CHILD WELFARE EXHIBIT OF THE KIPS BAY NEIGHBOR

HOOD ASSOCIATION

TWO of the branch libraries, 58th Street

and St. Gabriel's Park, took an active part in the Kips Bay Child Welfare Exhibit, which was held from January 12 to 17 in Public School 59, 228 East 57th street; from January 21 to 24 in Public School 27, 41st and 42nd streets, east of 3rd avenue; and from January 26 to 29 at St. Gabriel's Hall.

In each case, one corner of the lecture room was assigned to the branch for its exhibit. Here the work of the Library was reproduced in miniature by means of selected books on different subjects, especially on the welfare of the child, lists of books that might interest adults and children, embossed books for the blind, two cases of books from the travelling libraries, a map giving the location of all the branches in Manhattan and The Bronx, and, most interesting perhaps, pictures of the various branch libraries, including photographs taken to show the children's story hour and the meetings of girls' and

profited from the exhibit, both by coming into closer contact with readers and by becoming better acquainted with the district.

A few incidents may characterize the interest manifested in the Library. One boy, seeing the exhibit and being spoken to by one of the librarians, suddenly remembered that he had had a library book out for more than a year! The next day he appeared at the branch with the longlost book and money to pay his fines. Another boy sat through a series of moving pictures without looking at them once, so absorbed was he in a copy of Grimm's fairy tales. One mother, on seeing the collection of books, expressed her pleasure that such books were in the Library, as she wanted her daughter to read something useful, not light fiction. She went away carrying all the lists that the librarians could give her, especially those on vocational training and cooking.

THE GERMAN ASSOCIATION OF CULTURE

interested in such photographs.

The exhibit also contained a map of the Kips Bay district and about forty pictures of old New York, among which the Kips Bay House attracted much attention. Several children copied this with considerable skill.

The books for boys and girls did not fail to arouse interest, especially in the boy scout or the camp-fire girl, who wanted to earn more beads. Business books and books for the mother were in demand among the adults.

The last and perhaps the most successful evening was planned for Italians. Lectures were given in Italian and the moving pictures explained in the same language. Italian circulars and books were used to good effect.

During the exhibition, lists of books and circulars about the Library were given out freely. Many people manifested an interest in the Library. Some of these became borrowers; others revived their connection with the Library by renewing applications that had run out. In the children's rooms a marked increase in circulation resulted. Teachers asked to bring their classes to the Library for formal or informal work, or tried to arrange for story hours. The staffs of the branches

members of the Gemeinschaft für Kultur was recently held in the reading room of the Yorkville branch, 222 East 79th street. This association is one of the most active and interested of the many societies now using the branches of the Library as meeting-places. When it was organized on January 1, 1912, its aim was stated as follows: "We are working for culture, and we aim to give the Germans in America and the Americans a better understanding of our contemporary German literature and art. We are bending our efforts more particularly for our members who as artists, poets, writers, etc., are producing valuable works... We want to help as much as possible those talented artists, poets, etc. who are not yet known. We...welcome all who strive and long for contact with the higher values in life— the plain workingman and workingwoman who have the right understanding for our aims, as well as the men and women of professional education."

Since the establishment of the Society, it has held meetings at the Yorkville branch each year from October to April. The program at the last meeting, on February 8, may be cited as typical. Dr. Robert H. Lowie of the American Museum of Natural History, himself a mem

ber of the association, spoke on "The life of the prairie Indians," and a concert was given by prominent musicians.

Several exhibitions of paintings and handicraft have been opened to the public. The latest exhibition includes works by Louis Bromberg, William R. Leigh, F. Dana Marsh, Theodore Modra, Jerome Myers, Jane Petersen, John Sloan, and several others, all members of the association.

The members show their appreciation of the Library, not only by their free and intelligent use of the collection of German books, but also by their advice in regard to the selection of books. In December, 1912, one of the members, who was particularly interested in the children and the children's room, asked whether he might tell a few of his favorite "märchen" to just a little group of children as a Christmas treat for himself. This one afternoon led to many more like it, to the joy of the boys and girls who came week after week, and of their parents, who were delighted to have the children hear the stories in their native tongue.

A READING LIST ON HEROISM

A READING list of books on Heroism,

two sections of which are given on the following pages, has been prepared for use in connection with an annual exhibit of books and portraits of Heroes and Heroines, which is held in the Central Children's Room from February 12th -Lincoln's Birthday-until April 1st. The entire list, which includes Bible heroes, Hero tales in myth and legend, Heroic saints, Heroic Indians, Heroes of the sea, Heroes of discovery, and Everyday heroes, is now in press, and may soon

be obtained at all the children's rooms of the Library.

It has been the aim of the compilers to include those characters, ancient and modern, whose names are commonly associated with heroic effort and achievement and concerning whose lives there exists literature in biographical, historical, legendary, or story form of genuine interest to boys and girls of High School age and younger. The list is by no means complete. The omission of certain characters may be accounted for by the absence of literature attractive to boys and girls.

are

interpretative

The annotations rather than critical or informational and include some of the selections used in the exhibit held in 1913. The quotations then used were of sufficient interest to visitors to lead to requests for the inclusion of them in a printed list of the books.

Alexander the Great, 356-323 B. C.

"Asia beheld with astonishment and awe the uninterrupted progress of a hero, the sweep of whose conquests was as wide and rapid as that of her own barbaric kings."

Baldwin, James. Bucephalus. (In his Horse fair. Century.)

Creasy, Sir Edward. The battle of Arbela. (In his Fifteen decisive battles of the world. Harper.)

Morris, Charles. Alexander the Great and Darius. (In his Historical tales: Greek. Lippincott.)

Plutarch. Alexander. (In Plutarch's Lives for boys and girls, retold by W. H. Weston. Stokes.)

Tennyson, Alfred, lord. The high-priest to Alexander. Houghton.

Boadicea, ?-62 A. D.

"On this spot we must either conquer or die with glory."

Cowper, William. Boadicea. (In Henley, W. E. Lyra heroica. Scribner.)

Hoffman, A. S. Boadicea. (In her Heroes and heroines of English history. Dutton.)

"Tall and proud of bearing, wearing the golden necklace that showed she was a queen, she stood in her war chariot and spoke to her followers.'

Morris, Charles. Boadicea, the heroine of Britain. (In his Historical tales: Roman. Lippincott.)

Charlemagne, 742?-814

"Here was a strong man, a noble man, the lord and master of a mighty realm."

Canton, William. The two Charlemagnes. (In his Child's book of warriors. Dent.)

"Iron was his helm; iron sheathed his breast and broad shoulders; his gauntlets were iron; his feet were shod in iron. This was the Charlemagne of the wars of giants and the mighty conquests. There was another; a big gladsome man, with more turns and likings than a harp has strings."

Church, A. J. Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve peers of France. millan.

Mac

Heroes of history, continued.

(In his Hero-myths and legends of the British race. Crowell.)

Kingsley, Charles. Hereward the Wake; 'last of the English.' Macmillan.

"I vowed to St. Mary and King William that into Ely I would get this day; and in Ely I am; so I have done my work."

Stedman, D. C. The story of Hereward, the champion of England. Crowell.

"Who comes to dispute the prize with Hereward, son of Leofric; the slayer of the bear, the queller of the giant, the champion of ladies. Aoi! Aoi! Who fights with Hereward the Berserker, the Viking,, the friend of the earn, the wolf and the raven?"

Richard Coeur de Lion, 1157-1199

"And let your songs thus much of Richard tell, That, though a prisoner in a foreign cell, False was he never yet, and shall not be, Whether in chains or free."

Hoffman, A. S. Richard Coeur-de-Lion. (In her Heroes and heroines of English history. Dutton.)

Marshall, H. E. The story of Richard Coeur de Lion. (In her Island story. Stokes.)

Morris, Charles. The captivity of Richard Coeur de Lion. (In his Historical tales: English. Lippincott.)

Scott, Sir Walter. The talisman; a tale of the crusades; illustrated by Simon Harmon Vedder. Lippincott.

Tappan, E. M. Richard the Lionhearted leads the third crusade. (In her Heroes of the middle ages. Harrap.)

Tennyson, Alfred, lord. King Richard in Sherwood forest. (In his Foresters. Houghton.)

William Wallace, 1274?-1305

"At Wallace' name, what Scottish blood
But boils up in a spring-tide flood?
Oft have our fearless fathers strode
By Wallace' side,

Still pressing onward, red-wat-shod,
Or glorious died."

Hoffman, A. S. William Wallace.

no kingdom save what your swords shall conquer, and your hearts bestow: with you I live and die."

Aguilar, Grace. The days of Bruce. Appleton.

Burns, Robert. Bannockburn. (In Wiggin, K. D., and N. A. Smith, Golden numbers. Doubleday.)

Hoffman, A. S. Robert Bruce. (In her Heroes and heroines of English history. Dutton.)

Mackie, R. L. The story of King Robert the Bruce. Crowell.

Marshall, H. E. Robert the Bruce. (In her Scotland's story. Stokes.)

(In

her Heroes and heroines of English history. Dutton.)

Marshall, H. E. William Wallace. her Scotland's story. Stokes.)

Porter, Jane. The Scottish chiefs. Crowell.

Southey, Robert. The death of Wallace. Crowell.

Robert Bruce, 1274-1329

"I have no crown save that which Scotland gives,

Riis, J. A. Gustav Adolf, the snow(In his Hero tales from the far Macmillan.)

Oliver Cromwell, 1599-1658

"He bestrode the narrow world of Puritan Eng. land like a Colossus."

Hodges, George. Cromwell. (In his Saints and heroes since the middle ages. Holt.)

General Wolfe, 1727-1759

"Wolfe, where'er he fought,

Put so much of his heart into his act,
That his example had a magnet's force,

And all were swift to follow whom all loved."

Parkman, Francis. Montcalm and Wolfe. Little.

"The battle on the plains of Abraham was one of the most heroic and far-reaching achievements ever wrought by Englishmen in any land or any age.' Willson, Beckles. How the gallant Wolfe took Quebec. (In his Canada. Stokes.)

Kosciuszko, 1746-1817

"Hope, for a season, bade the world farewell And all were swift to follow whom all loved." Morris, Charles. Kosciusko and the fall of Poland. (In his Historical tales: Russian. Lippincott.)

Porter, Jane. Thaddeus of Warsaw; a tale founded on Polish heroism. Burt.

"So driven, O Poland! from thy ravaged plains, a houseless wretch, I wandered through the world."

Napoleon, 1769-1821

Browning, E. B. Napoleon's final return. Houghton.

Byron, Lord. Ode to Napoleon. Hough

ton.

Foa, Eugenie. Boy life of Napoleon. Lothrop.

"Who is Napoleon,' I asked, 'Is he our patron, is he the king?' 'No, he is Napoleon,' Napoleon's boy comrade replied. The boy was right, Napoléon was neither boy nor man, patron nor king; he was Napoleon!"

Montorgueil, Georges. Bonaparte; avec aquarelles de Job. Boivin.

Wheeler, H. F. B. Boy's Napoleon. Crowell.

Robert Emmet, 1778-1803

"When my country shall take her place among the nations of the earth, then and not till thenlet my epitaph be written."

Rowe, J. G. Robert Emmet. (In his Romance of Irish history. Longmans.) Southey, Robert. Emmet's epitaph. Crowell.

Sir Henry Havelock, 1795-1857

"Saved by the valor of Havelock, saved by the blessing of heaven!

'Hold it for fifteen days!' we have held it for eighty-seven!

And ever aloft on the palace roof the old banner of England blew.'

Fitchett, W. H. Lucknow and Havelock. (In his Tale of the great mutiny. Smith.)

Surridge, Victor. The end of the company. (In his India. Stokes.)

Tennyson, Alfred, lord. The defence of Lucknow. Houghton.

"Handful of men as we were, we were
English in heart and in limb,

Strong with the strength of the race
to command, to obey, to endure."

Whittier, J. G. (In Wiggin, K. Golden numbers.

The pipes at Lucknow. D., and N. A. Smith, Doubleday.)