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| Return slip from Louisiana Library Commission Jeannine Pasini Beekman Collection 2009.044.050 |
The July 23, 1936 issue of The Planters’ Press had some very good news to share with its
readers.
“In a tiny country schoolhouse in Louisiana 100
adults are struggling with the elements of ‘reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic’
that most children learn in grammar school.
Many of these students had never attended school until two years ago and
they have an average of less than a seventh grade education. Their eagerness to learn is pathetic. Their teacher must be a combination of a
walking encyclopedia and a patient Griselda to answer all the questions they
ask.”
“They have ten books to share among them. The more fortunate members of the class are
given the books to read and report to the others but, when a book is taken
home, the student usually cannot resist the temptation to share his treasure
with his friends and family and so it is a long time before the report is
made.”
“One of the ten books is a volume of popular poems
and they are learning to know and love ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic’, the
Twenty-third Psalm, Tennyson, Longfellow and Whittier. They are reading the story of Jean Valjean
(from ‘Les Miserables’) and finding in his misfortunes some of the tragedy of
their own lives. They are reading ‘The
Road Ahead’ and finding its criticism unjust because ‘it doesn’t tell the truth
about America.’’’
“Their teacher walks four miles every night to and
from the class and many of them walk much farther than that. When the books come, they asked to come half
an hour early every night so that they could have longer for the class.”
“There are many classes like this all over
Louisiana, as reports of adult education teachers show. In an effort to find out what books adult
beginners could read, Columbia University asked the cooperation of the
Louisiana Library Commission in distributing the books to the classes. About 10 books were loaned to each class.”
“’ I believe a long step forward will be taken when
our adult students are given books to read,’ wrote one teacher. ‘We have accomplished but little when we
teach a man to read if we give him nothing to read. That, it seems to me, is like showing a
hungry man food he cannot have.’”
“The Louisiana Library Commission hopes in the
coming year to meet as far as possible, the needs for books for underprivileged
adults.”
The Louisiana Library Commission, forerunner of the
State Library of Louisiana, was created in 1920 by the Louisiana
legislature. In 1925 the Commission
joined with the Carnegie Corporation to set up a network of libraries across
the state. Today all 64 parishes have a
public library. Visit the Bossier Parish
Libraries to find out when Bossier Parish got its public library.
By: Ann Middleton
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