Communal Responsibility

Southland Times, Issue 25796, 6 October 1945, Page 4

Communal Responsibility

It has therefore become a matter of urgency to strengthen the influence of books in the community. Some people still believe that any books will serve the purpose. They imagine that stories published in their own youth are good enough for their children. There are undoubtedly older books that are as valuable today as when they were written. But many others, famous in their time, and completely harmless from a moral point of view, are written in a stilted or florid prose which helps to preserve false standards of composition. Juvenile literature has moved a long way since Ballantyne, Kingston and Henty delighted pres-ent-day fathers. It is now recognized that the writing of books for children is a highly specialized department of letters. Men and women writing today are using an artistry equal (and in some ways superior) to that which goes into the production of adult fiction. They are learning to enter into the child’s mind, and to create for it a world in which room can be found for both realism and fantasy. Above all, they are sharing the best qualities of modern letters. They do not write indulgently, as if children had to be made aware of their dependent status; on the contrary, they speak to them as if they were equals. These writers are establishing in young minds a responsiveness to literary taste; they are making it easier for- them to reach out to higher levels of appreciation. It is important, therefore, that books of good quality should be in the Invercargill library. Members of the committee now doing its preparatory work for Children’s Book Week know the titles that are needed. Although it seems to be hard at the present time to import children’s books in any quantity, the difficulties might not be insuperable if public bodies and organizations supported the project. The Government, whose sympathy for the movement was expressed last year by the Prime Minister, could be asked for an assurance that reasonable orders could be satisfied. There is no time to obtain books before November; but there is time in which to decide what books are wanted, to discover what financial support can be gained, and to make the necessary arrangements. A publicity campaign, no matter how intensive it may be, can have few results if it is aimed merely at a general stimulation of interest. There could be no better objective than a collection of books, listed in advance by those qualified to give advice. This is a communal responsibility. It is to be hoped that the City Council, and if necessary other representative bodies, will give the project their fullest support.