Page 63 - Training for Librarianship Library Work As a Career

TRAINING FOR LIBRARIANSHIP

and aim of serving those whom it could. Its
service has not been solely disinterested;
always its thought has been to make its collec-
tions a living, vital force in the city or dis-
trict, and to see that the information which it
has gathered and made available for use
gets into the hands of those to whom it can
be useful.
In certain cities, particularly in the South,
where the negroes form a large part of the
population, special service for them is main-
tained. Where there is a negro quarter, the
public library has at times established
branches easily accessible for the exclusive use
of colored persons. Sometimes these branches
have been in charge of a colored staff and the
work carried on is such as to appeal to the
negro and to aid in his economic advance-
ment. Illiteracy has been the great handicap
under which the negro has labored ; therefore
one of the aims is to teach him to read and
to write. Classes in the library have been
instituted, and thus under the most favorable
circumstances has he been introduced to
books and their use.
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