The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-05-01
The Evansville Library Association
Statement from the President Of
the Beard.
EVANSVILLE, April 29th, Iod7.


Editors Journal:
The article in your paper this morn
ing concerning the Library, signed
Stakeholder, is correct In its spirit
and general aim, but does the present
Board of Directors some injustice. 1t
assumes that the present Board is not
awake to its duty, isunft for its trust,
has no heart for the work, and by a
little effort could easily restore the
Library to its former usefulness.
Whether or not the present Board is
"ft for its trust" is for others to de-
eide, but if unfit, the Stockholders
should not have elected them, or
allowed them to be elected to Office,
for most of the members of the pres
21za ent Board have served several times as
members of previous Boards. I pre-
q sumo "Stockholder' was not present
at the last election, or, he would have
"a prevented such acalamity to the Lii
brary by showing the '~anttness of the
H. candidates. If he was not present, he
ought to have been, SO in either case
"Stockholder',. was in fault. The
AL fact Is forlseveral years past~the re-
s4s-e firing Board has had to elect its sue
c%essors, or about the same thing, SO
Ln "a little interest having been takenin-the
election by the stockholders in gene
ga raj. 1t is impossible to get together
for an election a majority, or even a
respectable minority, of the stock
holders. -tveqersr
Now, a word in defence of the Di-
r%eetors, except their a~nttness for
Office, (which | leave for Stock
holder" to decide.) At their first
meeting last year the financial condi-
ton of the Library was discussed,
and it became apparent to all that the
= institution could not long survive
unless some change be made in the
constitution by which the stockhold-
GA3 5ers could be made to contribute more
largely, or the Library could be brought
into greater favor with the oommuni-
ty. But how and when to- do this
3 oa-w was the question. = The Association
: col towas somewhat inldebt, and the. re-
81 n sources the coming year would be
small. As a temporaryErelief, it was
proposed to give a grand concert; and
itEwas thought the musical talent in
the city could easily be secured for so
no 81 s'4ss good a purposesaand with little ex
ssaga for this purpose, which after2i
Il. I'll s5isaa wards reported that they could
? aeihianot get any encouragement from the
800 various musical organizations, aud so
that enterprise was reluctantly aban-
doned. 20 ezaz bns4
A vigorous effort was made at the
same time, to secure ~a-course of lee
lures from the best speakers in the
country, with the hope that-a- little
surplus might be derived from that |
source. Besides, it was felt to be the
duty of the Library Association to
give to the communityall the intellec-
tual entertainment within its power.1
1t was the aim of the association to-
secure such speakers as would please, /
nosa;bis. and d draw do;ns as ,b full tho hSui Ra,a as
. discarded all regard for political men,
or political opinions, and it was not
their intention to have anything like
* a political lecture. That the. result
in one instance proved differently,
was no fault of the Directors I ons
ef.s< ~ mention this because it has
been bhareed by some that the
failure of the Library Association
was because 1t has been converted
s,6 into a political Organization To
show how much we discarded politics.
will say that Alexander H.. Ste
phens was one of the first persons
written to to lecture. After various /
meetings of the Board, and a very
extensive correspondence by the
Secretary, a course, of lectures was
agreed upon. Here again was a great
failure, but without fault on the part
of the Association; for the speakers
had been positively engaged, and as
fast as they notified US of their failure
to meet their engagements, efforts
were made to secure others in their
places. The correspondence in the
hands of the Corresponding Secretary
will show that no pains were spared
by the Board to secure a full course
of lectures.
Early in the Winter a committee
was appointed to see what change
could be made in the Constitution to L
increase the finances and usefulness
of the Library. That committee met
= immediately after its appointment,
~ but there was a division in opinion as ]
E to the time and manner Of the pro
posed change, and as there was a
great stringency in the money markell
Tat that time. it was thought advisable
by some to postpone action till Spring, r
when it was hoped money would
~ Tbe : easier, land any l~propo-
-sition would. be more fayorably
Lentertaiued which appealed to the
pockets of the community. This
COMMITTEE will naeet this week, and
= - ) mo fam dars amentinr of the Roard