Page 58 - Training for Librarianship Library Work As a Career

TRAINING FOR LIBRARIANSHIP

available for use wholesome, useful litera-
ture. It supplies the community with a place
for mental recreation very much as the public
parks and playgrounds of the city supply a
place for physical recreation. To the great
masses of people the public library offers
always a ready welcome and an opportunity
to escape from their daily tedium into a
world of romance and adventure, which,
though it be unreal and temporary, yet sup-
pHes that pleasm^e and mental exhilaration
which the individual craves. It aims to sup-
ply reading matter and, through wise selec-
tion of books and personal guidance, to
develop a taste for good literature. In 1918
the public libraries of the United States
circulated over 200,000,000 books for home
reading. The New York (City) Public
Library in 1918, through its various branches,
loaned over 10,700,000 books, the Boston
Public Library over 2,000,000. The public
libraries of the state of Massachusetts com-
bined circulated for home use in 1918 over
15,000,000 volumes.
All this must indicate that the public
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