be effective, but the further removed they
are from direct personal interest in the subject, the weaker and the less
permanent is the result. You may offer a boy a dollar to learn certain
facts in English history, but those facts will not be fixed so well or so
lastingly in his mind as those connected with his last year's trip to
California, which he remembers easily without offer of reward or threat of
punishment.

The interest in the facts gathered by reading in connection with the
average club paper is merely the result of a desire to remain in good
standing by fulfilling the duties of membership; and these duties may be
fulfilled with slight effort and no direct interest, as we have already
seen.

If interest were present even at the inception of the programme, something
would be gained; but in too many cases it is not. The programme committee
must make some kind of a programme, but what it is to be they know little
and care less.

Two women recently entered a branch library and asked the librarian, who
was busy charging books at the desk, what two American dramatists she
considered "foremost." This was followed by the request, "Please tell me
the two best plays of each of them." A few minutes later the querists
returned and asked the same question about English dramatists, and still
later about German, Russian, Italian and Spanish writers of the drama.
Each time they eagerly wrote down the information and then retired to the
reading-room for a few minutes' consultation.

Finally they propounded a question that was beyond the librarian's
knowledge, and then she asked why they wanted to know.

"We are making out the programme for our next year's study course in the
Blank Club," was the answer.

"But you mustn't take my opinion as final," protested the scandalised
librarian. "You ought to read up everything you can find about dramatists.
I may have left out the most important ones."

"This will do nicely," said the club-woman, as she folded her sheets of
paper. And it did--whether nicely or not deponent saith not? but it
certainly constituted the club programme.

On another occasion a clubwoman entered the library and said with an air
of importance, "I want your material on Susanna H. Brown."

The librarian had never heard of Susanna, but experience had taught her
modesty and also a certain degree of guile, so she merely said, "What do
you want to know about her, particularly?"

"Our club wishes to discuss