Libraries In Mental Hospitals
72 MENTAL WELFARE
It can almost certainly be said that there is not a mental hospital in this country that has not a fair supply of books, which in many cases include a various selection of fiction and non-fiction. But it would not yet be possible to hear from every hospital such an exclamation as ” The library is fine, it’s like going to the public library at home.”
These words coming with enthusiasm from a patient seemed to strike the meaning of a real library in a mental hospital?which was the pleasure received by such a normal occurrence as going to a library to choose a book. Two kinds of libraries would seem to be essential in mental hospitals, one being well-stocked and open bookcases in the wards; the other being a good central library to which all those patients, who are able, can go and choose their own books from a wider selection than is possible in the wards. These central libraries are usually the newer and better ones and to select from them stimulates a sense of responsibility.
The question of a librarian for a supply of books often amounting to 4,000 volumes is clearly an important one. Up to now this heavy task has fallen on the chaplain and in most cases still does so. But valuable experiments are now being made in admitting either as an assistant librarian or as head, a suitable volunteer from outside the hospital. The reasons for this are that the efficient organisation of ward and central libraries is too heavy a burden for any one person on the hospital staff already busy with other duties and also that the regular visits from an outsider who has knowledge of books and an adequate understanding of the patients should give an additional element of ” life out- side the hospital.”
At the same time it should be remembered that to certain patients there is congenial occupation in the library, such as indexing, book-binding and so forth and that whether it be decided to employ an outside librarian or not there should be no doubt about certain patients acting as assistants. Indeed, whether these libraries should be classed as ” recreational duty ” or as occupation, it is still considered by many authorities to be an open question. But in the opinion of the writer there is ample scope for libraries in mental hospitals to fall within both these categories. It is in fact not yet proved, to what extent reading can become an occupation, when librarians have time to pay close attention to individual needs, and this is carrying the matter a long way fur- ther than employing patients in the library.
The British Red Cross Society has organised a library of books of every description for distribution among hospitals, and the demand is constant. Gifts of books are needed, and anyone able to help in this way is invited to write to the B.R.C. Hospital Library, 48, Queen’s Gardens, Lancaster Gate, London, W.2.
MARJORIE E. ROBERTS, Organising Secretary, Red Cross Hospital Library.
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