trained intelligence.

The interest of novelty, the dislike of mental effort, the temptation to
read merely for a mild sensation,--all these undoubtedly tend to keep
down the level of literary taste. To many readers of good average
ability, neither the esthetic nor the purely intellectual makes a strong
appeal. Even minds of fine quality often find a welcome diversion in
trivial reading. In fact, to expect every one and at all times to have
his mind keyed up to the higher levels is neither sincere nor
reasonable. And yet, making due allowance for intellectual limitations,
for the busy and distracting conditions of modern life, and for the real
need of light reading at times when recreation is of more value than
instruction, it would seem that a fair proportion of our reading could
and should be on a higher plane.

To put it on this high plane is one of the fixed objects of the school.
For this end the schools have given English an important place, have
broadened the list of recommended books year by year, and have sought to
improve the method of teaching literature. Especially have they hoped to
create in the pupil the habit of reading good books and of discovering
new material on his own initiative. Thus far their success has fallen
much below their hopes, as the testimony of librarians, adduced above,
plainly indicates.

There is one significant fact which both librarians and teachers have
observed. The average reader, child or adult, seldom knows how or where
to find things to read. He is lost in a library, whether among the
book-shelves or at a card-catalogue. He is like a traveler who is
ignorant of the geography of the country and cannot use the compass. And
worse still, he has not the explorer's instinct. If he possessed this,