TYPES OF LIBRARIES

For the sake of comparison libraries may be divided into the following classes: School and college, county and city, public, state, and special libraries. Each kind has a somewhat different purpose, to some extent serves a different class of people, and is made up of books in accordance with its purpose and in correspondence to the demands of its patrons. Some of the same reference books however may be found in all of them; and the routine of work including the serving of patrons is very similar in all.

The purpose of the school and college library is to provide books for reading and study in connection with school and college work; it forms a part of the educational equipment. City and county libraries are free to the residents of the city or community, and are also educational agencies contributing both to the educational advantages and the pleasures of a community. The chief purposes of a state library are to preserve the records and history of a state and to provide books for the use of state officials in the discharge of their duties. The special library is a collection of books on some special subject, made by a business or manufacturing plant, government, or association. School, college, and public libraries are usually pretty well balanced as to the different classes of books, while the latter class, the special library, represents some subject in particular together with related material.

The School and College Library.

a) Rural School. The rural school library is the smallest and certainly the most neglected of school libraries. There are

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collectively, however, a great many books in rural schools; if all were brought together the total number would amount to several million volumes. The books are neglected because teachers do not know how to use them to advantage in connection with their teaching. They have not been trained to make the most use of a library; and as a consequence, in some schools, books are destroyed and lost each year. The value of a school library, as an educational agency, of whatever size, depends very largely upon the teacher; this is true even of the college library. Its worth to the institution depends upon the use the teacher makes of it, and through her requests or demands the use the students make of it.

The opportunity of securing books useful for class work and for the community is provided by most boards of education. The board, or department, whichever has the authority, is usually willing to allot from ten to twenty-five dollars, or more, each year for books; especially if they are purchased from the list recommended by the department of education. This amount is supplemented, in some communities, by the proceeds of school entertainments. In fact there is usually some means of providing a working collection if the teacher really wants it.

The books may be used in various ways to supplement the text and stimulate interest in school work; and a few suggestions for the benefit of teachers have been included. The dictionary may be used by the children in preparing their spelling, language and other lessons. Geographical readers may be used in connection with the geography lesson and historical readers, other histories besides the text, and books on biography by the history classes. Books on nature, fairy tales and stories of adventure may all be made to contribute to the study of language. Then the teacher may suggest books for the children to read, and may excite their interest in other publications by reading selections from them or telling part of the stories found in them. She may also attract parents to the library by calling attention to publications which she thinks will interest them