n this.
They lead not a few to use the library proper, and they give to at
least a few boys and girls an opportunity for self-education such as
no other institution yet devised can offer.

A home library is a small collection of books, usually only 15 or 20,
with one or two young folks' periodicals, put up in a box with locked
cover. The box is so made that it will serve as a bookcase and can be
hung on a wall or stood on the floor or a table. In the neighborhood
in which it is to be placed a group of four or five children is
found--or perhaps a father or a mother--who will agree to look after
the books. To one of these, called the librarian, is given the key of
the box, and the box itself is placed in the spot selected; perhaps
a hallway or a living room. Under a few very simple regulations the
librarian lends the books in the home library to the young people of
the neighborhood. If the experiment is successful the first set of
books is changed for another, and the work continues. Or perhaps
the library is enlarged; and perhaps even grows into a permanent
institution.

CHAPTER LIII

Literary clubs and libraries

Evva L. Moore, Withers' public library

[Public Libraries, June, 1897]

In your community are a number of literary clubs; if there are not, it
lies within the power of the librarian to create them: an evening club
composed of men and women; a ladies' club for the study of household
economics; a young ladies' club for the study of music or some
literary topic; a club for young men in which to study sociology;
a novel club for the study of the world's great fiction. For
constitutions suitable for such clubs, account of administration,
organization, etc., consult the Extension bulletin no. 11 of the
university of the state of New York, and Bulletin no. 1, June, 1896,
of the Michigan State library, and List of books for women and girls
and their clubs.

The study club is one of the best means of extending the influence
of your library; of securing the attention and hold of the people.
It awakens thought, arouses discussions, puts into circulation books
which otherwise might stand idle on the shelves.

It is necessary to study carefully the courses of study of the
different clubs, and to do this the programs must be on file in the
library. If they are printed (and encourage this) so much the better;
if in manuscript they can be used with small inconvenience.

If the program is prepared week by w