WANTED—BOOKS
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sia,—May I appeal to your readers for books for the library of the Jerusalem Girls' College in Palestine ? Recently I visited this College, and was much impressed with the intelli- gence of its pupils, the high standard of its work and its need of a library.
Founded in 1918 by three Missionary Societies, the College numbers now 228 girls drawn from Palestine and Trans- Jordania and of three religions, Jewish, Christian and Moslem. Racial and religious strife are the curse of Palestine, but in this College they are absent : even after the riots in Jeru- salem in August, 1929, the College opened as usual for the term without friction. These facts speak for themselves ; it is obvious that this institution contributes much to the peace of Jerusalem, the unity of Palestine and the higher education of that country.
I found its intellectual standard high ; its pupils pass the School Certificate of the Oxford and Cambridge Joint Board and the Intermediate Examination of the Diploma in Arts of the Palestine Board of Higher Studies, and in 1930, one student, an Arab Christian, was the first woman to take, and pass with distinction, the Final Diploma of that Board, her papers being set and corrected by University Examiners at Oxford, of whom I was one.
This advanced work, of which both Jewish and Arab girls are fully capable and desirous, necessitates a good library. Books of all kinds are urgently needed, especially history (English, European and Oriental), biography and travel, and the classics in English and French literature. Books may be sent to me at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford all gifts will be gratefully received and despatched to
Jerusalem.—I am, Sir, &c., M. CoATE, Fellow and Tutor in History. Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
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