DEBATING AND PUBLIC DISCUSSION 411

LOAN OF MATERIAL

The loan package libraries include selected newspaper and periodical
clippings, office-bound sections of periodicals, government documents, publi-
cations of organizations, copies of addresses, reprints, typewritten excerpts,
books—in fact all forms of carefully selected available material dealing in
a fair and balanced manner with the different phases of worthwhile sub-
jects. In order that material may be selected judiciously, it is essential that
the request for a package library state definitely the purpose for which the
information is desired, and the latest date upon which it would prove of
value. The same material cannot be used to the best advantage by a rural
school pupil and a member of a woman’s club.

The department aims to cooperate in every possible way with local
librarians. Requests from communities which have public libraries should
state what is available locally and thus avoid unnecessary duplication and
expense.

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE

PURPOSE, The Department of Public Service is composed of bureaus
which deal with the informal or non-consecutive type of service as distin-
guished from the more formal and systematic type of instruction. These
bureaus are concerned with questions and problems of general interest and
public welfare.

The department serves as a clearing house through which all reasonable
inquiries of the people of the state on matters of collective import may
receive consideration.

ORGANIZATION. The Department of Public Service operates through
the following bureaus, each in charge of a specialist: Bureau of Lectures
and Short Courses, Bureau of Visual Instruction, Bureau of Municipal In-
formation, Bureau of Economics and Sociology, Bureau of Dramatic Activ-
ities, and Bureau of Business Information.

METHOD. The department seeks to serve the individual inquirer, the
group, and the community in establishing contact with specific lines of in-
formation, through the accumulation of data and the presentation of such
data in non-technical form from such diverse sources as the reports of gov-
ernment bureaus, commissions, and experimental stations; the proceedings
of scientific societies; publications of an economic, a social, a political, or an
ethical character.

PUBLICATIONS. Bureaus of the Department of Public Service issue
from time to time bulletins on subjects of timely interest. These are free
to residents of the state of Wisconsin.

EXHIBITS. In addition to the specific lines of activity included within
the fields of the various bureaus, the Department of Public Service has
found the use of traveling exhibits and demonstrations upon such subjects
as child welfare, health, recreation, and community-center work of very
great value.

SOCIAL SERVICE INSTITUTES. For several years the Extension Division
has offered to the communities of the state various types of institutes de-
signed to assist in the solution of local problems. The Extension Division
conducts, in cooperation with county superintendents, institutes for teachers