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Dear Sir:

NASHVILLE, September 26, 1911.

We are endeavoring to interest every teacher in the State in the establishment and improvement of public school libraries. We believe it is possible to start a library in every public school in the State this year and we want you to be among the first to take advantage of the State's offer to assist.

The enclosed circular will explain to you the provisions under which State aid may be secured, and also gives some practical suggestions about raising the necessary local funds.

Will you not enter upon a library campaign immediately? Here is one way you can materially contribute to the value of your school and enrichment of the life of your community.

Let us know as soon as possible what are the prospects for starting a library in your school, and do not hesitate to call upon us for any information or other help we can give.

Yours very truly,

J. W. BRISTER, State Superintendent.

INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOL LIBRARIES.

The General Education Bill of 1909 set aside 25 per cent of the gross revenues of the State for school purposes. One per cent of the fund derived from this appropriation is used to encourage and assist in the establishment and maintenance of libraries for the public schools, as provided below:

"Whenever the patrons and friends of any public school in any county of the State shall raise by private subscription or otherwise, and tender to the County Trustee, through the County Superintendent of Public Instruction, the sum of $20 or more for the establishment and maintenance of a library for that school, said County Superintendent shall notify the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and, upon the certificate of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Comptroller of the Treasury shall pay to the Trustee of said county, out of the fund herein provided, a sum equal to half that raised by private subscription or otherwise, to be added to the library

fund of said school; and whenever $10 or more shall be raised by private subscription or otherwise to supplement a library already established under the provisions of this section of this Act, said library may in like manner receive from the fund herein provided a sum equal to half the sum so raised.

"Provided, That no school shall receive in any one year from this fund more than $20 for the establishment of a new library, or more than $10 to assist in supplementing a library already established."

Since the passage of this Act more than six hundred schools have availed themselves of the opportunity to secure libraries. The Department has not been able to use all the funds available for this purpose on account of lack of interest on the part of many teachers. We are not only ready, but anxious, to turn this money back into the various counties of the State. We have on hand an amount sufficient to meet all demands, and school teachers all over the State are urged to inaugurate some movement in their localities to secure a part of this fund.

Nothing will so enrich the life of a school as the possession of a few well selected books for the boys and girls. It is hoped that every teacher in the State will take advantage of this opportunity, and before the end of the present school year establish a library in his school.

HOW TO SECURE LOCAL FUNDS.

There are various ways of raising the necessary local funds. We give here some suggestions, but any teacher who is awake to the need and has a sufficiently strong desire for a library, will find some way to secure it.

1. Interest your pupils in a library and have them make a canvass of their homes and among their friends for subscriptions.

2. Give a school entertainment, or a series of entertainments, and charge a small admission fee, having it distinctly understood that the purpose is to secure funds for a library.

3. Have the pupils agree to contribute a certain amount during each week for a stated period.

4. Have a series of spelling matches with other schools, charging a small admission fee.

5. Give a tea or supper to the mothers and ask their cooperation.

6. Celebrate a national holiday or commemorate the birthday of some great man and take a voluntary collection or subscription at the close.

7. Interest some public-spirited citizen to make a proposition to give as much money towards the library as the school will raise otherwise.

8. Get a supply of School Improvement Buttons from Miss Moore, State Organizer, S. I. A., Nashville, sell them to friends and patrons of the school, and retain half of the proceeds for your library and other school improvements.

Any other information desired can be had by writing to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Nashville, Tenn.

To County Superintendents:

NASHVILLE, November 4, 1911.

I want to take this means of calling your attention to the need of consolidation in properly developing our school system in Tennessee. I am well aware that what I have to say is an old story, but it can do no harm for me to emphasize it at this time.

It is a fact worthy of note that the States that are making the most progress in educational matters, and the counties of our own State which are in the forefront educationally have considered the matter of consolidation seriously and have entered upon it in a thoroughly systematic way.

It is reasonably certain that we can make no great improvement in school conditions as long as we endeavor to maintain so many single-teacher, one-room schools. No teacher can do satisfactory work with forty or fifty pupils ranging through six or eight grades. Until we adopt the consolidation as a fixed policy and begin to combine the single schools as rapidly as circumstances permit we need not expect decided and permanent improvement.

The two prime desiderata of a school are (1) as large a number as possible of the available children in attendance, and (2) efficient instruction. Both results are realized by consolidation. It is a fact almost universally attested to that when two or three or four single teacher schools are consolidated the attendance upon the one new school is in excess of the combined attendance upon all the single schools. And there can be no sort of doubt as to the improvement in instruction. Three or four teachers working in one school with all their pupils together will bring about a school spirit which is wholesome and uplifting. Such a school community will realize its power and will soon begin to contribute not only to the life of the children but will reach the adults as well, helping them and securing their help.

Consolidation means a more satisfactory calassification and grading of pupils, more of the teacher's time to each child and class, and in consequence more rap d and real advancement.

There is a widespread feeling that the curricula of our elementary schools ought to be vitalized; that agriculture and domestic science ought to be introduced; that the content even of the conventional studies need revision; all for the purpose of enriching the school course and relating it more directly to life.

It is absolutely certain that this cannot be done with the single teacher school. Already his program is crowded and there can be no addition to the burdens he is carrying. Only in the consolidated school can we hope to introduce such reforms.

As I have indicated above, consolidation is the condition of progress of more efficient teaching of modernized curricula, of increased attendance, of permanent educational success.

Consolidation, in most cases, involves transportation, but we need not be afraid of that. Some of the counties of Tennessee have school wagons transporting their boys and girls back and forth daily, and they are just as essential and vital a part of the school as the teacher or the building. Local conditions vary greatly and no one could prescribe intelligently for every county in the State; but it is agreed that under ordinary conditions in rural communities one school for every twenty or twenty-five square miles is sufficient. If the school is situated

in the center of such an area no pupil would be at any very great distance, especially if means of conveyance are provided.

I hope every County Superintendent will give consideration to this important matter; will study his local situation thoroughly and plan such consolidations as are practicable. When once you have decided upon what ought to be and can be done, it would be well to enter upon a systematic campaign. It will take time to persuade the patrons of the various schools that change of location is desirable; but it is only by persistent effort, argument and appeal that a sufficient endorsement can be secured to guarantee success.

So.

If I or any of my co-workers can help we shall be glad to do The Presidents of the Normal Schools also with their faculties are ready to aid. To any ambitious County Superintendent with a real plan of school reform we can promise hearty co-operation.

In closing I should like to ask every County Superintendent to keep me informed as to the work of consolidation and other school reforms projected in his county. Please let me know to what extent the work has gone on during the last few years and what are the prospects for other consolidations in the immediate future.

Very truly yours,

J. W. BRISTER,

State Superintendent.

NASHVILLE, November 11, 1911.

To Members of County Boards of Education:

I want to take this means of directing your attention to our State Normal Schools and to the opportunity which will be presented to the wide-awake Boards of Education in the counties of the State of securing a better grade of teachers than many now available.

The Normal Schools, of course, cannot supply all the teachers needed; but they will turn out year after year scores of well trained men and women who temporarily at least must teach in the schools of Tennessee, and who can be retained for long

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