Children's libraries in France

ht. Libr. Rev. (1974) 6, 435-448

Children’s Libraries in France

GENEVIEVE PATTE*

In 1964 Marguerite Gruny published, for IFLA, an article on the state of children’s libraries in France. This paper aims to bring her work up to date. However it is desirable to review briefly some points which will help an understanding of the public library, and especially the children’s library, position in France.

After a brief summary of the history of public and school libraries, we shall describe the situation as it exists at present in the different areas of librarianship, with particular reference to French emphases. Then we shall speak more precisely of the evolution of library planning, of the state of professional education, of teamwork for preparing instruments for children’s librarians, of the beginning of co-operation with publishers, of the problems raised by the introduction of non-book materials, and of current questions in French libraries regarding extension work, work with schools and integrated systems.

SOME WORDS ABOUT THE PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN GENERAL

The development of children’s libraries is closely linked with the limited development of public libraries in general. These have for a long time suffered from the conservationist tradition of municipal libraries : towns are often depositories of rare materials which they have a duty to preserve.

Besides the great libraries, public libraries are directed to an underprivileged public. Even if their founders set them up in a true spirit of popular education, in many cases they were an instrument to divert the working classes from alcohol and debauchery. But in neither one nor the other was there any place for children. The Anglo-Saxon concept of the public library appeared in France at the instance of Eugene Morel,

* La Joie par les Livres, 4 Rue de Louvois, Paris 2, who delivered this paper to the IFLA Sub- section on Library Work with Children in Grenoble, August 1973.

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about 1910. But it made little headway. In 1945 many great libraries did not offer open access to the shelves.1

Between 1924, the date of opening of 1’Heure Joyeuse, and 1939, there were only 15 children’s libraries opened in France. The establishment in 1945 of the Direction des Bibliothtques, under the national Ministry of Education, and more recently the organization of the Service de la Lecture Publique, have contributed much to the development of French public libraries. In 1956 there were still only 25 public reading rooms or corners for children in Paris and its suburbs, and 41 in the provinces.2

In 1964 one could find in the provinces only about 60 children’s sections, or unfortunately more often simple corners.

In 1970, 143 libraries claimed to have a children’s corner, only 79 in a separate room. In 1971 one estimated 280 corners or sections for children in about 600 municipal libraries, not counting branches.3

It will be difficult to speak in this paper precisely of children’s libraries in France in 1973 when the situation is changing so rapidly for the better. Currently the Direction des Bibliotheques-Service de la Lecture Publique is conducting an inquiry on French children’s libraries which will certainly act as a basis for several collective activities which many of those in charge of children’s sections feel desirable. The information given in this paper is an approximation.

WHAT READING RESOURCES CURRENTLY EXIST FOR

CHILDREN?

At school The sector of school libraries is the oldest. It bears only a slight relation-

ship to the idea of the school library we think of now. It acted only as a precursor of the public libraries which now serve adults and children. The teacher was thought to be naturally qualified to act as librarian. These libraries developed at the end of the Second Empire, and after an encouraging start, rapidly declined for lack of resources and new stock. In 1915 an interesting ministerial circular tried to revive them by organizing them on a canton basis.4

For reasons too long to describe here, libraries in primary schools did not experience major development; they were not able to offer real service since there was no professional there to organize and promote

1 In 1966, 15% of libraries round Paris did not offer open access. Cf. Bulletin de l’dssociation ah Bibliothhairesfrangais, no 65,4e trimestre 1969.

s Cf. article by M. Gruny in Enfarm, special issue, May 1956. 3 Cf. Notes et Ctudca documentaircs, xi’ 3946 (La Documentation francake). 4 France is divided into 95 departments, each department is divided into cantons.

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them: the teachers at that time did not seem to be very much aware of non-school reading for children.

It is significant that in France libraries were from the beginning closely linked with schools, and perhaps this was detrimental to them in giving them too exclusively an educational character. This is a pattern fundamentally different from Anglo-Saxon libraries which have been able from the start to present themselves as institutions of continuing education (1’Cducation permanente).

The current situation of school libraries is very mediocre. The 1ycCesl in a better position, have only about 200 libraries. Though new CES (Collkge d’Enseignement Secondaire) buildings have to have a documentation centre, it is very rare for the room to be used exclusively for the purpose.

The central lending libraries (kind of county libraries), depending on the Direction des Bibliothtques et de la Lecture Publique, are usually established in the main town of the department, from which they offer a service, by means of a bookmobile, to all places of less than 20000 population-very numerous in France. They do much work with schools : in 72 o/o of cases the deposit stations are in schools although the books are for both children and adults. Currently central lending libraries of eight departments lend directly to schools, in all towns including even those over 20000 population. They use 18 bookmobiles for this purpose. More than 7000 classes are so served, one quarter of those in existence. Certainly this is not enough, the bookmobiles are serving too large administrative units, but it should bring to the notice of teachers that the non-school book exists and that a central library is needed in any educational establishment of significance. The awareness of the teachers is now real and their demand is increasing very rapidly.

Outside the school The weakness of public libraries has led to the development of

parallel resources. One of the most important is certainly that of the Bibliothkques pour TOUS, a resource created before the second world war by Women’s Catholic Action, which has developed mainly since 1945; these libraries, have to some extent taken on the role of the former popular libraries, with the proviso that the Bibliothkques pour Tous are of Catholic influence: but the books they provide are much like those of popular libraries-mainly novels and little non-fiction. They have the merit of being notably well sited all over France on a planned

1 Secondary education in France is divided into two stages: the first stage from sixth to third classeq the second from second to leaving. In the CES one can only follow the first stage; in the lyde, both or only second).

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basis. They run a training course for voluntary librarians who operate them, and for whom a bibliographical bulletin is issued.

The Ligue de I’Enseignement, an organization without religious affiliations, has also developed a book-mobile service. An agreement with the Direction des Bibliotheques allows them to run this service in departments where the Direction has not yet set up a service.

Industrial libraries often offer children’s books to their members (French Railways even have children’s departments). There are also private libraries sponsored by various associations.

For some years the children’s library has become a fashionable institution. The general public is no longer indifferent to it: so much the better if municipalities take account of their responsibilities in this area. But it is very significant to note that groups of parents, tenants’ associations, youth movements set about creating, with voluntary help only, small children’s libraries of very variable standard, sometimes excellent. They do so often on a very precarious basis, with an often ridiculous budget, and their survival depends only on grants. This is certainly due to the real concern of parents and educators for books and libraries. It does however indicate a lack of confidence in the municipal institution. Sectarianism seems, alas! to be a very French characteristic. Each wants to run its own library for its own public. And it is not a pure accident if some youth movements do not usually use the municipal organization. This creation of many little libraries is also explained by the lack of dynamism of some municipalities, and the reluctance of librarians to involve parents and militants in their work. These libraries are sometimes supported or aided by the municipality. For example, 1’Heure Joyeuse at Versailles has operated for more than 30 years on donations. It receives only a small grant for the work. This municipality of 95000 people does not support financially any real service to children in its town.

We see therefore a dissipation of effort, a scatter of small libraries, which is harmful not only to the development of public libraries but even to their image and that of their personnel. This indicates also that there is a real need not being fully met by the municipalities.

In recent years, under state requirements, the Central Lending Libraries, roughly equivalent to county libraries in England, have greatly developed. They are gradually covering the whole of France. At the end of 1973 there were 63 of them in metropolitan France. Statistics show the importance of child membership, at least 50%. One regrets the more the absence of specialist professional education for this field, and the fact that direct access to children is rarely possible.

For some years there has been an important move for children’s sections in municipal libraries. Most have modelled themselves on


1’Heure Joyeuse (e.g. La Joie par les livres, at Clamart). Established in 1924 by an American committee, it was soon handed over to the city of Paris. It was run by three librarians who were true pioneers. Against all kinds of obstacles they succeeded in establishing the idea of the library still valid, founded on the American model. It was a great innovation in the public library world, even a revolution. At that time open access in public libraries was practically non-existent. The librarians of 1’Heure Joyeuse attached great importance to book selection, and from the beginning they developed the idea of “animation” (approximately extension work), emphasizing the role of the library as a meeting place for children, and the development of responsibility in the child, thereby according with the best of new educational ideas. They had hardly any imitators, despite their efforts. However, recently children’s librarians have rediscovered the importance of extension work, sometimes perhaps in an exaggerated form-we shall see later.

To define the face of French children’s libraries and to explain their slow development, one must first say a couple of words about the general background of the French children, that of the school and that of leisure. Unlike the position in most of Europe, school in France takes up much of the child’s time: the whole day is devoted to education. It never ends before 4.30 p.m., sometimes 6 p.m. This leads to an imbalance of time and a very tiring day. The child has hardly any time for reading in these circumstances: despite efforts lately to introduce a new pedagogy of reading, education remains very traditional. It is still too often tied exclusively to the textbook, and leaves only a little scope for the pupil’s personal research. On the other hand, the very long summer holidays (two-and-a-half months) take the child far from the town. There he does not have necessarily a collection of books available. The imbalance of school life has certainly had an important consequence on the developing of children’s libraries.

If the children’s libraries are now developing and playing an essential part in the socialization of the child, widely developing extension activities more or less related to reading, it is because the library sees itself fulfilling many roles: in many municipalities it is the only leisure activity available to all and adapted to the child’s desire of autonomy. In the suburbs of big towns, and especially in housing projects, children expect from the library a great deal, and this explains the original look of many of them. Librarians seek to integrate different children’s activities round the focal point of the book, the permanent element to which the child can always freely turn.

In a general way, the situation of children’s libraries and the interest in them of the responsible services (City and Ministry of Education),

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and of a larger general public have changed a lot in the last five years, by way of improvement. Certainly if one takes account of the number of school children, the number of reading facilities available to them seems quite absurd. Nearly 13 y, of municipal libraries do not lend to children, and probably have no sections for them and no children’s books at all-one town of 120000, two of about 80000 and 17 between 20 000 and 50 000, to speak only of the towns of more than 20 000 population, have no service for children. But the delay in children’s libraries cannot be overcome in a few years. It is important to note that, if, 10 years ago, a very great number of municipalities took no interest in children’s reading outside school, children’s work is now taken into consideration, in many towns as the active element of the public library. Many of those responsible are more interested in children’s reading than in that of adults.

Certain indications allow easy measurement of the development of children’s sections, for example, the importance of the buildings and the growth and qualification of staff.

As to buildings, public libraries are no longer built without a children’s room, which was not true six years ago. One sees everywhere new buildings or branches for children and adults, and sometimes only for chil- ren; the space is too often derisory for the needs, but the child has a recognized right in the library. Alas! one still does not dare to accord him the share which would represent his part (which is at least one third of the total of readers), although it is generally admitted that he has very different needs from adults, that he behaves very differently, expects more from the library, and comes to it more often. The standards proposed certainly take account of progress. They give to children, according to the importance of the library, one third to one fifth of the public service area; but they do not take into account adequately the statistics of use of children’s libraries. This distribution of space is only valid if one assumes that the library serves young people only within a kilometre of the central library. Therefore this would presuppose a very intensive municipal service and special children’s sections, which only rarely exist (Nice, Grenoble) and raises a lot of problems (several towns have attractive and interesting projects, like Caen, Choisy-le-Roi and Grenoble).

Sometimes the presence of schools or of institutions such as day-care centres, settlement houses, Maison des jeunes et de la culture) determine the siting of branches (Toulouse, Grenoble, Villeurbanne, Noisy-le- Grand) or even the central library (Epinay-sur-Seine). In a way it is a kind of integrated equipment which aims to insert the library in the socio-cultural life of the community.


Generally, the interior furnishings of the library have considerably improved. New furniture is available which reveals a new conception of the library. The children’s section no longer looks like a local administrative office but a place where one enjoys oneself and feels like spending time pleasurably. In spite of the increasing interest for extension work, few libraries provide more than one room for children. For some years, they have thought of linking a story hour room with the lending library, rarely a workshop and almost never a reading room, although it is well known that children, especially in the neighbourhood branches and in the housing projects, come to spend long hours at the library and that it is necessary to reserve for them an area of silence and tranquillity. In recent plans, sometimes one room is reserved for classes who wish to come and work as a group with the teacher.

As for staff, there is a clear feeling of progress with regard to the level of their qualification, general culture, motivation and also to the general level of recruitment by municipalities. The 1964 Report gave evidence that care of the children’s section was often given to incompetent people whom they dared not put anywhere else. Fortunately the situation is improving even though in many libraries the persons in charge have not been able to have a special training. Some municipalities give educational reasons for using the goodwill of parents without training and without payment.

Certainly, there still exist some young people who choose to be librarians to escape the real difficulties of the teaching profession. But the situation is improving, more and more they are becoming public librarians because they think they will find there an adaptable and flexible pedagogical tool to meet the needs of young people today.

Municipalities are recruiting more and more, for their children’s sections, holders of the Certificate of Aptitude for Librarianship (CAFB) and the staff themselves demand a specialist training. Progress is obvious. In 1967, 17 candidates received the CAFB option in children’s work; in 1973, there were 95. But the training of children’s librarians is still insufficient although more structured; the training is too short-only 60 hours of lecturing-and all centred on Paris.

This lack of training has serious effects on every library. It partly explains the disparity of children’s sections and also the lack of recogni- tion of librarians as specialists in children’s reading.

One of the tasks of La Joie par les Livres, created in 1965 and taken over in 1972 by the Directorate of Libraries and Public Reading (Minis- try of National Education), has not only been to provide an experimental library in a Paris suburb but to promote a more equal development in libraries, there being a danger in having some experimental libraries and

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leaving the rest to vegetate. La Joie par les Livres has therefore been anxious to promote co-ordination of work-a reading committee, working groups on various questions (the establishment of standard simplifica- tions in cataloguing, consideration of library school co-operation). These working groups have an indirect result: they make librarians conscious of the need for special training as they discover the complexity of each of of their tasks. One important job has been undertaken-the criticism of books. The circulation of the Bulletin established in September 1965, has acknowledged the work of the reading committee. The Documenta- tion Centre gives to everyone the possibility of consulting data which exist on various questions.

It is astonishing that, 8 years ago, there hardly existed any bibliographical instrument for children’s librarians in France, not the least annotated list. That meant a disastrous book selection, or rather an absence of book selection, apart from some excellent children’s sections working in co-operation with I’Heure Joyeuse. Most librarians appar- ently made no choice and one used to see in libraries the great collections and series which one finds on every station bookstall. Even now many librarians have neither the time nor the training to select books. Many think that the child must read at any price and that the fact that series attract children is enough for selecting them, the task of the librarians being then to help the children develop their tastes in their reading. Many buy one copy of practically every book on the market, without particularly encouraging the reading of such and such a book. There is therefore a very lax conception of book selection. Since 1965 the situation has improved, thanks to the widely used selective bibliographical tools (e.g. Bulletin d’analyses de livres pour enfants de la Joie par les Livres) .

Since 1969, La Joie par les Livres has organized in Paris well-attended courses on the problems of book selection. They are considered as essential by those who wish to work in a group. Too often a lot of good will has been manifested but uneven training has often hindered progress.

One of the interests of these working groups has been the discovery by the librarians themselves of gaps in their training, a clearer concept of the role they can play in book selection. This work has therefore favoured an in-service training in a completely natural and practical way. On the one hand, these two activities, the reading committee and the lectures, have allowed a real exchange with other professionals concerned with children’s books and education : booksellers, critics, editors, teachers.

This reading committee and training in general remain largely Pari- sian. A year ago there began the creation of regional committees which work very closely with the reading committee of La Joie par les Livres


in Paris. All the children’s staff of a region are associated in work which requires reading and criticism. The Technical Service for Libraries in Paris, which looks for ways of rationalization and tries to establish co- operation amongst librarians, has a children’s book selection committee which rests largely on the Centre of Documentation of La Joie par les Livres. The result of this work has been immediately obvious: book collections are no longer what they were 10 years ago; in practically all Paris libraries they are becoming quite acceptable.

A year ago La Joie par les Livres was administratively attached to the Direction des Bibliotheques et de la Lecture Publique. It is therefore more and more consulted for the creation of new libraries, both school and municipal. For this reason La Joie par les Livres is working on a list of all the children’s and adult’s books which are recommended for children. This list, first produced by La Joie par les Livres, must be reviewed by each committee member, then sent to all the Libraries which have a children’s section for them to make suggestions. That must lead to real team work at the national level. This list, strictly selective, should serve as a guide, to be then adapted to various communities. Besides this, it must greatly advance co-operation and discussion with publishers because, until recently, libraries were not yet considered as a significant market nor librarians as valuable interlocutors. Now, more and more publishers and authors are submitting manuscripts and projects to the critical opinion of the Centre for Documentation of La Joie par les Livres, thus recognizing that librarians can be competent intermediaries between the consumer and themselves.

An important event for libraries happened last May, thanks to the Association of French Librarians, which organized in 1973 its annual congress at Nice during the International Book Festival. It was an excellent occasion for librarians to meet publishers in working parties. This meeting was a happy event which is a prelude, we hope, to a notable change in librarians work. Thus they hope to contribute to the work of publishers and they now know that they have a responsibility as specialists in children’s reading.

The list which La Joie par les Livres is now working on shows in a very detailed way, omissions in publishing. The publishers will be informed of these and one can imagine that in the near future publishing for children, more aware of the needs of the public, will produce more works corresponding to the diversity of children’s curiosity and interest, as happens in countries where libraries are well established, as in Scan- dinavian or Anglo-Saxon countries or certain socialist countries.

Here lies one of the great difficulties in the librarians’ tasks of selection. French publishing, even if it progresses rapidly year by year, only pro-

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duces a few new titles: in 1970, only 800 titles; in 1971, about 1000 which would be plenty if publishing was more organised.The lack of co-ordination among publishers means that in the same year too many titles come out on the same subject, while large areas of knowledge are not touched. This is evident in the area of information books. In that of imaginative works, it too often shows in a lack of bravery. But the situation changes in a positive way, partly thanks to the translations into French of international successes of quality.

Another very special characteristic of French publishing is that it is very strongly linked with the school. ‘Until quite recently French pro- duction of children’s books has been virtually monopolized by some large publishers who are mainly producers of textbooks. They dominate the market in an overwhelming way by means of pressure given to them by their important distribution network or even, for one of them, by the control it has of more than half the French distribution of books”1

This predominance of textbook publishing strongly influences the publishing of children’s books-the contents as well as external appear- ance. There is certainly a risk for the children’s book to become an “informational story” or a “romanticized information”. But there now exist in French publishing some currents of change often due to excellent translation of foreign books; the librarians have to feel a responsibility for their promotion.

Coming back to the libraries, one notes in some children’s sections interesting collections of carefully chosen foreign books (especially picture books).

Alongside books, libraries are now developing collections of various kinds.

Magazines first, which, in children’s libraries, are still poorly repre- sented. One must note, however, that the quality of a certain kind of periodical publication for children is very clearly improving. The information that it gives children is often a lot more accessible than the confused information which one finds in too many information books. One puts more and more specialized adult periodicals at the disposal of children, In certain cases, abstracting of these magazines, whether they are for children or adults, is completely justified.

Games. Some “ludotheques” (game or toys libraries) have recently been created in France. Perhaps it is because of their influence that some children’s sections are providing educational games for their readers ?

Collections of pictures. This includes reproductions of works of art or 1 Lot-y, Vtronique (1971). La diffusion du livre d’enfants en librairie. In Les limes pour

les enfants, Les Cditions ouvrickes, Paris.


artistic photographs but also sometimes informative illustrations. In some libraries the pictures are lent with a frame and are hung at home for a short period. The whole family thus profits from the child’s choice.

Poetry. The same thing is done with poetry. Poetry anthologies are often very poor or school-like, so some librarians have decided to make their own anthologies and lend verse carefully chosen from popular rhymes, such as counting or nursery rhymes, to poetry which is not necessarily written for children but which appeals to children’s sensi- bilities.

Gramophone records. Virtually no children’s section lends gramophone records. One must say that in general very few public libraries have record libraries. In providing a collection just for children, there are now too many problems without solutions. The problem of selection, if one wishes to be sufficiently wide-ranging, demands activities similar to those for reading; that would require qualified staff which scarcely exists. One finds technicians, but the combination of musicologist and educationist is very rare. The question of individual listening in the library poses problems of principle. Until now, to our knowledge no serious study has been made of the psychological problems presented by various forms of equipment such as individual compartments, earphones, etc. Can a child, like an adult, listen and stay immobile and inactive? This is an area still to be explored.

Slides. Co-operation with schools has encouraged libraries to develop slide collections. Here there are theoretical questions which have not yet been explored; should the library devote a large part of its budget to large collections of slides which will be rarely used by children? In most cases it seems that slides are bought on the teachers’ demands for their classes. Like books, slides are too often prepared with a strictly educational goal and do not necessarily gratify the child’s own curiosity. Also, collections are very large and one does not know where to stop. The “regional centres of pedagogical documentation” which are meant for the teachers, are perhaps underemployed. It would be more important to start with recreation slides.

Extension activities. As for activities, French libraries seem to have given them a lot of attention. L’Heure Joyeuse has placed emphasis, since 1924, on the library as a place where children can organize themselves, meet, learn together how to collect information to discuss and organize exhibitions. Teams of young library-helpers plan the programme, partici- pating in the lending process. Actually libraries come back to this tradition. Where they have staff more qualified as educationists, they can better involve children in the life of the library. In some libraries, children become library-helpers, lending books with the help of adults,

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preparing a magazine, introducing the new readers to the library. Activities therefore are increasing although for 10 years they were

practically non-existent. In many libraries even the story hour had been abandoned. To understand this situation one must know that there exist few organizations which propose to young people different ways of spending their leisure time and there are therefore few professions for people who wish to become (or to work as) “animateurs”. Certain among them turn naturally to the library. There they can work with children and then acquire the technical training of a librarian. This certainly explains the sudden development of “activities” ; very necessary but perhaps not always carried out in a way related to reading. It is certainly a real difficulty; activities must not create an imbalance in the library which will then risk becoming a nursery or a good day-care centre, nothing more. Librarians must have sufficient skill to relate activity to reading in a very creative way. Sometimes librarians seem to forget the role they have to play and that no other institution can play since the failure of the school has been recognized for a long time (one knows that school does not give a taste for reading and even causes it to be lost). One must watch that activities do not become more important than reading, for librarians as well as children. It is characteristic to see in certain libraries painting studios flourishing where there are no book discussions, story hours or poetry clubs. It the librarian does not encourage children to read, who will?

The story hour always seems to be widely held, along with the picture- book hour. Continuing the tradition of 1’Heure Joyeuse, some organize exhibitions with children. Introducing and discussing books, by contrast, seems much more rare. Would it mean that librarians are not so much interested in children’s books? One interesting innovation of recent years is the introduction into the library ofwriting and printing machines which the children use freely to produce the text which they create and which in certain cases, will be made up into the library magazine.

This increasing activity is often based on a sincere desire to transform the library into a lively place, a place where the children enjoy coming, and where reading is no longer a sterile and boring exercise. If other organizations often forget children’s leisure, then the library profits by playing its card and showing that the library can be at the heart of a child’s life. These activities develop a lot in the suburbs of large towns, in branches rather than in central libraries. That is clearly explained by the fact that opportunities of entertainment are numerous in towns. Usually in the suburbs, children belong to an unprivileged class where the child is left by himself. He belongs to a socio-cultural class which is usually poor and all this extension work is indispensable in making all


the misunderstandings, of culture in general and reading in particular disappear. It is often through their children that parents become interested in the library. Soundings which have been made prove that adults using a library come generally from the educated middle class, that the children who use a children’s library belong to a much larger class, and that they include a large number of children of workers and employees. Studies of French schools have shown clearly that the great majority of children coming from underprivileged classes fail in learning to read-the key of learning-because they live in an environment where communi- cation is reduced to strictly utilitarian language. Children of the bourgeoisie live in an environment where conversations and discussions are frequent. It seems that libraries can play a key role among the less privileged if they are places for exchange, expression and discussion.

Librarians, in France, have thought that they could play a role vi.+& vis the school and vice versa, that both institutions should co-operate. L’Heure Joyeuse, in 1924, at once thought of receiving classes for there were no school libraries except for some dusty books in classroom cup- boards. Few teachers were willing to work with librarians. The situation is actually changing a lot, both from the point of view of teachers and from that of librarians. There is a lot of thinking on the respective roles of the school and the library, the different tactics to use to arrive at co- operation between the two institutions. The introduction at school of “tiers temps pedagogique” and the development of “activites d’eveil” must favour a real co-operation through the activity of reading. Working parties have been formed to consider this question and different experiences are conducted here and there.

The Direction des Bibliotheques et de la Lecture Publique encourages co-operation with schools thanks to the central lending libraries (bookmobile). They have quite recently made noticeable efforts not only in developing the service to schools but also in involving, in certain cases, teachers and students of the teachers training colleges (for example, Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, near Tours) in their work of promoting reading. It is interesting to note that those responsible for these experiences are quite aware of the need to set up very quickly central school libraries if one really wants children to be able to choose their own reading, to have at their disposal from the outset a significant collection and to consult books at every opportunity.

If one consults the official statistics one may be struck by the significant number of schools served in 1972: more than 7000 classes in eight departments and 13 899 schools visited (this last number including only communes with less than 20 000 inhabitants). But these statistics should not give a false impression since very often the visits are only once a

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term or sometimes once a year. It is not less true that it is a not negligible public relations job for the library. But will this rapid work, where the librarian rarely meets a child, where the teacher often chooses quickly for such and such a pupil really make a reader out of a school time?

Other experiences seem very interesting to us and full of promise although administrative difficulties are far from being resolved or even considered. But it seems that the ideal solution will be that found else- where and adopted long ago in many countries where a true network of libraries already exists. This question is one of central libraries in primary schools working in close relationship with municipal libraries. At present they scarcely exist. Only secondary schools have a right to central libraries, still very rare. All the work remains to be done in elementary schools. It is precisely this kind of school which is concerned with children at the stage of learning to read. France actually has some educational problems, often made very difficult because of the stiff administration but particularly interesting because they arise from a basic experience, a need very deeply felt by educators. Let me cite two experiences at Clamart, one in the Garenne neighbourhood, the library placed near several school groups, the other, quite recent, of a central library in a primary school situated in a very disadvantaged area; again the experience of Le Muy, a little rural primary school in Prov- ence, which takes in a large number of children of foreign workers. Other experiences of the same kind here and there, necessitating the conversion of classrooms and teachers rather than new expenditure. One thing is obvious : these libraries are often developed thanks to close co-operation between the municipal library and the teachers, which appears essential if one wishes to avoid the danger of leaving the library shut up in the school.

More and more in France there is talk of an integrated system. The library seeks a place in the socio-cultural scene (e.g. Istres, Yerres, La Villeneuve de Grenoble). It is an important question. It is too soon to draw up conclusions from experiences which for the time reveal very important administrative and financial problems, since they try to make organisations of different responsibilities work together. These experi- ments should encourage co-operation with institutions responsible for other forms of activity, among which librarians should certainly be able to carry out better the work.

Documents

Children's libraries in France