Libraries for Scantily Populated Districts. 525 



establish libraries it determined that town and county alike should 

 benefit. In each of the county's twenty-six polling districts it was 

 decided to establish some sort of book depot, so that every man who 

 wished it could borrow books. The library board caused travelling 

 book boxes to be made, and little travelling libraries were sent out 

 to wherever they were asked for — and in the post office, the school, 

 or the store — wherever people needed them was set up a library of 

 frequently changed books. The cost of transport of these boxes was 

 made a general charge against library income, and the people in the 

 most remote polling district had their books at the same cost as the 

 people in the county town. Twenty-three districts were supplied the 

 first year — and in the fourth year no less than 66 depots for books had 

 been set up — whilst Boonsboro' and Williamsport, places of 800 and 

 1,000 inhabitants, had so grown to use their little libraries that 

 news-rooms have been fitted up, and libraries of two and three 

 hundred volumes, of which some 40 are changed monthly from the 

 central depot, are in good use here. 



Thirty-three of these book depots are along the lines of railway 

 communication and are easily served, but no less than 30 are away 

 from it, and for these a travelling book wagon has been established, 

 which " drives up to the farm-house doors, through the county 

 lanes," gathering up the books that have been read, and replacing 

 them with those that have been asked for. With a total population 

 of 45,000 souls, it is interesting to note that in 1905 the library 

 issued some 50,000 books to the town readers, and nearly half as 

 many to the residents in scantily populated districts. 



This is not a solitary instance of the good work that America 

 is doing, but it must be remembered that the system of libraries 

 is not a voluntary state-aided one, but a compulsory rate or tax 

 supported one — as in Australia where the system of travelling book 

 boxes has been brought to a most perfect one, and here the state in 

 addition to making a fixed grant for library work carries all library 

 books to and from the libraries entirely without charge. In at least 

 one West Indian Island a similar system and concession has worked 

 well. 



In South Africa little has yet been done in the way of travelling 

 boxes, because the costs of transit have hitherto been heavy. A few 

 subscribers resident along the railway lines have had out parcels of 

 books — but nothing systematic has been done, except perhaps at 

 Maritzbuhg, and at the Victoria Memorial Library, Salisbury, 

 Rhodesia. At the latter place a special feature is made of the 

 lending of agricultural books to farmers. 



By private effort a system of travelling libraries was instituted, 

 for an account of which I am indebted to Miss Neuman-Thomas. 

 And this was the Markham Libraries presented by Miss Violet 

 Alarkham and me Victoria League. These consist of eleven boxes 

 of books, each containing a well selected library on such topics as 

 " India," " Canada," " Italy and Greece," etc., and they were 

 intended to travel more especially among the women of this country. 



