Page:The Carnegie institute and library of Pittsburgh (1916).djvu/15

 agencies, consisting of branch libraries, deposit stations, school stations, summer playground stations,. [sic]home libraries, and reading clubs. Most of these agencies are under the supervision of the Children's Department, being designed for the special benefit of the young.

Home libraries are sent out once a week in small cases directly into the homes of the poor. A visitor from the Library distributes the books in each case, and spends an hour among the children who assemble for the occasion at the home of one of their number. This work has an indefinable scope, for it accomplishes much more than the mere carrying of books into the slums; the visitor soon acquires personal influence in the neighborhood, and is often able to be of practical service.

Reading clubs do a somewhat similar work among the gangs of idle boys who hang about street corners, ready for any mischief. Several school boards and mission houses, the Newsboys' Home, and other institutions have provided rooms for such clubs, which are organized and directed by a Library visitor.

Work so inclusive and far-reaching as this requires special preparation, and Mr. Carnegie's Training School fills a definite need in qualifying the right young women to cope with the complex conditions of child life in our great cities.

The western projection of the main fa&ccedil;ade, fronting Forbes Street, forms the entrance to the Music Hall. The doorway is flanked by bronze statues of Shakespeare and Bach. The vestibule, of dark Siena marble, is stately and impressive; the foyer departs from the restraint that characterizes the rest of the building, being almost barbaric in its richness and glitter. With lofty columns of green Tinos