WHAT MEN READ.

Waikato Times, Volume 100, Issue 16750, 17 March 1926, Page 4

WHAT MEN READ.

LIBRARIAN'S OBSERVATIONS. EFFECT OF OCCUPATION. To the uninitiated it seems hardly credible that a man's occupation would have an important bearing on his taste in reading matter —apart from the works connected with his trade or profession—but that such is the case was revealed to a Dominion representative, to whom the public librarian at Palmerston North (Mr F. W. Christian) offered some very illuminating observations on the subject. "There is the professional man who strays into the region of fiction," Mr Christian said. "Detective and mystery stories, and even tales of the Wild West, beckon to him as a relaxation from the arid furrows of commercialism. Quite often, by way of a refresher, he also dips into It. L. Stevenson.

"Another type of reader is the man engaged in things pastoral and agricultural or in manual and mechanical work. He frequently devotes some of his spare time to books of travel and exploration, also works on history and politics to broaden his outlook. This marks the preference of a very numerous class of reader, and illustrates the progressive trend of thought in the Dominion. "Tho man of leisure frequently delights in essays and biographies, and also loves to dip into works of modem exploration, and even into such studies as philology, and often shows a penchant for Victorian and Georgian poetry, and for the verse of Braiken.

"Another type is the schoolboy, who pins his faith ir. .lules Verne, and on ihc stories of school life by such authors as Haines Heed and Warren Bell, and tales of adventure by Ballantyne." Historical tales, and Ihc accounts of- missionaries and explorers, lie added, also had a rare charm for the juvenile mind. Turning to the dovernment official, the school teacher, and those who follow similar occupations, Mr ChrisHon said that there was a wowing demand for works dealing with New Zealand's island possessions. "Stewart's Guide to the Pacific Islands'' and "Tropic,il Agriculture," were typical examples of a class of literature of frreat value, to the thoughtful man of to-day, who took a ipractioal interest in Ihc progress and development of these islands. "The schoolboy reader is worthy of the host attention of ihc conscientious librarian," he concluded. "JT lift realises that the boy is fattier of the man, and if he makes of him a reader of adventure, an admire': of pluck and enterprise, and something of a heroworshipper, he will have gone far towards equipping him as a plucky and cheerful fighter in the battle of life before him."