The special report on "Public Libraries in the United States of America,"published in 1876by the U.S.Bureau of Education includes the following paper by Mr.W.I.Fletcher,in which he advocates the removal of age-restriction and emphasizes the importance of choosing only those books which "have something positively good about them."This and the following eight papers give,in some measure,a history of library work with children.
William Isaac Fletcher was born in Burlington,Vermont,April 28,1844.He was educated in the Winchester,Mass.,schools,and received the honorary degree of A.M.from Amherst in 1884.He served as librarian of Amherst College from 1883to 1911,when he was made librarian emeritus.Mr.Fletcher was joint editor of Poole's Index to Periodical Literature,and editor of the continuation from 1882to 1911;edited the A.L.A.Index to general literature in 1893and 1901;the Cooperative Index to periodicals from 1883to 1911,and in 1895published his Public Libraries in America.He was president of the A.L.A.in 1891-1892.
What shall the public library do for the young,and how?is a question of acknowledged importance.The remarkable development of "juvenile literature"testifies to the growing importance of this portion of the community in the eyes of book producers,while the character of much of this literature,which is now almost thrust into the hands of youth,is such as to excite grave doubts as to its being of any service,intellectual or moral.In this state of things the public library is looked to by some with hope,by others with fear,according as its management is apparently such as to draw young readers away from merely frivolous reading,or to make such reading more accessible and encourage them in the use of it;hence the importance of a judicious administration of the library in this regard.
One of the first questions to be met in arranging a code of rules for the government of a public library relates to the age at which young persons shall be admitted to its privileges.There is no usage on this point which can be called common,but most libraries fix a certain age,as twelve or fourteen,below which candidates for admission are ineligible.Only a few of the most recently established libraries have adopted what seems to be the right solution of this question,by making no restriction whatever as to age.This course recommends itself as the wisest and the most consistent with the idea of the public library on many grounds.
In the first place,age is no criterion of mental condition and capacity.So varying is the date of the awakening of intellectual life,and the rapidity of its progress,that height of stature might almost as well be taken for its measure as length of years.
In every community there are some young minds of peculiar gifts and precocious development,as fit to cope with the masterpieces of literature at ten years of age,as the average person of twenty,and more appreciative of them.From this class come the minds which rule the world of mind,and confer the greatest benefits on the race.How can the public library do more for the intellectual culture of the whole community than by setting forward in their careers those who will be the teachers and leaders of their generation?In how many of the lives of those who have been eminent in literature and science do we find a youth almost discouraged because deprived of the means of intellectual growth.The lack of appreciation of youthful demands for culture is one of the saddest chapters in the history of the world's comprehending not the light which comes into it.Our public libraries will fail in an important part of their mission if they shut out from their treasures minds craving the best,and for the best purposes,because,forsooth,the child is too young to read good books.
Some will be found to advocate the exclusion of such searchers for knowledge on the ground that precocious tastes should be repressed in the interests of physical health.But a careful investigation of the facts in such cases can hardly fail to convince one that in them repression is the last thing that will bring about bodily health and vigor.There should doubtless be regulation,but nothing will be so likely to conduce to the health and physical well being of a person with strong mental cravings as the reasonable satisfaction of those cravings.Cases can be cited where children,having what seemed to be a premature development of mental qualities coupled with weak or even diseased bodily constitutions,have rapidly improved in health when circumstances have allowed the free exercise of their intellectual powers,and have finally attained a maturity vigorous alike in body and mind.This is in the nature of a digression,but it can do no harm to call attention thus to the facts which contradict the common notion that intellectual precocity should be discouraged.Nature is the best guide,and it is in accordance with all her workings,that when she has in hand the production of a giant of intellect,the young Hercules should astonish observers by feats of strength even in his cradle.Let not the public library,then,be found working against nature by establishing,as far as its influence goes,a dead level of intellectual attainments for all persons below a certain age.
