on account of their number, then, the children are entitled to every consideration and to every provision that can fairly be made for their convenience. But there is another and better ground for their claim on the good offices of the librarian. In this great army of children the librarian may, if he will, train up more intelligent users of books than his present adult patrons. They come to the library with tastes unformed and with no reading-habits. They are' not only open to suggestion, they desire it and ask for it. And they need it so much. As Emerson says, here are friends waiting to bless the child, anxious to unfold to him their treasures of wisdom and entertainment. But they are under a spell and cannot speak until spoken to. And as the enchanter has dressed them, like battalions of infantry, in coat and jacket of one cut, by the thousand and ten thousand, the boy's chance of hitting on the right one is to be computed by the arithmetical rule of permutation and combination—not a choice out of three caskets, but out of half a million all alike. The chances are tremendously against him-unless some one will help him. And here is the librarian's opportunity and duty. And here furthermore is one of the most important ways in which the librarian can serve the school. Teachers are realizing the immense power for good or evil which books exercise in the lives of their pupils and the need for the wisest counsel in their use; and they should gladly welcome the expert assistance which the librarian can give them in planning both the collateral and the miscellaneous reading of their pupils.

It is an interesting fact, proven by careful investigation, that good library facilities, including a good librarian, improve the quality of reading much more than they increase the quantity. Where there are no libraries the children still find something to read, usually books of the most worthless and even harmful character. Establish in that community a good library and they read not perhaps many more but certainly much better books.

But not only in directing the reading of the pupils may the librarian assist the teacher. In the course of frequent conferences between them abundant opportunities for co-operation will suggest themselves, to the lasting benefit of the children. The librarian will keep informed as to the work the pupils are about to have in school and he will be able to prepare lists of references and parallel readings on the various topics, perhaps in the form of printed slips for distribution to the children. He will anticipate Arbor Day, the various poets' birthdays, and other special occasions, and will have ready against the need lists of books helpful for special programs and for further reading. He will recommend books for general reading, classified to suit the age and advancement of pupils in the different grades. He will be able to suggest special books to meet the needs of peculiar cases, following the example of Mr. Caxton in Bulwer's novel, who, you will remember, prescribed the reading of certain books to cure the mental ills of his son Pisistratus and Captain Roland. He will keep his eye on the magazines and promptly list any article which may prove helpful to pupil or teacher. He will provide a separate room for the use of the children, well supplied with the right books and made attractive with the

pictures in which children delight—and properly supervised. He will perhaps arrange for special school and classroom libraries, loaning en bloc such books as a given class will need, these to be given out to individual pupils by the teacher. Or he will from time to time group such books on certain shelves in the children's room, constituting a sort of temporary reference library for certain lines of study. He will on the invitation of the teacher meet the pupils at intervals and talk to them about the proper care of books, the use of the library for study and research, the use of the dictionaries, cyclopedias, Poole's Index, etc. These talks, by the way, are better given in the library; take the children to the library, not the librarian to the children. He will at all times encourage children to come to him for advice and suggestions about their reading and he will make his counsel so helpful to them that they will be glad to come. He will watch the reading of individual children so far as he can, and advise with the teacher for such further direction as may be desirable. He will establish the "story hour" as a regular institution, recognizing its great possibilities for good but also the fact that it must be in the hands of a specially gifted storyteller. Not everyone can make a success of the story hour. Don't hold up your hands in speechless astonishment wondering where I imagine the librarian is to find time for all these things. All this is simply the librarian's duty; this is what he is librarian for, and if he hasn't time he had better drop some of his other less important tasks until he can get an assistant.

Here the suggestion may be offered that in libraries employing several assistants the whole matter of relations with the public school should be in the hands of one person specially chosen for that purpose. The duties are highly specialized and may well demand special study and preparation.

But I need not pursue these suggestions farther. As I have said before, it is easy to name many ways in which the librarian may serve the school. The essential thing, and in some cases the difficult thing, is to induce the librarian and teacher to get together, to lead them to feel that they are colaborers and that each may and should help the other. The exact ways in which that help may be rendered must vary very much. Schools which possess pretty good libraries of their own do not need the same kind of assistance from the public library as less favored schools. The officials in charge of one public library will find it impossible for them to do for the schools of their city what the librarian in another city is enabled to do by reason of larger resources and perhaps larger liberty. But there is not a school so highly favored as not to need the help of the public library, and there is not a library which has not the power to render substantial aid to the schools of its city. If the spirit is really willing the flesh will prove to be not so very weak.

DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL EDUCATION

SECRETARY'S MINUTES

FIRST SESSION.-WEDNESDAY MORNING, JULY 10, 1907

The meeting of the Department of Special Education was called to order at 9:45 A. M. in the Los Angeles State Normal School.

The opening address was that of the president, M. N. McIver, superintendent of schools, Oshkosh, Wis.

Geo. L. Leslie, director of science department, city schools, Los Angeles, then addressed the department upon the subject, "The Need of a Better Understanding of the Exceptional Child." This topic was discussed by James A. Foshay, ex-superintendent of schools, Los Angeles, Cal.; John T. Prince, agent of the State Board of Education, Boston, Mass.; W. M. Ruthrauff, superintendent of schools, Tucson, Ariz.; and Mrs. I. W. Huey, Upland, Cal.

F. M. Jack, state institute conductor, River Falls, Wis., read a paper, "Why Wisconsin Believes in Public Day Schools for the Deaf."

A report of the commission appointed in 1905 to examine into the relations existing between the educational work of the institutions for special ducation and the state departments of public instruction of the different states was submitted by Mary R. Campbell, chairman of the commission, and read by the secretary. Upon motion this report was ordered printed and the commission granted another year for further investigation.

A resolution was passed instructing the president to appoint a committee to recommend a plan for the investigation of the problem of the exceptional child and report at the next meeting of the National Educational Association.

The chairman then announced the following committees:

ON NOMINATIONS

Miss S. Sorensen, Milwaukee, Wis.

J. P. Greeley, Whittier, Cal.

W. A. Gates, Berkeley, Cal.

Frank M. Driggs, Ogden, Utah.

ON RESOLUTIONS

James A. Foshay, Los Angeles, Cal.

F. M. Jack, River Falls, Wis.

An adjournment was taken until 9:30 Friday morning.

SECOND SESSION.-FRIDAY MORNING, JULY 12

The meeting was called to order by the president at 9:45 A. M.

Frank M. Driggs, superintendent of the School for the Deaf and the Blind, Ogden, Utah, read a paper on "Self-Support for the Deaf and the Blind.”

A discussion followed by Miss Jennie C. Smith, principal of day schools for the deaf, Oshkosh, Wis., and Miss Frances McKinley, teacher in the School for the Deaf, Olathe, Kan.

W. A. Gates, secretary of the Board of Charities and Corrections, Berkeley, California, then made an address upon the topic, "The Training of the Incorrigible.”`

The Round Table Conference was led by M. N. McIver, the president, the subject being “The Industrial Training of the Deaf.”

The chair announced as members of the committee to recommend a plan for the investigation of the problem of the exceptional child:

M. P. E. Groszmann, Plainfield, N. J., Chairman.
Geo. L. Leslie, Los Angeles, Cal.

F. M. Jack, River Falls, Wis.
J. W. Jones, Columbus, O.

O. H. Burritt, Batavia, N. Y.

The Committee on Nominations reported as follows:

For President-E. R. Johnstone, superintendent, New Jersey Training School for Feeble-Minded, Vineland, N. J.

For Vice-President—Olin H. Burritt, superintendent of New York State School for the Blind, Batavia, N. Y.

For Secretary-Miss Jennie C. Smith, Eau Claire, Wis.

The report was accepted and the secretary instructed to cast the ballot of election. Upon motion, the session adjourned.

FRANK M. DRIGGS, Secretary.

PAPERS AND DISCUSSIONS

OPENING REMARKS-THE AIMS OF SPECIAL EDUCATION

M. N. MCIVER, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, OSHKOSH, WIS. This department is well named the Department of Special Education. Our methods of instruction take into consideration the child. It would seem the most "pedagogical" in that it studies the individual. In this department the searchlight of science is turned upon the child. There is great danger of trying to fit the pupil to arbitrary laws, of making him adjust himself to a system. This is true of most school systems for normal children and is one of their greatest weaknesses. We seek, however, to discover the laws to fit the individual.

The Great Teacher said, "Consider the lilies of the field how they grow." In our special work we have happily reached the stage where we consider the child; the vital functions of the body, and the laws of his mental operations. This scientific understanding of him is destined to revolutionize our methods of teaching and discipline.

It is the right of every child to receive an education according to his capability. The test is not the amount of capability, but is there any capability at all; has the child any capacity for improvement? It is, indeed, the birthright of every child to be given an opportunity for soul growth and for the development of strength to enter into the delights of soul activity.

Our department deals with the education of those who are not blessed by possessing the natural heritage of a "sound mind in a sound body." It is highly proper and profitable that educators in the four great fields of special education—that of the blind, the deaf, the mentally deficient, and the incorrigible-should meet here for conference. Their platform is much broader than that of any other educational department. They have discarded the oldtime motto of the "survival of the fittest" and behold! their motto is the broad Christian one of "making fit to survive."

Early in the history of civilization many defectives were regarded as possessed of evil spirits which must be exorcised by incantations or driven out by physical torture. Today a better understanding because of our broadening intellectual horizon makes us seek the cause in physical malady and attempt to remove that cause.

Our province as educators is not only to call to our aid the skill of the physician for curative and preventive purposes, but also to develop the latent mental powers; to seek to reach the imprisoned soul thru whatever avenues are open in the individual.

Defectives are capable of education. Of course this capability differs in degree, but is this not also true of normal children to a degree not usually appreciated? The cases of Helen Kellar and Laura Bridgman are noted examples of the possibilities of special education. In every state in our Union similar work is being done. We have all noted with intense delight the unfolding intellect of children to whom misfortune had closed an important avenue to the soul.

Let us examine our motives in this work. What ends are we striving to attain? This leads us to approach the discussion along two lines. The one is the practical problem of self-support. This cannot be ignored and appeals in a more popular way. The other is along the line of soul-culture.

Mere existence is a delight to the healthy person. "All healthy functions of the body are pleasurable." This is a maxim among the medical fraternity. Mere existence, however pleasant and necessary as a basis for the highest life, is not the true end of those "made in the image of God." The necessity of existence makes imperative the consideration of support of defectives, either by the individual or others, usually the state.

It is not necessary to establish by discussion the fact that the ability for self-support brings happiness to the defective in a greater degree even than to others. The fact that we are training defective children in every state to bear their part bravely, holding them many times to the same standards of accomplishment set for the normal child, has been a wonderful incentive to these handicapped children and a source of increased happiness. It brings a self-respect and a feeling that they are filling the place of men. adds a dignity to existence.

Our discussions should deal, then, with the development of the power of self-support in the individual and also that which is of equal and greater importance, the development of the power to understand and appreciate the great thoughts of God that are immanent in the universe.

I am glad that we are to hear at the end of this session the report of a commission appointed a year ago to do research work along a certain line. Such investigations and reports must result in much good. I feel that further work of research and investigation along practical lines under the direction of this department would make it a power for good and should be encouraged. Those engaged in this work of special education are accomplishing results