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THE LIBRARY LOG THE LIBRARY LOG Published for the citzens of Milwaukee, at the end of each month, except July and August, by the staff af the Milwaukee Public Library. SYLVESTER J. CARTER, Editor. JOSEPHINE KULZICK, Associate Editor. /Iny citizen of Milwaukee County may have the Library Log sent to his home for a year by paying the postage, / 0 cents. Send name and address to the editor, Milwaukee Public Library. The Library Log will gladly publish criticisms of the library service, and suggestions for making it better. Kindly give name and address with all communications. Names will not be used for publication without express permission. Beginning July 1st, Mr. Cargill, Assistant Librarian of the Milwaukee Public Library, will assume the duties of Camp Librarian at Camp Grant, Rockford, Illinois. This is one of the oldest and best equipped of the camp libraries. It contains more than 15,000 vol- umes of well selected literature, being espe- cially well provided with books on military science and related technical subjects such as radiotelegraphy and aviation. There is also a large collection of "war" books. Ad- ditions are being made rapidly. Mr. Cargill will remain at Camp Grant for two months. The August C. Beck Co. has generously contributed twenty boxes for shipping books to camp libraries. Any other manufactur- ers able to assist in this way will find the library in a receptive attitude. Mr. Asa Don Dickinson, Dispatch Agent of A. L. A. War Service, writes as follows: "Received for shipment to our soldiers and sailors overseas, 42 boxes of books. A fine lot of books-very well prepared." PREPAREDNESS FOR RECON- STRUCTION Already, the necessity of preparing for the immense problems which will arise after the war is evident. Every one will have to share in solving these problems. The in- dividual, city, state and nation will be af- fected. England has already a branch of the government which is dealing only with reconstruction. The Municpal Reference Library is making a special effort to make available governmental reports and investi- gations and any other information which may offer a solution of the many difficul- ties which will be encountered. WAR HOUSING Milwaukee is feeling the lack of proper housing facilities to care for the numerous workers employed on government work. Many complaints have been made regarding high rentals and actual lack of rooms. Mayor Hoan has appointed a committee which is to investigate and propose remedies for the difficulty. If you are interested in what has been done you will find in the Municipal Reference Library many plans and reports of English cities, and what the cities in this country are proposing to do. THE TRAINING CLASS The first class in the new course of in- struction for the Public Library Service has completed its work and has taken the civil service examination. Even at this early (lay, before any members of this class have been tried by a temporary appointment, it is clear that systematic instruction in the li- brary work is a great gain to the institution. The Civil Service Commission has permitted the library to employ these young people in practice work while they were taking their instruction, and their adaptability to any position that they were called on to fill temporarily was very evident. It is not strange that this is found to be so. We are always preaching the benefits of education. Anyone who expresses a doubt of that prop- osition will immediately feel the heavy hand of public opinion upon him. No one would be given a position as teacher without pre- liminary instruction in his business. No lawyer or doctor would be permitted to practice without preliminary instruction in his business; and by the same reasoning, it must be evident that any one who would do special or technical work, such as is done in the library, is a better public servant in consequence of preliminary training in his work. This is made plain in the Milwaukee Public Library not only as a matter of theory, but as a matter demonstrated by ex- perience. Civil Service Commissions have no divinely inspired wisdom to pick out public servants who are well qualified with- out training for their duties. Therefore, the Board of Library Trustees wisely deter- mined to offer special training free of cost to those who sought to do library work. Our Civil Service law, however, goes fur- ther. It makes it necessary for those who would win promotion in library work, to
THE LIBRARY LOG prepare themselves for the promotion. Therefore, all library workers will do well to remember that hereafter any number of years spent in doing merely the routine duties of the day will not win promotion. There must be a distinct effort made to study and progress in the special work of one's choice. Those who fail to do this work will fail to win promotion. The new law places the responsibility exactly where it belongs, and no one hereafter need com- plain that his services and abilities are not recogiiize-d, if he fails to win recognition. Whether this is a wise law entirely or whether the method is the best method that can be devised are questions unnecessary to discuss at present. These are the methods which the laws of Visconsin prescribe in the library service of the city. The part of wisdom is for each one to recognize the fact and play the game under the conditions prescribed by the law. The Library Board has done all it can to provide the means of advancement. It is now the duty of those who would win advancement to use the means provided. The new training class will begin its work July 8th at the Public Library Building. HOW TO JUDGE A NOVEL In the not very far distant past, novel reading was considered a disreputable occu- pation and the young person seeking a po- sition on the staff of a public library who gravely informed the librarian that she "loved books and nercr read novels", is not yet in her dotage. We of today read novels quite shamelessly, carry them about with us, read them on street cars, trains and in other like public places, and certainly have no disposition to apologize for being "caught with the goods". It is very true that the reading public ought to be ashamed of the kind of novel which is often very popular, but we have learned that there are novels and novels and that, as Richard Burton puts it, "Fiction is only frivolous when the read- er brings a frivolous mind or makes a frivo- lous choice". We are none of us willing to answer to the charge of having minds ca- pable only of frivolity and if we are to avoid the frivolous choice we must know how to choose. In the field of literary criticism no form of literature is more difficult to handle than the novel. It does not, however, follow that we need abandon all hope of independ- ent judgment and rely entirely upon the professional critic. There are a few well defined tests which we may apply to any novel and be sure of arriving at a conclu- sion with regard to the book's merit which shall serve all practical purposes of the average reader. Mr. William Lyon Phelps describes a high grade novel as "A good story, well told." In other words, Mr. Phelps takes account first of the intrinsic value of the content of the book and sec- ondly he regards the author's manner of presenting his subject. Our definition is certainly concise, though it is not quite so innocent as it looks, and it will answer for a working basis. Our first test question with regard to the content of a novel should be "Is this story in itself worth the telling?" We demand that an author shall not write unless he has ideas which it is worth our while to con- sider. A "good story" is a good story be- fore ever it is put on paper, though an au- thor may work havoc by his manner of telling the story. There is no hard and fast rule as to an author's choice of subject matter for a good novel. All of life fur- nishes material for the successful novelist. Arnold Bennett's first successful novel, "The Old Wives' Tale", details events in the drab lives of two old sisters, while adventure a plenty spelled success and permanent value for "Robinson Crusoe". The second question with regard to the story itself is, "Is it interesting to the class of readers for whom it is intended?" In- terest depends upon several elements in the author's work as well as upon the intrinsic value of his ideas. Originality is one im- portant factor in holding the interest of the reader. The mind is attracted and stimu- lated by that which is fresh and unhack- neyed. Then too the author often kills in- terest by dragging in irrelevant material, therefore he must stick to his theme with only reasonable digressions. We are not much interested in the rambling type of narrative which constantly takes us off into byways when we wish to be traveling the main road. The next test question may very well be "Are the characters real people?" False psychology is one of the worst sins of the novelist. Very few novelists succeed in ab- solutely truthful character deliniation but the really good novel at least approaches perfection in this respect. Right here is the worst pitfall for the inexperienced reader. Interest may be held by various qualities in the author's work and the reader be actually duped by the author's presentation of people, their actions and emotions, as in reality they are not. It takes a reader of considerable experience in living to read- ily detect this fault in an interesting novel, but once the mind is awake on the subject we are sure to feel outraged by the novelist who foists upon us an impossible character. We do not wish to be lied to concernins the workings of the human mind and soul. The novel full of false psychology dies an early death, but it very frequently runs a swift race as a "best-seller". Another test question is "Does this author show creative imagination?" A really worth while novel leaves in the mind of the reader vivid pictures and memories of people who 3