University of Wisconsin Milwaukee - Ivy Yearbook (Milwaukee, WI)

Page 18 text:

The Library begins with colored picture books, which it supplies in large numbers, Mother Goose and the simple poems and fables which have been read with delight by countless generations, next follow. Easy books of travel, interesting biography, stirring history, with a sprinkling of good stories then attract the child's attention. A boy of scientific turn of mind, interested perhaps in Chemistry, may begin with that simple little work entitled The Fairyland of Chemistry and be led along by easy stages and simple processes, until he Finds pleasure and profit in Roscoe's Chemistry in nine volumes. The Milwaukee Public Library is at present hampered in its work for the children by lack of room. The' new library will contain a special department for the children, presided over by a sympathetic assistant. In this department there will be special shelves from which the children may select their own books. There will be special tables at which they may sit to read bound and current periodicals. There will be special rooms to which classes may go to look over art works or books on special topics. There will be a hall, seating 400 or more, in which illustrated lectures will be given for classes from schools, boys' clubs, etc. In short, every effort will be made to follow out and verify the old Froebel motto: Come, let us live with our children. - But to do all this, the Library must have the co-operation of the teachers. It therefore puts its 85,000 volumes at the disposal of the students of the Milwaukee State Normal School, granting them the same rights and privileges enjoyed by our citizens. The Library sends yearly hundreds of books is

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Che flbtlwaukee llbnblic library. LUTIE E. STEARNS, Supt. Circulating Dept. President Eliot of Harvard College sounded the key-note of modern library thought and spirit when he said: It is always through the children that the best work is to be done for the uplifting of any community. The problem of the child is the problem of the State and no less the problem ofthe Public Library. The librarian strives to reach every child at the earliest possible moment with the very best and most attractive literature, believing that what we make children love and desire is more important than what we make them learn. School statistics show that more than halfthe children who enter school leave before they are twelve years of age. It is while at school, therefore, that the child must be taught to know something of the great world of books. All teachers are gladly welcomed and encouraged to come to the Library, where they may go directly to the shelves and select a number of books in proportion to the size of their classes. These books are then sent to the schools, where they are issued by the teacher to the pupils of her class. This makes of each teacher a librarian for her class. She knows best the individual wants and capacities Of her pupils. 17

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to the Normal School, which are used to supplement the school work. A regular course is pursued in library reading, consisting of standard novels, essays, biography, etc., together with a critical study of children's literature. No other Normal School in the State can offer such privileges to its patrons. Ebe llbublic flbuseum. An important adjunct to the teaching facilities of the Milwaukee Normal School is the Public Muse- llm. Its collections, furniture and library alone represent a money value of over ,2S84,000. The extensive zoological collections gathered from all quarters of the earth supplement the small typical collections ofthe Normal. To reap the benefits of these displays of material, the Normal students visit the mu- seum both as classes and, more frequently, as individuals. The large herbaria, especially rich in NVis- consin forms, offer exceptional facilities for identification of difficult or rare species. The mineralogical and paleontological cabinets are of special value to the students of Geology, the anthropological speci- mens, of which there are nearly IS,OOO, are of great assistance in the historical work. In general, these extensive exhibits bring the students into touch with the broad world of science in many directions. Mr. I-I. Nehrling, the curator of the Museum, always has a kind welcome for students, and is ever ready to give them access to the large Museum library, and to give them not only special advantages, but his personal assistance in their researches. 19