Mortimer L. Schiff
Lorillard Spencer
Seth Spreguy Terry

July 31st, 1913.

TO THE PUBLIC:--

In the execution of its purpose to give educational value
and moral worth to the recreational activities of the
boyhood of America, the leaders of the Boy Scout Movement
quickly learned that to effectively carry out its program,
the boy must be influenced not only in his out-of-door life
but also in the diversions of his other leisure moments. It
is at such times that the boy is captured by the tales of
daring enterprises and adventurous good times. What now is
needful is not that his taste should be thwarted but
trained. There should constantly be presented to him the
books the boy likes best, yet always the books that will be
best for the boy. As a natter of fact, however, the boy's
taste is being constantly vitiated and exploited by the
great mass of cheap juvenile literature.

To help anxiously concerned parents and educators to meet
this grave peril, the Library Commission of the Boy Scouts
of America has been organized. EVERY BOY'S LIBRARY is the
result of their labors. All the books chosen have been
approved by them. The Commission is composed of the
following members: George F. Bowerman, Librarian, Public
Library of the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C.;
Harrison W. Graver, Librarian, Carnegie Library of
Pittsburgh, Pa.; Claude G. Leland, Superintendent, Bureau of
Libraries, Board of Education, New York City; Edward F.
Stevens, Librarian, Pratt Institute Free Library, Brooklyn,
New York; together with the Editorial Board of our Movement,
William D. Murray, George D. Pratt and Frank Presbrey, with
Franklin K. Mathiews. Chief Scout Librarian, as Secretary.

In selecting the books, the Commission has chosen only such
as are of interest to boys, the first twenty-five being
either works of fiction or stirring stories of adventurous
experiences. In later lists, books of a more serious sort
will be included. It is hoped that as many as twenty-five
may be added to the Library each year.

Thanks are due the several publishers who have helped to
inaugurate this new department of our work. Without their
co-operation in making available for popular priced editions
some of the best books ever published for boys, the