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Page 46
If there is no especial note that the librarian thinks it would be
well to sound, he may let it be known that the first of a series of
entertainments to be given by the library, at the library, will
be, for instance, a talk upon the Child in History, Our American
Illustrators, or some attractive subject.
There are always a number of specialists, even in small places, who
can contribute liberally to these plans, thus relieving the librarian
of any real work beyond that of planning, while it accomplishes the
double purpose of engaging the interest of the speaker in the work
of the library, and of furnishing the entertainment for others. The
following suggestions, which have been prepared for the work of a
small library, will give a more definite idea of the plan.
Very often there will be found some one who, having a special fondness
for one school of art, has made a collection of reproductions of its
famous works in photographs, casts or engravings, who will willingly
loan them for the illustration of a talk upon this theme, even if not
quite as willingly giving the talk himself.
A beautiful program for a musical evening would consist of the
conversation or paper upon a certain musical form, such as the opera,
symphony, or perhaps dance music, being illustrated and varied by the
performance of examples of those forms. The organized musical clubs
could here be of the greatest service in taking charge of the whole
entertainment.
An enthusiasm for a work or this kind may be somewhat crushed out by
the press of regular duties, but the librarian may be greatly
helped by the co�peration of organized clubs. Musical societies,
Saengerbunds, the Elks, Daughters of the Revolution, and other
societies are constantly preparing excellent entertainments, which it
is hoped they will be willing to reproduce for those who have either
not the leisure or the inclination to study. Such a movement does
not in any way divert the energies of the library from their original
aims, but is only another means of enhancing their efficacy. The
resources of the library upon each of the subjects presented can be
made known in many ways familiar to the librarian, such as posted
lists, bulletins, and by the mention of them in the talks.
Upon a night which the librarian might consider of interest to them,
special invitations may be sent to the different organized societies
of working people, such as the retail clerks, labor unions, etc,
who might not include themselves readily in a general published
invitation.
It has been generally observed that more people are willing to read
than know _what_ to read, and are always glad of help in selection.
The originality of the librarian will develop many themes and schemes,
and the work itself will doubtless show new veins which may be
followed up. It may be that not many will avail themselves of any
one invitation, but with a constant change of topic and manner of
presentation, there cannot fail to be a great number, eventually,
whose attention will be enlisted.
CHAPTER XXXVII
Library patrons--Making friends of them
Library patrons may be roughly divided into classes, thus: First--The
adult student who, on rare occasions, calls to supplement the
resources of his own collection of books with the resources of the
public institution. This class is very small. Second--The dilettante,
or amateur, who is getting up an essay or a criticism for some club or
society, and wishes to verify his impression as to the color of James
Russell Lowell's hair, or the exact words Dickens once used to James
T. Fields in speaking of a certain ought-to-be-forgotten poem of
Browning's. This class is large, and its annual growth in this country
is probably an encouraging sign of the times. It indicates interest.
Third--The serious-minded reader who alternately tackles Macaulay,
Darwin, and Tom Jones with frequent and prolonged relapses--simply
to rest his mind--into Mrs Wistar and Capt. King. This class is quite
large, and though in too large a measure the victims of misplaced
confidence in Sir John Lubbock and Frederick Harrison, they make
excellent progress and do much to keep up the reading habit.
Fourth--The "Oh, just-anything-good-you-know" reader. Her name is
legion. She never knows what she has read. Yet the social student who
failed to take into account the desultory, pastime reader, would miss
a great factor in the spread of ideas. Fifth--The person who does not
read. He is commoner than most suppose. He is often young, more
often boy than girl, oftener young man than young woman. He commits
eternally what Mr Putnam aptly calls the great crime against the
library of staying away from it. He is classed among the patrons of
the library somewhat as the western schoolma'am brought in knowledge
of the capital of Massachusetts as part of her mental baggage: "Well,
I know I ought to know it." He ought to be a library patron. How make
him one? There are many methods, and all should be tried. The Pears'
soap plan of printers' ink is one of the finest and best.
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