schools have drawn books under the rule, and 417 books borrowed have been carefully used and promptly returned. Other principals have expressed the intention of taking books, but have not done so. Many have not sufficiently appreciated the benefits which a more zealous interest in, and a larger use of, the library would be to their pupils. It is intended the coming year to promote a more general interest in the subject. The work of bringing the pupils in contact with books, and giving them some knowledge of their use, must be done by the teachers themselves. The Public Library and its officers can do little more than give the teachers facilities for the work. Some labor, indeed, is required, and intelligence needed in carrying it on; but it is work which will be of the greatest advantage to the pupils in helping them to continue their self-education by means of books after they leave the school. Five classes from the W. Div. High School and two from private schools have come to the library and had a lecture on some selected topic, illustrated by the library books. Other schools have been invited, and it is hoped they will accept the invitation the coming year."

PEORIA. (F. J. Soldan, Librarian.) Writes: "Though I have not done much in the way of improving juvenile reading, I have done the little that I could, and am making efforts to do

more.

"What I have done is this: —

"1. Sent applications for memberships to the schools for distribution to the pupils.

"2. Urged superintendent and teachers to assist children in their selections. "3. Furnished short written lists to applicants. "4. Made lists published in School Report. "5. Keep the best juvenile books, which happen to be in, displayed where children can see them.

"6. Try to keep as good a supply of the best books (Higginson, Coffin, etc.), and as many copies, as our very limited means will allow, of books which are wholesome, and, though perhaps not as high a grade as the first, more likely to supplant the Alger-Adams kind.

"7. Have published a notice that we can supervise and control the reading of the children, and will be glad to do so if instructed by their parents.

"8. Have sent enough good story-books to a school frequented principally by the lowest classes to supply each pupil with one to be read in school after lessons.

"A list of best books for young people is to be published in the Peoria Journal, and also enough copies of the list printed to supply one to each child in the public schools. Shall preface the list with advice about reading, and also recommend to teachers and parents that children be required to keep a list of books read, with a brief description; and that teachers require a short essay to be written upon one book from each list."

INDIANA. RICHMOND. (Morrison Library, Mrs. S. A. Wrigley, Librarian.) “Schools have no connection with the library other than a constant use of it by the children. We give all the help we can."

LOUISIANA. NEW ORLEANS. (Charles B. Stafford, Librarian of Fisk Free Library and Tulane University.) Has introduced a Bulletin Board for reference lists, and requested teachers to send notices of subjects chosen for compositions and exercises to him for the Board, and advised scholars to consult the references given. The most important lists will be published in the Louisiana Journal of Education. A Children's Section" is to be established this year, and Mr. Stafford asks for suggestions as to the best books for that department.

Mr. Stafford stands alone in his work in the South, and that such a work is begun is a promise of the dawn of better days, when the free library shall be no more a stranger in that part of our land, and the library and the schools shall be doing their great work there as here. In an article in the Louisiana Journal of Education Mr. Stafford says: "In San Antonio a

library, after struggling for a few years, has been closed indefinitely; and the books of the Mobile Library have been given to the Librarian, who is allowed all the fees she receives,— a scanty allowance." The Fisk Free Library, after thirty years of existence, enduring because of an endowment, has now come into the care of the Tulane University, and has awakened into new life that promises great good for the future. Mr. Stafford makes a strong appeal to “ the teachers, whose influence is greatest in infusing a love of reading into the masses; and to the teachers do the librarians look for aid."

MAINE. PORTLAND. (S. M. Watson, Librarian.) "No connection with the public schools, and no especial privileges for youth different from others.”

MASSACHUSETTS. ARLINGTON. (Miss L. J. Newton, Librarian.) “We have no connection with the schools, but give what assistance we can. Two lists of books for young persons have been compiled by one of the trustees," and comprise some of the best.

BARNSTABLE. (Miss L. S. Loring, Librarian.) Answers "None" to each of the four questions propounded in my circular.

BOSTON. (Public Library, Lower Hall, Miss Mary A. Jenkins, Assistant Librarian.) “We are connected with the public schools, first and mainly, through the children themselves, and, in a secondary and more limited way, through the teachers.

"From October until the end of May a large portion of my time is given to the personal assistance of the pupils in the upper classes of our Grammar Schools, who come seeking help on all subjects connected with their school work: American and English history, geography, and elocution bringing the largest demand. The children come before and after school, and I make special effort to be in the delivery hall during the hours that they frequent the library, and the work has been much simplified during the two past years, for, based upon the general school programme and plans of detail adopted by some of the teachers, topical reading has been arranged and advantageously used.

"We found, three years ago, that some of the pupils in the highest classes were too young to hold library cards, and in consequence were debarred from the assistance which their more fortunate companions received; to afford them equal privileges with the others, the trustees, at my request, allowed the use of 'pupil cards' for such children, enabling them to use the library in connection with their lessons, but not permitting the use of story-books. To secure the proper use of these cards they are held in the library, the child when applying for a book stating that he uses a pupil card.

"We do not encourage the use of the catalogues by the pupils seeking supplementary reading, but prefer to meet each child directly, and to supply the personal want. About 1,000 books, including duplicates, are in active circulation during the thirty-seven weeks of the school year, in the hands of the children themselves, and their attention has been directed to the various encyclopædias, gazetteers, dictionaries, and other books of reference; also to the index or table of contents of the book which they use, — in pursuance of our plan of topical reading, — while engravings, maps, pictures, relics, curiosities, etc., everything which the library contains that can illustrate or give reality to their reading or study, is freely shown to them, and explained when occasion requires.

“Saturdays are full holidays in our schools, and on these days many interested teachers are in the library working up their various subjects, some consulting books and taking notes, others selecting books for home study; much personal assistance from the librarians is sought and given, and also all possible access to the books themselves.

"While the greater part of the pupils and teachers seek personal assistance there are often those who prefer to help themselves; to aid these, manuscript lists are arranged for the hall, so placed that they can be freely consulted, and their frequent need of renewal shows their constant use. We have no printed lists for young people's reading.

"The plan of supplementary reading arranged for the upper Grammar classes, several years since, by Dr. Mellen Chamberlain, our Librarianin-chief, and for which he has personally sup

plied the sets of books used, is steadily pursued by many of our schools, and there is an attempt on the part of the school committee to supply the increasing demand from the teachers for additional sets of books to enable them to continue or adopt the plan which has proved so beneficial. The sets in use from the library include historical biography, poetry, and fiction, and the plan is as follows: each scholar is provided with a copy of the book to be used, and a certain portion assigned for home reading for both pupils and teacher; if the reading is poetry a certain portion is to be memorized; the book is not to be used at the recitation. The class is required to give, first, the substance of what they have read, and additions and corrections are called for, or suggested by teacher and pupils, until the whole is fairly reproduced. Then attention is called to the meaning and the dominant idea or ideas by which it is expressed, followed by criticisms of each other's language and interpretations; skilfully conducted, it becomes a lesson in rhetoric, logic, and memorizing; it compels almost perfect attention from teacher and pupils; every one is alert and in training. The first lessons may be halting and timorous, but soon an increase of mental strength is felt in the eagerness expressed for the lesson, and each succeeding one shows the advance in power and choice of language, in clearness of comprehension, in fertility of ideas, in mental balance; while careful considerations of the construction of the story, the delineation of characters, the fitness of their words and actions, and of the naturalness and congruity of the whole, induce, stimulate, and strengthen habits and powers of criticism, and elevate taste in the selection of all future reading. The teachers say that the hour for this recitation is always too short, and that the beneficial effects are felt in other recitations. The pupils, thus taught the importance and true significance of reading, are careful and discriminating in their after choice of books, making them a profit and delight; such, after several years' experience, is the testimony of pupils, teachers, and librarians. Two bits of personal experience may not be amiss here: two years ago half-a-dozen young schoolgirls, who were among our fiction readers,

asked me to form with them a reading club. I consented, stipulating that they should choose the book from one of their favorite authors, and allow me to plan the method of reading. We read one of the novels of a popular sensational author, strictly after Dr. Chamberlain's plan, and all were heartily sick of the book before it was finished. The girls wished to continue the club, but desired me to select the next book; so we read A Noble Life,' by Mrs. Craik, after the same plan, and each succeeding chapter was a fresh delight. The next book was Scott's 'Lady of the Lake,' and in these fresh fields and pastures new' we spent delightful hours, while the girls were greatly surprised at the ease with which they memorized. Next we tried one of the girls' old author friends again; after a few chapters they absolutely refused to finish the book. Other and better works of good authors, travels and poetry, have been the later selections, and the girls are now among our best readers. The second bit of personal experience to which I have alluded was an informal chat with two classes in a vacation school last week. There were about twenty girls in one class and half that number of boys in the other, all of them young. The talk in both classes was quite the same; after a few minutes' chat we settled upon a book that most had read, and said that they liked, but a few only could give the story; interest was aroused, and efforts more or less successful were made to remember. When questioned why they liked the story, reasons poured thick and fast. was just like,'They felt that they saw the boys and girls.' 'I know a boy just like Joe.' 'Nan is a darling, she is so funny;' and so we chattered on for a half an hour, finding in the end that a book could be enjoyed more if read slowly, if thought about, if talked over. The children were eager for 'more talk,' as they called it, and the teachers decided to give a little time each day to a similar talk, and next season to adopt the full plan.

'It

"For the supply and circulation of home reading all the old methods which I have described in former reports are still in use. Manuscript lists, including books in all classifications, are conspicuously placed in the hall.

Children are allowed selection from several books at a time, and we are careful that attractive travel, natural history, and elementary art and science shall mingle with the fiction; and we find that many of the former are readily taken, and that requests follow for one and another book other than fiction which has been noticed. Short lists of books are constantly furnished to applicants, children, and older people seeking for reading for children; hints and suggestions are given to those using catalogues, but the greater part of this work is done by personal selection, book by book, as the young people apply for something to read."

"With such a multitude of children as visit our library all cannot be controlled, but they may, in a great measure, be influenced, and to this point all our endeavors are directed; by a constant offer of the best we seek to influence and elevate."

BROCKTON. (Miss M. F. Southworth, Librarian.) Public-school teachers are allowed twelve books at a time for school use and to retain them one month unless specially called for. Children frequently consult the librarian about books for school use or upon any subject in which they are interested. A manuscript list of books on science, history, biography, and travels was made out some years ago for the use of teachers in the lower grades."

BROOKLINE. (Miss M. A. Bean, Librarian.) "The library is in much the same attitude as poor Mr. Toots,—always soliciting the pleasure of better acquaintance with the schools, and meeting similar reluctance. Still we are gaining ground slowly. Our list for the young, published in 1879, interleaved with the titles of later additions, is always accessible in the library, while hundreds of copies as printed are in the hands of the children. Teachers are allowed an extra number of books for school use, and a circular calling attention to that privilege is sent to each teacher at the beginning of the school year."

CAMBRIDGE. (Dana Library, Miss A. L. Hayward, Librarian.) For home reading “I aid all in my power, which is not much at present. Our Superintendent of Schools has

prepared a list, which I revised. He is now revising it, and adding recent books, etc. I regard it as one of the best, and it has been sought for by many at the West and in all sections where it is known. If I may suggest a paragraph for your report it is this: Too frequent undirected use of a public library may be an injury to many children. We have many who draw a book every day in the week. Of course they skim it, and thus acquire bad habits, and lose all power of mental application. I wish I could limit the use of the library, by such, to one or two days in the week."

Personally I would like to add my testimony to the value of the list Miss Hayward mentions. We have ten copies of it in use, with our own book numbers inserted, and find it a most excellent selection.

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CLINTON. (Bigelow Library, F. M. Greene, Librarian.) Each teacher is furnished with a prepared list of books on educational subjects, and has a right to select three books a week therefrom, and keep them a month if necessary. I publish, monthly, a list in the local papers on some subject of general interest in some one of the schools. This week's Courant contains a list on the Civil War, divided and subdivided into General Works, Particular Campaigns, Battles, Lives of Generals, and Historical Fiction. Mr. Foster's Reference-Lists are of great use to me, both in helping pupils to books and in making my lists. For home reading I find the newspaper the best means of reaching young people, and in fact everybody. Have been in the habit, for two years past, of publishing lists (taking those of Miss Hewins as a model) in one of the weekly papers. One last week was on Gardening. These lists are cut out, classified, indexed in a Scrap Book, labelled Books for Young People,' and are in constant use on library reading-tables. They will before long be published in book form. I find a good many young people have made books for themselves, taking mine as a pattern. I succeeded in interesting the young in our last course of lectures by printing lists of books on all the topics in the programme. The first one on U.S. History was made especially for the children of the Grammar Schools, but I was

surprised to find that children between 10 and 12 years old, secured nearly every book on the list, on the day following its appearance in the paper."

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CONCORD. (Miss E. F. Whitney, Librarian.) Teachers are allowed a school card, on which they can draw any number of books for school use, or for home use by the pupils, the teachers being responsible for them. The High School is the only one making much use of the privilege. We use Miss Hewins' and Miss Bean's lists."

DEDHAM. (Miss F. M. Mann, Librarian.) The library is used freely by the pupils, but no special methods are employed.

FALL RIVER. (W. R. Ballard, Librarian.) "A few years ago special classified lists for schools were prepared, but as they were not used by the teachers the matter was dropped. A juvenile list is now being prepared. 'Hints and Notes on Reading' are published in the daily papers. The Trustees, in their report, lay the responsibility for aimless reading by the young, next to the home, upon the school. Teachers, as well as parents, have a responsibility in the matter. Their position is one in which, by timely suggestion and intelligent advice, they may do a most efficient

"For teachers in public schools teachers' cards shall be issued, on which three books at a time may be taken. Pupils' cards shall also be issued, one for each teacher, on which six books at a time may be taken. These books shall be on subjects connected with the studies of the school, and may be retained four weeks. Teachers shall be responsible for all books so taken, and shall return any such book immediately upon the written notification of the librarian, that the book is desired by another person."

FRAMINGHAM. (Miss E. M. Kendall, Librarian.) Teachers are allowed to take an extra number of books to aid them in any special work. The pupils use the library freely.

HINGHAM. Teachers can take ten books at a time for school use.

HOLBROOK. (Z. A. French, Librarian.)