[From Education Week,1926]

Libraries and the Manx Museum.

EDUCATION to-day is not confined simply to the classroom, it is brought into close touch with everyday life, and the Library and Museum play an important part in this process.

In the Manx Museum we have a perfect treasure-house of archeology, art, history, literature, and nature-study. It is a commonplace of education now-a-days that our teaching should be as concrete as possible, and here is a great store of material that can be used to make lessons more real, and thus more interesting. In these days of international thought, also, it is well to remember that pride of race is, within bounds, a healthy sentiment, and there is much to foster this spirit in our national Museum. Classes are frequently taken here, and are heartily welcomed by the curator and secretary, who are always willing to give help from their rich knowledge of Manx life and history.

The public library also plays an important part in education. It is one function of the schools to create a taste for good literature, and most schools have their collections of juvenile books. These, however, are used simply as stepping-stones to an appreciation of higher and more abiding forms of literature, and it is at this point that the public libraries can help. Douglas has long been favoured in its possession of a public library, but the rural districts have now a splendid opportunity to share in the same privilege. By virtue of a grant from the Carnegie Trust, the Education Authority have instituted a system of libraries for the country districts, and the head teachers of the schools have taken up the duties of honorory librarians. The rural libraries are destined to become an important influence in the future education of those who have left school, and also a very valuable addition to the amenities of village life.