Libraries at the front

From Woman’s Weekly, May 25th 1918.

BOOKS TOMMY WANTS IN THE TRENCHES.

There is a chance for every woman to do something for our brave fighting men.

I SUPPOSE you have all at times, when you have been thinking of the horrors which our men have to face at the front, wished that you could do something to cheer them and relieve the terrible strain.  That is why I have arranged a little scheme with the Y.M.C.A. so that every reader, even if she has no money to spare, can give some men at the front a few bright hours.

Right up near the trenches, almost the only kind of recreation, apart from the entertainments provided by the Y.M.C.A., is that afforded by books. 

As you may imagine, the Army being composed of men of every class and condition, different men are interested in different kinds of books, and what interests one does not necessarily interest another.  To be sure, therefore, that Tommy is not disappointed in the book which reaches him, one must give him a library of books to choose from.  The Y.M.C.A. have over a thousand libraries connected with their huts in this country and overseas, and I want WOMAN'S WEEKLY to have its own library in one of the Y.M.C.A. huts at the front.

It takes 350 books to compose one of these libraries, but as any possible duplicates would be made use of in other libraries, a great many more than these would be needed.

FAVOURITE AUTHORS. 
ALTHOUGH, as I said before, different books interest different men, there are some authors who are almost universal favourites.  Rudyard Kipling perhaps ranks first, both his prose and poetical works being in great demand.  Running him very close come H. G. Wells, Conan Doyle, Rider Haggard, and Arnold Bennett.  The standard novels of Dickens and Scott are also prime favourites, while Anthony Hope, Stanley Weyman, Thomas Hardy, and Henty all come in for their share of attention.

But works of fiction are by no means the only books that are welcomed at the front.  There are times when Tommy likes to do a little hard thinking.  Someone who has recently been visiting the libraries at the front told me that he was constantly being asked for simple handbooks on electricity, aeronautics, mechanics, natural history, and botany.  These requests, by the way, came largely from men in the Royal Engineers.  Poetry, too—particularly Tennyson's poems —is not infrequently in demand. 

Then, again, it has to be remembered that many of the men are visiting foreign countries for the first time in their lives, and not a few of them want to know the history of the places through which they are passing.  Histories and books of travel dealing with France, Flanders, Italy, Palestine, and, in fact, all the fronts, are wanted.

HE DESERVES THE BEST! 
IT is, of course, impossible to give anything like a complete list of all the books that interest Tommy, but those mentioned above will form some sort of guidance.  All I would say is: Don’t send rubbish.  Remember Tommy deserves the best, whether of fiction or any other reading matter.

The books for the lending Iibraries need not be new, but they should be neatly bound in stiff covers.  If you have any paper-cover books or loose-backed books, you can send them along too, although they cannot be used in the libraries.  Many of the men have to travel via France on the long-distance trains to other fronts, and these books are handed out to them to while away the long hours of travelling.  Just think!  A journey which ordinarily used to take forty hours now takes a whole week!  You can imagine how glad the men are to have something to read on the way.  The only thing to remember is that the books, however old, must not have any pages missing, and they must be worth reading.

THEIR ONLY ONE. 
A MAN came to a Y.M.C.A. Secretary at the front the other day, and handed him a very dilapidated-looking volume, which he had given him. 

"I'm sorry it looks so worn out," he apologised.  "Every man in our platoon has read it.  You see it was the only one we had to read in the trenches!"

Imagine it!  Poor souls!  Reading their only distraction, and yet that one book had to be shared among so many!  Surely, remembering this, none of us can look at our well-filled book-shelves without immediately deciding to make some sacrifice.

If you cannot decide whether you can spare one of the books from your shelves, just remember that Tommy needs it more than you do, and send it along to Y.M.C.A. Tottenham Court Road, London W.C., and mention that it comes from a WOMAN'S WEEKLY reader.