Do not lay an open book face down or with another book or anything else between its leaves. Do not turn down the corners of leaves to keep the place. Use a bookmark, if necessary, but re member that persons who read much have no difficulty in finding without a bookmark the place where they left off.
Do not pull books from a case by the top of the binding. Take them by the backs.
Let children handle books freely, and teach them to give books good care, but if necessary cover the books with cloth or paper to preserve the binding.
Pens.—Hold a new pen for a mo ment in the flame of a match, or mois ten it with water before dipping in ink.
Scrapbooks. — Keep one or more scrapbooks on the library table, with scissors and paste or mucilage always at hand, and give all members of the family the privilege of freely contrib uting to them. Or let each one keep a separate scrapbook. Any blank book may be used for this purpose by cutting out every second leaf, or two leaves out of three. If desired, instead of pasting clippings to the pages of the scrapbook, strong envel opes may be pasted with the face to the page, so that the flap may be opened and the clipping slipped in. These may be labeled on the flap, and an index kept inside the front cover or on the first page or two left open for the purpose. Thus a book may be kept for cooking recipes, with an en velope each for bread, puddings, cakes, gravies, etc.
Or jokes, funny pictures, and poems may be preserved and brought out to entertain friends or lent to cheer a sick neighbor; or a book for quota tions, bits of wit and humor, pretty sentiments, and the like; or a book of household recipes to supplement those contained in this and similar volumes.
Commonplace Book.—Have a scrap book or blank book in which to keep memoranda of the things you come across in reading that you think are important enough to remember. All literary men have some system of keeping notes of things they read that interest them, so that they can look up the passage again upon occasion. Anyone who reads a great deal knows that the memory cannot be trusted to carry indefinitely the accumulated re sults of many hours of study. But a system of notes classified by index will preserve the key to one's reading, and will be of untold benefit in future years.
Pencil Sharpener.—Cover a small block of wood with coarse sandpaper on one side and fine on the other. The coarse paper serves as a rasp for the wood of the pencil, and the fine paper to give any required degree of sharp ness to the point. This is as good a pencil sharpener as can be found.
To Clean Pencil Erasers.—Have at hand a piece of old plaster. When the eraser becomes soiled, rub it on the plaster to clean it.
Reading Aloud.—The best way to keep books in good order is to use them, and books will not long remain on the shelves to collect dust if the different members of the family are in the habit of reading aloud. Select
for this purpose stories simple enough to be interesting to every member of the family. Do not make reading dis tasteful by attempting to choose books that will give direct instruction, but consult the tastes of all and read for pleasure and to make the habit of reading attractive. Once formed the habit will grow by what it feeds on, and by wise selection of good fiction different members of the family may be stimulated to more serious readings for themselves. Let all take turns, and the hours so occupied will be long remembered as among the pleasantest and most fruitful that were spent in the family circle. Happy are the parents who by this means encourage the reading habit among their chil dren. The greatest men in the world are those who formed during boyhood the habit of reading at every available moment. Carlisle said that " the best university nowadays is 711 collection of good books." The taste for good books and the habit of reading are keys to the libraries of the world.
To Prevent Mold.—Books, papers, or documents stored in safes, drawers, or book shelves may be protected against mold by putting among them small lumps of camphor. These evap orate in time, and must be renewed when necessary.
Pictures.—Modern photography has introduced many improvements in the arts that have cheapened the process of reproducing pictures. Hence it is now possible for every family to af ford reproductions of the most cele brated paintings and other art objects. Several firms of photographers issue catalogues from which selections can be made of prints reproduced from the contents of the art galleries of the world. The celebrated Perry pic tures cost but ei few cents each, and are not only artistic in -themselves but have a distinct educational value. Hence prints and photographs prop erly framed are rapidly taking the place of the lithographs and chromos of a former generation. Steel and copper-plate engravings, etchings, and original paintings are also obtainable at much lower prices than they were formerly.
To Choose Pictures.—Pictures give the last touch to the decorations of a home, and are in many ways its most important ornament. But they should, as a rule, be among the last articles to be selected, and should be chosen with the greatest care. Pictures hung in the living rooms of a home reveal the tastes of the inmates. Hence not only should the subjects be appro priate to the room in which they are hung, but they should harmonize with one another, and contribute to a pleas ing general effect. No single picture should be so large or so heavily framed as to be the most conspicuous object in the room or attract undue attention from other pictures and from the furnishings in general.