(c) Work with Clubs and Societies.— This work may be either with children or adults. In the former case it is usually con ducted by the children's department of the pub lic library either independently or in connec tion with some distinct organization such as the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, etc. Carefully se lected collections of books suited to the age and taste of the club members are provided, and in many cases meeting-rooms are provided by the library. Boys' and girls' reading, debating or social clubs are also often organized and con ducted by the library. The voluntary character of these clubs and the usual insistence on self government not only act favorably on the older boys and girls who have left school but react very favorably on those still in school.
The adult clubs whose activities are related to the library vary in character from trade unions and other industrial societies (to whom industrial as well as recreational books are sup plied) to classes of aliens learning English and to social clubs with literary or sociological pur poses. Suitable books and other printed ma terial are furnished and the library often serves as a clearing-house for the club activi ties. As a public institution, impartial in its aim to furnish any legitimate information on any question affecting public welfare, the li brary is pre-eminently suited to be an agent in the demonstration of practicable democracy. Its educational service is especially direct in supple menting the conscious attempt at self-culture which is the •sual feature of these clubs.
(d) Lectures and Exhibitions.— Closely allied in purpose with the work of the public library with clubs are the lectures and exhibi tions held under its auspices in the audito riums which are a part of most modern pub lic library buildings. These are often con ducted by outside organizations to which the library gives a meeting-place or exhibit-room. In such cases the library usually attempts to de velop and conserve the educational results by preparing lists of books, periodicals or prints relating to the subject of the lecture or ex hibit or by making prominently accessible the selected resources of the library on the sub ject. In other cases the library prepares the exhibit or plans and conducts the lecture-course and supplements it by its printed materu'l. Exhibits of local industries, arts and crafts and current and local history have shown rather definite educational results. At present the pub lic library is often the only substitute for the public museum. When the work of the public library and the public museum become more closely related, greater results may be expected.
(e) Civic Education.— The library's con tribution to civic education has already been noticed. By supplementing the school course, by providing standard and current material on civic matters, by aiding clubs devoted to the study of social questions and by lecture and ex hibit the library is an educational force. It fur
nishes the impartial publicity which promotes discussion of public affairs and which leads to more intelligent decisions concerning them.
The European War revealed the effective ness of the library as an azent in educational propaganda. The promoters of the liberty loan campaigns, the allied war service paigns, the land army and similar movements found it an admirable agent for the effective, economical distribution of their printed mate rial as well as for the display of their posters and other advertising material. It furnished material for speakers and writers for the vari ous campaigns. Its effectiveness in this di rection has led it to be used by other agencies for public service. Its use as a clearing-house for public information of all kinds seems destined to increase. Its public usefulness in this direction must obviously depend on the judgment shown by the librarian in deciding what organizations and movements are granted this library privilege and by the extent to which they are permitted or encouraged to use it.
In the broader field of international rela tions the public library can play a very import ant part through its selection of material deal ing with the life, thought and natural resources of foreign countries and by using them to sup plement the agencies for civic education al ready mentioned. It is already proving of great service to schools with inadequate library facilities on whom the present program of Americanization has been imposed with little opportunity for preparation to carry it out.
In the special field of Americanizing the alien the library has been of very direct service. It has supplemented the efforts of the school and other social organizations. It has often anticipated their methods. To many foreigners the library has been the only public institution standing for equal opportunity for voluntary effort. Its auditorium has often been the only respectable meeting place open without taint of specific social or religious propaganda to the alien social group. It has kept alive the human relations of the alien by giving him books and periodicals in his own language, dealing with the United States as well as with his native land. It has organized classes for the study of English and of American institutions and has freely furnished its books to other instruc tional agencies. Its service is to individuals, not to nationalities or to classes in the mass. Through the cultivation of individual thinking, — the motive principle of democratic educa tion,— it discourages mob thinking and mob action and maintains the traditional American attitude toward civic rights and duties.