in the early formation of the habit of reading as distinguished from
study--a habit which will be permanent, instead of ending with the
period of formal instruction. It recognizes the fact that school life
must soon end, and that when the end comes, the important feature of the
child's intellectual condition is not so much the amount he has learned
as the temper and habit of his mind toward books. Has he merely learned
certain truths from books or are books open to him? It is of fundamental
importance to the community that the second alternative be secured. The
school libraries and children's librarians are, therefore, not to feel
that their duty is to supplement the school. That duty lies on a
different, and, in a way, a higher plane, in a more spiritual region. It
is their part to make the child a citizen of the world of books, and to
naturalize him so thoroughly that he will always remain a citizen. Thus
only can he share fully, not only in the high and permanent pleasures
that books afford, but also in that great movement of life toward books
which marks our time.

From remarks which I have heard on various occasions, I believe this
extension of library service and library duties to youth has often been
misunderstood. Work with school children, whether done by the library
force as part of their duties, or by assistants especially engaged, has
seemed to many to be a somewhat unnecessary extension of the
library--something of a luxury. These added duties have often been
assumed by the libraries under special pleas, and for reasons temporary
in character. But in that wider view which I am trying to present, the
truth is recognized that the library is a permanent storehouse of books
for the community, to which the citizen of every class and age must
repair for knowledge not only interesting and useful but necessary to
the conduct of life. We recognize also that while the training of the
schools soon ceases for every individual, the service of the library
extends throughout life. We assert also that the possibilities of this
service must be taught to the members of the community from childhood,
and that the efficiency of the books will largely depend on the
efficiency with which this teaching is done.

Especial care must be taken with children and youth toward the end of
the ordinary school periods--in the upper grades and in the high school.
Here it is that the transition to independent reading must come. The
children'