waste much time in searching for topics and frequently fail to find them. Every reader should become familiar with the use of the index and form the habit of consulting it whenever it will be of assistance.

5. Reference Works. (a) DICTIONARY. The dictionary is the reference work most constantly consulted by both teacher and pupil. Its use is so important and the wealth of information within its covers is so great that the teacher should be able to give thorough instruction in the use of it.

(b) WORKS OF GENERAL REFERENCE. Every school library should have an encyclopedia, so planned and written that it is adapted to the pupils. A work of this sort is a library in itself and contains more useful information than can be obtained in any other way by the expenditure of the same amount of money. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that fully one-half the value of these works is lost because neither teacher nor pupils know how to find readily the information the books contain. Again, children do not know how to look up articles in works of this sort, and need to be shown how to use them. For these reasons the teacher should be able to handle such books with a good degree of skill. The following directions will be found helpful.

(1) Study the preface and learn the plan of the work. If there is an index, study that also to learn how it can help you in finding specific topics, or the minor points of a subject.

(2) Study the key words at the top of the pages and learn their use. If the topics are arranged in alphabetical order they tell you at a glance whether or not the topic you are looking for is on the page. To illustrate: Suppose you are looking for Bittern in an encyclopedia. You notice a word in heavy type at the top of each column on the page. The word over the first column tells you the first topic found on that page; the word over the second column tells you the last topic on the page. In our case the first word is Bissell and the last word Bitumen. You know from its spelling that Bittern comes between these words and that

the topic will be found on this page. If you do not understand the use of these running heads, you will waste several minutes in searching for your topic, and you may not find it at all.

(3) Study the long articles to learn how they are divided. Articles describing states, countries, large cities and important historical events are divided by topic, and each division has a subhead, such as Surface, Lakes and Rivers, Climate, Agriculture, etc. If you wish to learn about the winters in the State of New York, for instance, you would turn to the article New York and look for the division Climate. Under this heading you would find the desired information. It is not necessary to read the article from the beginning. This arrangement not only saves time, but it also simplifies the method and lightens the labor of research work.

(4) Study the illustrations. Many of them will be found very helpful in connection with the study of geography, history, literature and nature study.

(c) OTHER WORKS. The library will doubtless contain a number of volumes which the pupils can use to give life and interest to the regular lessons. You should become so familiar with the contents of these volumes that you can direct the pupils in finding in them the information you wish them to obtain. What we have already said about the preface, table of contents, and index, applies to this work.

6. Training Pupils in the Use of Books. Before a workman can become skilful, be his occupation what it may, he must learn to use his tools. Books are the pupil's most important tools, and before he can become a student he must learn to use them with skill. The first training in the use of books which the pupil receives, is given by the teacher, and the lessons should be such as to enable him to get pleasure as well as information from the books at his disposal.

(1) Occasionally read an interesting story or poem to the children, and tell the book from which it is taken.

Sometimes read only a part of the story and let the children read the remainder as they can find opportunity.

(2) Use every opportunity to direct the pupils of all grades above the third to books that will give them information on the subjects which they are studying. But to the younger pupils it is necessary to give very specific directions. At first show them the page and even the paragraph you wish them to read. Ask the beginners in this work to read but little at a time so they will not be discouraged by having too burdensome a task placed upon them.

(3) Make all the use you can of the illustrations which your library affords; children like pictures and are always eager to look at books that are well illustrated. Good pictures are stepping stones to good reading.

(4) Assign references with care. Be specific so that the pupils will know just what to look for and where to find it. Many children acquire a dislike for reference works because they were never taught how to use them.

(5) Be sure to call for the references you have asked the pupils to look up, then use the information in the most interesting manner possible.

(6) Watch the pupils in their use of the reference books, and when one has difficulty in finding the topics, give him such suggestions as will help him to a ready use of the books.

(7) Talk with the older pupils about the plan of a book until they become familiar with all the parts and know their relation to each other. When they have become familiar with these matters, assign them topics and ask them to make a list of all the references they can find in the encyclopedia upon them. When they are able to do this, extend the requirement to include other books in the library. To illustrate, we will suppose that your library includes a dictionary, an encyclopedia and a number of books which are helpful in the study of geography, history and literature, and that you have a class reading The First Snow-Fall by Lowell.

The snow had begun in the gloaming,
And busily all the night

Had been heaping field and highway
With a silence deep and white.

Every pine and fir and hemlock
Wore ermine too dear for an earl,
And the poorest twig on the elm-tree
Was ridged inch deep with pearl.

From sheds new-roofed with Carrara
Came Chanticleer's muffled crow;

The stiff rails were softened to swan's-down
And still fluttered down the snow.

I stood and watched by the window,
The noiseless work of the sky,

And the sudden flurries of snow-birds,
Like brown leaves whirling by.

A glance at the stanzas here reproduced shows that before the pupils can fully understand them they must have some knowledge of the objects mentioned by the poet. They should, therefore, be prepared to describe:

The fir tree.

The pine tree.

The hemlock.

The elm tree.

Ermine.

The snow-bird.

The crow.

The robin.
Chanticleer.

What is Carrara? What does it mean as used in the poem?

See how many books besides the encyclopedia you can refer the pupils to for the information. If it is necessary to assist them in finding the topics, do so, but see that all make use of the books. Follow this plan in the study of geography, history and current events.

(8) Train the older pupils in the use of the table of contents and the index until they can find quickly any topic a book contains.

Caution. Pupils below the fourth grade should not be sent to the dictionary or other works of reference, for they

are unable to look up references intelligently. The dictionary may be introduced in the fourth grade, but the pupils must be taught how to use it. Pupils of this grade should seldom be sent to the encyclopedia. They can, however, use supplementary reading to good advantage.

7. How to Use the Library. Every library contains books for reading purely for the pleasure one may obtain from them. Among these are myths, fairy tales and other stories. The primary children ought to revel in this sort of literature; it is one of the most valuable agencies in the formation of character, and one of the best means of developing the imagination for use in after years. Ideals of right and wrong and of truthfulness, purity and justice are fixed early in life by books of this sort. The older pupils enjoy biography, works describing animals, stories of the great industries and works of fiction that are within their understanding. A book that leaves the reader with a desire to do more and be of greater service to his fellows may be considered good so far as its influence is concerned. If, in addition to this, it is a work of choice literature, it is all the more valuable. The more such books your library can have the better.

But how shall these books be used? As the interest in them increases the pupils' tendency to read becomes stronger, and there is danger that lessons will be neglected. If such danger arises, reading in school will have to be restricted to a certain number of minutes a day, but this should be done in such a way as not to discourage the use of the library. The older pupils should do most of this sort of reading at home.

But here another danger arises. Children from twelve to sixteen often get the "reading craze” and try to read all the books they can lay their hands on. This sort of reading is disastrous to study and to scholarship. Forestall this tendency by requiring each pupil to give an account of every book he reads. A pupil reading Hans Brinker, for instance, should be expected to name the characters in the