State Superintendent, 
 
 MADISON, WISCONSIN. 
 
 A Circular Relating to School Libraries. 
 
 To Town Treasurers and Town Clerks: 
 
 Several important amendments pertaining especially to the 
 duties of Town Treasurers and Town Clerks with reference to 
 school libraries, are embodied in Chapter 47, Laws of 1895, known 
 as the Town Library Law. The text of the law is given in this cir- 
 cular for the convenience of those concerned immediately in car- 
 rying out the provisions of the act. The attention of Town 
 Treasurers is invited to Sec. 1, which makes it mandatory “to 
 withhold annually * * * an amount equal to ten cents for 
 
 each person of school age residing in such districts for the pur- 
 chase of books as hereinafter provided.” Heretofore the reten- 
 tion of the money for the purchase of books has been optional 
 with Town Treasurers. Section II provides that the Town Clerk 
 in expending the money, shall call to his assistance the county 
 superintendent. The county superintendents are intimately ac- 
 quainted with the individual needs of the schools under their 
 supervision and can therefore gWe valuable aid in the selection 
 and distribution ^of books for the libraries. Sections III and IV 
 are practically unchanged. Section V directs that, “during the 
 periods that the school is in session, the library shall be placed in 
 the school house and the teacher shall act as librarian under the 
 supervision of the district clerk or of the librarian elected at the 
 annual meeting.” Will the Town Clerks kindly call the attention 
 of District Clerks to this provision? The provisions of section VI 
 could not be carried out in full this year because there was an 
 insufficient number of Farm Institute Bulletins to supply one to 
 each school library, as explained in a previous circular to Town 
 Clerks from this department. 
 
 Any further information desired by officers charged with the 
 enforcement of this law will be promptly furnished by the state 
 superintendent. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 J. Q EMERY, 
 
 June 8, 1895. State Superintendent. 
 
CHAPTER 47, LAWS OF 1895. 
 
 SCHOOL LIBRARIES. 
 
 Section 1 . The treasurer of each town in 
 this state shall withhold anually from the 
 money received from the school fund income 
 for the several school districts whose school- 
 houses are located in the town of which he is the 
 treasurer, an amount equal to ten cents for each 
 person of school age residing in such districts 
 for the purchase of books as hereinafter pro- 
 vided. 
 
 Section 2. Between the tenth day of July 
 and the thirty-first day of August in each year, 
 the town clerk, with the assistance of the 
 county superintendent of schools, shall expend 
 all money withheld by the town treasurer as 
 provided in section 1, of this act, in the purchase 
 of books selected from the lists prepared by the 
 state superintendent as hereinafter provided, 
 for the use of the several school districts from 
 which money has been so withheld, and he shall 
 distribute the books thus selected and pur- 
 chased, among the several school districts, in 
 proportion to the sums of money withheld from 
 each. 
 
 Section 3. It is hereby made the duty of 
 the state superintendent to prepare annually 
 or biennially, as he may deem necessary, lists 
 of books suitable for use in school district libra- 
 ries, and furnish copies of such lists to each 
 town clerk and each county superintendent, as 
 often as the same shall be published or re- 
 
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 3 
 
 vised, from which lists the several town clerks 
 shall select and purchase books for use in the 
 public school libraries in the several towns of 
 the state as provided in this act. 
 
 Section 4. It shall be the duty of each town 
 clerk to keep a complete record of the books 
 purchased by him and distributed to the sev- 
 eral school districts, in a record book furnished 
 by the state superintendent upon application, 
 and he is hereby authorized from time to time, 
 as he may deem necessary, to collect and redis- 
 tribute among the several school districts the 
 books, purchased under the! provisions of this 
 act, in the same manner as provided for first dis- 
 tribution, to the end that each district may have 
 the use of all books purchased for use in the 
 school district libraries of the town. For such 
 services properly rendered, the town clerk shall 
 be allowed the usual per diem of two dollars for 
 the time actually and necessarily spent. 
 
 Section 5. Unless the school district shall, 
 at the annual meeting, elect some other person 
 to be librarian of the district, the district clerk 
 shall act as librarian for the district and shall 
 receive and have the care and custody of the 
 books, distributed to the district, pursuant to 
 the provisions of this act, and shall loan them 
 to teachers, pupils and other residents of the 
 district in accordance with the rules and regu- 
 lations prescribed by the state superintendent. 
 It is further provided that during the periods 
 that the school is in session the library shall 
 be placed in the schoolhouse and the teacher 
 shall act as librarian under the supervision of 
 the district clerk or of the librarian elected at 
 the annual meeting. The state superintendent 
 shall have authority to suspend the operation 
 of this act for any year in any or every town, 
 by giving due, notice of such suspension to the 
 respective town clerks on or before the tenth 
 day of June. 
 
 Section 6 . The superintendent of farm insti- 
 tutes shall deposit, each year, with the state 
 superintendent of public/ instruction a sufficient 
 
number of copies of the farm institute bulletin 
 to supply every public school library of the state 
 with one copy of each addition of said bulletin, 
 which bulletins the state superintendent shall 
 send to the various town clerks who shall dis- 
 tribute them to the public school libraries of 
 the schools in their respective towns, from 
 which libraries the said bulletins shall be 
 loaned in like manner and under the shme reg- 
 ulations prescribed for the loaning of books 
 from the public school libraries of the state.