Libraries for Industrial Schools. (Wyman and Sons. 4d.)—A list of
suggested books for use by boys and girls in reformatory and indus- trial schools. The " Foreword " by Mr. Charles E. B. Russell, Chief Inspector of these schools, is full of suggestion and deserves careful and thoughtful study. Many of the ideas put forward will be regarded by some people as revolutionary. For example, Mr. Russell says: " I would not restrict the choice entirely to books that are good literature and in every paragraph unexceptionable in tendency. There are many children who may be guided through an interest in publications of a very crude type known to them as ' Penny Bloods' to appreciation of the great masters of romance, such as Scott, or Dumas, or Stevenson." As a further justification for his somewhat bold statement he says that on discharge from school a boy should " have formed a conscience in his reading which will cause him to reject with judgment a silly, vulgar, or vicious book" and enjoy the literary merit of the great writers. In addition to a well-chosen library, Mr. Russell suggests that a member of the staff should act as adviser to boys and girls in the selection of books. The distaste for reading common among boys and girls of the working classes he ascribes to the dull, mechanical reading-lessons given in schools, and he would have reading taught " only secondarily as the art of translating symbols into sounds and primarily as a means of arousing and strengthening the imagination." In conclusion, Mr. Russell claims that a taste for good reading acquired at school may create an interest which in after life will compensate for the loss of other elevating influences and last all their lives.
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