xt76q52fbm22 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dipstest/xt76q52fbm22/data/mets.xml Kentucky. Department of Education. Kentucky Kentucky. Department of Education. 1935-01-w-sup volumes: illustrations 23-28 cm. call numbers 17-ED83 2 and L152 .B35. bulletins  English Frankford, Ky. : Dept. of Education  This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed in accordance with U. S. copyright laws. Educational Bulletin (Frankfort, Ky.) Education -- Kentucky Educational Bulletin (Frankfort, Ky.), "Library Service Available to the Public Schools of Kentucky", with supplement, vol. II, no. 11, January 1935 text Educational Bulletin (Frankfort, Ky.), "Library Service Available to the Public Schools of Kentucky", with supplement, vol. II, no. 11, January 1935 1935 1935-01-w-sup 2021 true xt76q52fbm22 section xt76q52fbm22    
 

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TT'TT‘VEntered as second-class matter March 21, 1933, at the post office at
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Vol. II o ianuary, 1935 O No.11

’iJBRARY
UMVERBIIX Oi? KENTUCKY,

  

  

  
  

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 Library Service

Available to the Public Schools

 

of Kentucky

 

 

Published by
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY

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FOREWORD

This issue of the Educational Bulletin is devoted to the general
topic of Library Service Available to the Public Schools of Kentucky.
There has long been need for a report of this type. It is quite ap-
parent from a review of this Bulletin that public school library service
in Kentucky is far from what it should be and that there should be
made a comprehensive study of the whole problem of making available
to Kentucky children a reasonable amount of library materials. A
definite plan for providing adequate school library materials for the
schools must be formulated. It is the hope of the State Department
of Education that this Bulletin will help to classify some of the issues

which must be considered when the school library service plan is for-
mulated.

The purposes, arrangement, sources of data, and limitations of
the Bulletin are set out in Chapter 1. Responsibility for the report
rested with Miss Ruth Theobald, Supervisor of Public School Libra-
ries. Valuable assistance was rendered her in the planning of the
report by Professor M. E. Ligon, University of Kentucky7 and by Mr.
Charles A. Maney, now connected with the Division of Finance. Mr.
Maney also contributed a part of the materials in the chapters pre-
pared in the State Department of Education. Where a chapter was
contributed by a person not in the State Department a footnote indi-
catesvthe author. Deep appreciation is due the persons assisting in
the preparation of the Bulletin. Signed materials have been included
regardless of whether or not the views coincide with those of the State
Department of Education. Be this as it may, it is the main purpOse
of this report to bring to light the great need for some comprehensive
and adequate plan of library service for Kentucky schools.

JAMES H. RICHMOND,
Superintendent of Public Instruction.

    

     

the general
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uction.

Chapter 1.

Chapter II.

Chapter III.

Chapter IV.
Chapter V.

Chapter VI.
Chapter VII.
Chapter VIII.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

Page
Introduction 5
History, Functions, and Classification of School
Libraries 9
Public School Libraries in Kentucky ....................... 17
The School Librarian in Kentucky ............................ 43
Book Service from the Kentucky-Library Commis-
sion to Schools . ...... 50
The Public Library and Kentucky Schools .............. 55
Library Standards for Kentucky High Schools ........ 62
Conclusions and Recommendations Regarding 66

Library Service Within the School ..............................

 

  

 

 

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CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION

No complete picture of the school library situation in Kentucky
has thus far been presented to the librarians, educators, and interested
laymen of the state. The school library as a. recognized factor in
curriculum development. is still a newcomer in our educational midst.
Information on the various phases of the subject is still largely frag-
mentary. The existing gaps cannot be filled in until in the first place
:1 clearer understanding exists with regard to the aims. functions, and
possibilities of organized school library service, and in the second place
until the administration of the school library includes the keeping of
such records as measure the library service provided for the school.

Available Sources of Information Regarding School
Library Facilities

Previous to 1932 definite statistical information on school libraries
was lacking, except for figures as to the number of schools meeting
the regulations and standards of the approving and accrediting bodies
0f the state, and the bare tabulations of data from reports submitted
to the Superintendent of Public Instruction in Kentucky giving
{untiiimts expended by school districts for library and supplementary
300 5.

Dr. R. E. J aggers, Director of Teacher Training, Department of
Education, Frankfort, Kentucky, made an analysis of reports of the
county boards of education for the school year 1930-31 which was
published in the Kentucky School Journal in April, 1932. Two tables
were included giving (1) the value of libraries per elementary school
child in average daily attendance in the various counties, and (2) a
*reQuency distribution of the figures in the first table. This study sug-
gested that there was need for a greater emphasis on library service
In county school systems.

There appeared in the Kentucky School Journal for May, 1932,
selected results of a study made by Mr. Frank Crutcher and Mr. Wil-
liam Shelton, graduate students of the University of Kentucky, who
Worked under the direction of Dean W. S. Taylor and in cooperation
with the Department of Education, Frankfort. This study involved
a survey of 565 secondary school libraries, and furnished information
on the following points:

1- Average number of volumes.

2- Librarian: full-time, part-time; other persons in charge of library.

3- Number of hours per day that the librarian devoted exclusively to
library work.

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4. Training of high school librarians in Kentucky: both general train-
ing and library training.

5. Institutions in which Kentucky high school librarians were trained.

Items 1—4 were given in terms of the classification of the various
schools, i. e., whether Southern Association, Class A or Class B schools.

The Report of the Kentucky Educational Commission, 1933, con-
tained information relative to library facilities in elementary and
secondary schools of the state. According to statistics secured in
1931-32, it was shown that 45% of the elementary grades in county
school districts and 11% of the elementary grades in independent
graded school districts, had no libraries. In the county school dis-
tricts, it was discovered that there was one library book for every two
children in the elementary grades, and in independent graded school
districts, two books for every three children in these grades. The
number of library books per pupil in secondary schools of county

school districts and graded school districts was far greater, averaging
more than eight books per pupil.

The annual high school report form for 1933-34, sent out by the
State Department of Education, included a set of fifteen questions
concerning the school library. These were:

. Name of. librarian. ~
. Number of periods devoted to library work.
Number of periods devoted to classroom instruction.
Is librarian a standard college graduate?
Number of semester hours of library training.

Number of volumes exclusive of textbooks, duplicates and govern-
ment publications.

. Number of volumes added since last report.

. Give present year’s appropriation exclusive of salaries and furni-
> 'ture for the high school library.

9. Give appropriation for the elementary school.

10. Is systematic instruction given in use of library?

11. Indicate location of library.

12. How many periods daily is the library open to pupils?

13. Are books cataloged and classified by the Dewey Decimal System?
14. Number of periodicals in the library.

15. Names and copyright dates of encyclopedias.

mmpgNH

004

In December, 1933, a C. W“. A. grant was made to the Tennessee
Valley Authority for the purpose of gathering certain basic data, part
of which was assigned to the study of public education in Kentucky.
One of these investigations included a statistical study of library
service in the public schools of the state. This study was accordingly
made under the direction of Mr. Charles A. Maney, then connected
with the Division of Research, State Department of Education, as-
sisted by a group of workers, all of whom were professionally trained
librarians. In addition to the Crutcher-Shelton study and the annual
high school reports described above, other sources of information util-
ized by Mr. Maney in making the study were as follows:

1. Annual Statistical Reports and Annual Financial Reports submitted

to the State Board of Education.

6

 

 

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re trained,

1e various
B schools.
1933, con-
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Biennial Report of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction,

1927.
3. Unpublished data gathered by Mr. Frank Crutcher and Mr. William

Shelton, in their study of 1931—32.
4. Data secured from the files of the Kentucky Library Commission
and biennial reports issued by the Commission.

The use of Library Commission data on traveling libraries and
public library service to schools broadened the scope of the study. It
then became a survey not only of library service in the public schools
of Kentucky, but library service to the public schools by outside agen-
cies as well: the State Library Commission and the public libraries
of Kentucky.

Scope and Limitations of This Bulletin

This bulletin is an attempt to provide in published form for the
use of school administrators, teachers, and librarians of the state, data
on school library service, with a view to presenting as complete and ac-
curate a picture of the library service available to the public schools
of Kentucky as it has been possible to secure. Where validity might
be questioned, material has been omitted. That there are very definite
limitations in type of material may easily be seen. Less easily dis-
cernible, however, are the limitations arising from misinterpretation
on the part of persons answering questions or filling out reports.
These limitations are as serious, certainly, as those arising from dearth
of information.

Akin to this difficulty is the restriction arising from the fact that
a distinction between library books and purely supplementary book
material has not been clearly drawn in Kentucky graded schools up to
the present time. In addition, records of the book collection by
classes, book losses, library attendance, and the home use of library
materials are not kept in hundreds of our schools. It is accordingly
easy to see that a complete picture of school library service is an im-
possibility at this time.

It is unfortunately true that figures merely indicate the adequacy
of any book supply. Although it will be found that library books for
secondary schools of Kentucky have on the whole increased in number
during the past five years, no definite information is on hand regard-
mg the quality of these books. The Supervisor of Public School Libra-
ries, it is safe to say, finds in the majority of her visits to high schools
That one-third to two-thirds of the books included in library collec-
tions have no value for the school or for the pupil. There is consider-
able difference between a book that is merely a good book and a book
that fills some definite need, on the high school level, and in connection
Wlth the high school curriculum. Books that are adult in viewpoint
to a degree that unfits them for secondary school use, quantities of
textbooks that do not aid in curriculum enrichment, and volumes that
are completely out of date are relatively useless as material for the
hlgh school library.

Possible Uses of Bulletin
It is hoped that school men, instructors in training colleges, and

7

 

 

 

 

 

 
   

 

    
  
   

librarians, especially, may find this Bulletin useful. The information
included should enable students to reach a more accurate estimate of '
the present school library facilities of the state, and should be of help
in assisting school men to present more graphically to their school
boards the school library situation in their districts. Kenthicky .
schools are sorely in need of adequate library service, and it is hoped
that this Bulletin will in a measure at least contribute to the better-
ment of such service in the schools of the Commonwealth. l
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CHAPTER II.

HISTORY, FUNCTIONS, AND CLASSIFICATION OF SCHOOL
LIBRARIES

History of the School Library

The library in the school is not an innovation. To quote from
the writings of one well—acquainted with the school library field:

“Babylonian youths studied in‘ the libraries of their great temples,
which were the schools of the period, and the scholars of Alexander
walked the colonnades of its great library with their peripatetic
teachers.”1

The university library made its appearance early in the educa-

tional history of this country, and indeed was the first library of any
kind in the United States. The library of Harvard University was
founded in 1638, six years after the college itself; that of Yale, in
1700. Report has it that Benjamin Franklin, in the year 1740, in-
cluded a library in his plan for an academy.
_ As early as 1835, school district libraries had been made possible
in the states of New York and Michigan through legislative action and
constitutional provision, respectively. These district libraries were
in reality public libraries, administered by the school. The movement
Spread from 1835 to 1855, until fourteen states had followed the
example of New York and Michigan. After an interval of ten years,
another group of states enacted similar laws. This legislative action,
however, did not guarantee either that schools would have libraries or
that existing libraries would be carefully tended or even supported.
There was no personal driving enthusiasm behind the book purchases,
and as a result, the interest soon died.2

In 1892 a New York state law designated the school library as ”a
Part of the equipment of the school, to be kept in the school building,
t0. provide reference books and supplementary reading for the pupils
With books relating to the branches pursued in the school and peda-
gogic books for the teachers.”3

The development of the school library as we know it, however,
may be said to parallel that gradual change in the theory and conduct
Of Public education which began about 1900. Only within the last

fteen or twenty years has emphasis shifted from formal learning to
learning through the activity of the child, from the use of a single
textbook to the wide use of printed material.

“Once upon a time the typical form of instruction was the recite:

:Fal‘go, L. F. Library in the school. A. L. A., 1933, p. 11. _

Coll K005, F. H. State participation in public school library servrce. Teachers
gge, Columbia University, 1927, p_. 6. .

1930 Eiffel“? L. F. Program for elementary school library servrce. A. L. A..

9

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

tion, literally a period devoted to reciting what was learned. The
teacher, inadequate in scholarship, was limited by the textbook, at
tended to that only and dared not go beyond. . . . Thus the old
American history course was merely the mastery of one text. Now it
demands many books, periodicals and source books; and in addition it
requires excursions into literature, economics, political science, indus-
trial history, science, geography, business, international law, psychology,
and sociology. Good teaching in all subjects draws from a similarly
wide range.”“

School library devel0pment, almost from the first, has been tied
up closely with the public library. \Ve have already noted the associa-
tion of the two in the organization of the school district library. The
relationship of school and public library is also evident in the develop-
ment of, first, secondary school libraries, and second, elementary school
libraries.

The High School Library

As early as 1895, a branch of. the city public library was installed
in the Central High School of Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1897 a similar
experiment was attempted in Newark, New Jersey. These libraries
were not distinctively school libraries , they served the community in
which the school was located. The school as a whole had not yet felt
the effect of the “educational revolution”, and learning was still a
formal process which centered about the teacher and the textbook.

From the time, however, when secondary schools began to forum-
late objectives, there was evident a change in the attitude of educators
in schools on this level toward the use of books. It became necessary
to use a greater number of books, and with the appearance of the
report of the committee on the reorganization of the English curricu-
lum in 1917, a high standard was set for the high school library. T1115
committee was in close touch with the school library department of
the National Education Assoeiation, which, was headed by Melvil
Dewey.5 There followed a standardization of secondary school libra—
ries by the National Education Association, district educational as—
sociations of the country, and educational bodies of practically every
state in the union, until today a much clearer understanding exists
than formerly with regard to the organization and functions of the
high school library.

Objectives of the High School Library
The secondary school library has, indeed, come to be considered

the indispensable laboratory of the curriculum, having as its malor
objectives (1) the training of pupils in the resourceful use of b00ks
and of the library, (2) the enrichment of the curriculum, and (3)
the promotion of the reading habit as a provision for the wise use Of
leisure time.“ Still more recently expressed trends in education are
adding to the already formulated objectives those of. integration, crea-

4Bussell, Dean W. F. Educational developments and the school library~
American Library Association Education Committee, School library yearbook:
no. 2, A. L. A., 1928,17. 51.

5Fargo, L. F. Library in the school. A. L. A., 1933, p. 446.

.GNational survey of secondary education. Secondary—school librarY~ U' 5'
Office of Education, Bulletin 1932, No. 17; Monograph No. 17, p. 6.

10

  

    
   

    

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tive education, exploration and appreciation.7 These objectives the
high school library is preeminently, although in many cases as yet
potentially, equipped to realize. _

And if the secondary school library is so markedly equipped, of
what does this equipment consist? That there should be an adequate
collection of books and other printed materials, suitable for school use
at a given level, goes without saying. These, however, must be so
organized and treated that books, pamphlets, clippings, and the in-
formation they contain will be readily available. If the school library
is to lend its materials for classroom and home use, a system must be
installed so that records are accurately and systematically kept and
books loaned and accounted ifor quickly, easily, and accurately. There
must be a library room of ample size for its purpose, accessible and
adequately furnished for the accommodation of books and the pupils
who are to use them. Most important of all, there must be a librarian,
temperamentally and intellectually equipped for librarianship, and
well educated and trained for library service. If the library is to
fulfill its high purpose, the librarian is a necessity.

The Ltbrai'y in the Elcmenlarg/ School
“The elementary school library in the United States is the resultant
of two converging movements: the rise of children’s library work in the
public library, and the emergence of a new curriculum in the elementary
school. Each movement is comparatively modern’, the first dating back
scarcely fifty years, and the second reaching its full significance only
in the last decade.”

The change in emphasis in the educational program has already
been discussed. Suffice it to say that the stress laid upon activity in
the learning process has made it necessary for children to use many
books and a variety of other materials, such as pictures, lantern
slides, etc.

”From the beginning of the public library movement in America in
1876, reading rooms were open to children and in a few centers books
iwere issued directly to them or for them on parents’ cards. . . . The
generic children’s library . . . was aided in its development by both
teachers and librarians. In Miss Hazeltine’s volume on children's li-
braries there is a story of the beginnings of a children’s library in
1885, by Emily Hanaway, a public school teacher in New York.”D

Children’s library work in the public library developed rapidly
after trained children’s librarians began their work. This significant
advance took place about 1900.

“First . . . they carried on the development of the the chil-
dren’s library collection, painstakingly building an appropriate body
of literature based on‘ the interests of boys and girls. Printed catalogs
and approved lists began to appear, and a, technique of book selection
was developed. . . . Second, children’s literature was organized for
ServiCe, books being classified, analyzed, and arranged in a fashion to

1- TI‘Iicks, Ti. H. The junior high school library. American Library Associa-

10”! behool Libraries Committee. Yearbook No. 5. A. L. A., 1932, D.

19301:??? L. F. Program for elementary school library service. A. L. A.,
”Power, E- L. Library service for children. A. L. A., 1930, I). 3. 5.

11

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

facilitate their use by boys and girls

or with the search for
information initiated by the school.”10

It must be said, however, that a rich and varied collection for the
children’s library room was also made possible by an increase in the
publishers’ output of juvenile literature.

From the first, this development in the public library was closely
related to the schools. Cooperation between the two consisted at the
outset of the loan of supplementary reading by the public library to
the public school and of class visits by pupils and teachers to chil-
dren’s library rooms. Classroom libraries first made their appear-
ance in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1887.

As library work with children grew and flourished, divisions of
children’s work appeared in the larger library systems. Service to
schools also grew, and good administrative practice suggested the
creation of school departments or divisions in these systems, whose
duty it was to maintain and foster library service to schools. As the
demand for full library service within the school increased, school
departments organized and operated libraries in school buildings. In
some cases, schools and public libraries cooperated in sharing adminis-
trative and financial responsibility.

In the meantime, schools in localities without public library
service continued to build up school library book collections of their
own. Here another agency directly linked with the public library
played an important role. The first state library commission was
established in Massachusetts in. 1890.11 A great many states followed
suit; and the resulting commissions provided library service for the
various communities of the state. The operation of traveling librarles
was among the preseribed duties of library commissions. In some
instances, the state library took over the functions of the commisswn.

State education departments had early been charged with the
encouragement and supervision of school libraries. At the present
time, the principal state education officer is “authorized (by law) to
perform some duty or hold some office in connection with library
service in 38 states/’12 In 10 states there are supervisors of publlc
school libraries connected with state departments of education, state
libraries, or library extension divisions, who extend assistance and
advisory service to school libraries within the state.

It will be observed that the activities described in the last few
paragraphs above have not been confined to the elementary school
library alone. In order to present a complete picture of elementary
school library development, however, it has been necessary to IIlJect
references to school library departments, library commissions, and
state school library supervisors into the discussion at this particular
time.

1° Fargo, L. F. Program for elementary school library service. A. L. A”
1930. p. 33.

11Koos, F; H. State participation in public school library service. T051011ers
College. Columbia University, 1927, p. 7.

”Koos, F. H. State participation in public school library service. Teachers
College, Columbia University, 1927, p. 29.

12

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Functions of the Elementary School Library

The objectives of the elementary school library differ little from
those of the high school library. Elementary school library objectives,
as stated by the (i. 0. Certain report” and W. A. King“ vary signifi—
cantly among themselves only with regard to care and respect for
library property, and the correlation of school and public library; and
both are tacitly included in the school library objectives for elemen-
tary and secondary school libraries formulated by Miss Lucile F.
Fargo, as follows:

”1. To acquire suitable library materials and organize them for the
use of pupils and teachers.
2. To provide through organization and intelligent service for
a. Curriculum enrichment.
b. Pupil exploration.
0. A growing realization of the library as the tool of intellectual

achievement.
3. To teach the skillful use of books and libraries in the interests

of research.
4. To create an atmosphere favorable to the growth of the reading

habit.

5. To stimulate appreciations.

6. To demonstrate the desirability of books and libraries as the com-
panions of leisure.

7. To provide fruitful social experience.”15

It is apparent, therefore, that at present the characteristic difference
between school libraries in elementary and secondary schools lies in
the organization and administration of libraries on these levels.

Supplementary Reacting Malcriul

The supplementary reader attained a wide vogue in American
schools during the last quarter of the nineteenth century and has
retained its place as a tool of the curriculum. This is not surprising,
since the theory underlying the use of the supplementary reader is
Peaagogically sound. At first the selections from various classics
included in books of this type were adult in viewpoint and were in-
tended to instruct and improve the young. Children’s interests,
therefore, were not considered.

In addition, the supplementary reader at the outset consisted
largely Of excerpts. This condition in the main has been remedied 111
the hast thirty-five years, largely as the result of a campaign initiated
1113830 by Mr. H. E. Scudder and President C. W. Eliot of Har-
var . ‘

While the interests of boys and girls are more nearly reflected in
the content of supplementary readers at the present time, the fact
ljemains that this type of material as a whole is intended primarily
for the group, rather than the individual, and is duplicated for class-
I'Oom use with this purpose in mind. On the other hand, library

C 1“National Education Association and American Library Association Joint
Aongflltiee: C. C. Certain, Chairman. Elementary school library standards,
' ‘-. -, 1925, D. 4-5.
:Ixmg, \V. A. Elementary school library. Scribner, 1920, p. 4.
Fargo, L. F. Library in the school. A. L. A., 1933, p. 21. A L A
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193016133??? L. F. Program for elementary school library service.
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material is intended primarily for individual use, although the group
is not overlooked.17

The foregoing statements must not be construed as arguments
against the use of supplementary material. Supplementary texts or
readers, as the case may be, are valuable adjuncts to classroom teach-
ing, and are so recognized. Nevertheless, the responsibility of elemen‘
tary schools for the provision of school libraries does not cease with
the purchase of supplementary readers. This is merely the first step:

the school must provide other books if a library collection is to be
supplied.

It must be admitted that the rather wide use of supplementary
reading material, where a distinction has not been drawn between sup-
plementary texts and purely library material, has somewhat retarded
the growth of elementary school. libraries especially. For example,
Two sets of supplementary readers or primers, consisting of twenty
copies each of two different titles, can be estimated in this state at
present as forty library books, whereas only two separate books,
actually, are available for each pupil. The school curriculum should
instill a love of reading in children during the first few years of school
if they are to become readers in after lit‘e. Later attempts as a rule
fail miserably in the accomplishment of this purpose. The provision
of a wider range of interesting and wholesome books which follow
children’s interests and are not too difficult to read, is necessary if

children are to acquire the reading habit and retain it after they leave
school.

Types of Elementary School Libraries

The elementary school library, for various reasons, has not been
standardized in the same degree as has the library in the secondary
school. The standards which have evolved have been adapted from
the techniques of the public library children ’s room and the practices
of the high school library, neither of which are aligned with the prac-
tices of the elementary school. The library of the platoon school has
made rapid strides in developing a. technique of its own, but an 816-
mentary school library suited to this type of school organization can‘

not be considered representati