RURAL AMERICA 



extension of library privileges to rural residents. Two must 

 suffice : 



In a county library collection at a station in a very small 

 village, a boy, one day, chanced to secure a book on electricity 

 and became so interested that he returned for another, and, 

 as there happened to be three books on electricity in that 

 collection, he took them all in turn and then begged his 

 father to send him away to school. The father did so and 

 the young man is doing well now in the electrical business in 

 one of the larger towns of the county. It is the aim of the 

 county library to aid those living in the country to appreciate 

 the wonderful opportunities for pleasure and profit that lie 

 within the " Home Acre " or the " Home Ten Acres " or the 

 " Home Farm." However, all young men in the country are 

 not fitted for farming any more than all ministers' sons are 

 fitted to become ministers. In the above incident, the boy 

 whose bent was electricity " found himself " through a 

 library book. 



The following incident illustrates the personal and careful 

 supervision of a township superintendent in connection with 

 the schools under his care. He told the county librarian he had 

 made the discovery that in one of the schools the boys had 

 got into the way of reading books of a " blood and thunder " 

 type, and he asked her opinion as to how the matter might be 

 best handled. She wisely suggested that he satisfy this natural 

 craving of the boys for adventure by supplying them with 

 wholesome books of adventure of the right sort and on sub- 

 jects of interest to every normal boy. Accordingly, a list was 

 made up including tales about Indians and the real West, 

 stories of Daniel Boone and the pioneer days, inspiring books 

 of true heroism and real exploits. The teacher reported that 

 the good books soon displaced the " cheap literature." 



Of all the county library states, Ohio is the pioneer in the 

 present county library movement, and California has the 

 greatest number of county libraries. Quite a number of 

 states have also passed township library laws, which enable 

 the people of townships to tax themselves for library pur- 



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