The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1873-03-15
OUR PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
PROPOSED UNION OF TIE CHARLES
TON And APPRENTICES LIBRARIES.
A Sketch OF the Two Institutfons-The
Advantages Of Consolidation.

Advantages OF Consolidation.
The recent revival OF the Apprentices Lii
brary Association, and the movement now on
foot for the partial amalgamalion OF that asso-
citation with the Charleston Library Society,
promise to result, at no distant day, In largely
extending the benefits of the latter institution
by adding materially to Its already extensive
collection of volumes, aud By making them
available to very large class 10 the commu-
,nlty who are now practically debarred from
access to them.
To understand the relative positions OF
these institutions and the nature of the pro-
posed union, IL will be necessary to sketch
very briefly the history of each, commencing
with tie Charleston Library Society. This is
very old institution, having been organized
In l74s, and chartered by the Crown In 1854,
and 1t now has library Of some fifteen thous-
and volumes. These embrace every depart
ment OF literature, and include some works Of
extreme rarity and value; but the collection
has suffered In the course Of its long existence
some extreme vicissltudea, and It's present as-
sortment of books is hardly such as to make 1t
available as popular library. During the
Revolution it was almost wholly destroyed by
fire, and during the late civil war 1t was rob-
bed of thousands of volumes, including almost
the whole of its lighter literature, such as
works of romance and adventure. 1t was re-
opened in 1866, and has had successful exis-
tence ever since, with gradual accessions to
Its collection of books, and has now men,
bership of about eighty, with the annual fees
fixed at elk dollars each. The society owns
the large building at the corner of Broad
and Church streets, the lower floor Of
which is rented out as offices, while
the upper floor affords ample aud convenient
accommodations for the library. The main
room on this floor, which runs across the
whole front otthe building, contains the prln-
clpal portion of the library, which is arranged
ls convenient shelves Oh three sides OF the
room and 10 the following order: Theology,
bellies lettres, classics, poetry and drama, hts.
tory, biography, travels and romance. A
smaller room on the east side of the building
is devoted to works on the physical sciences,
and corresponding room on the west con-
tains large and valuable collection OF bound
reviews, pamphlets and newspaper files.
These rooms are kept open for the use OF
members from 10 A. N. to P. NJ, under the
management of the efficient librarian of the
society, Mr.. Arthur Mazyck. The other OH.
GERS of the society are the hon. ]. B. Grim
ball. president; DR.. Thos. T. Prioleau, vice.
president; T. Alexander Broughton, Esq,
treasurer, and General James Slmons, solicitor,
and they are assisted In the direction Of affairs
by committees on books, accounts and build
ings. which are flied annually BY election
among the members.
The Apprentices Library Association was
organized In 1924 for the benefit OF apprenti-
ces, miners and others who might be disposed
to pay small annual fee and enjoy Its advan-
teges. In 1861 1t owned q convenient build
Ing on Meeting street, near Horlbeck's alley,
and q large and we'll selected collection of
books. In that year, however, its building
and library were totally destroyed by the great
confagration which swept over the city, and
the continuance of the war prevented Ills re-
organization for some years. In April, 1870,
II was determined to revive the association,
and an arrangement was made with the
Charleston Library Society by which the latter
society agreed to furnish room in its building
for the Apprentices Library, and to open the
building on Saturday evenings for the accom-
mediation of the new association. This went
into operation In October, 1870. and the
Apprentices Association has, since that
time, been In successful existence, aud
hes gradually. purchased about eight
hundred books. It has only been within
the past two months, however, that any
especial interest has been manifested In this
association, and the membership has Increased
during that period from less than fifty to
about two hundred, the annual fees being TWO
dollars and halt for each member. At the
last session Of the Legislature an act was
passed to revive and extend the cha rter OF
the association under the new name OF tue
Apprentices and Minors Library Association
and It has been reorganized under that char
ter, with the Hon. W. D. Porter as president,
3. F. Evans, Esq.,, as vice-president, and
board of trustees composed of General W. G.
DeSaussure, Rev. ]. johnson, DR.. F. Peyre
Porcher, and Messrs. VIM. Thayer, D. G.
Wayne, Thos. Dotterer, c. F. Pankniu, J. b.
Steinmeyer, 8. s. Solomons, E. N. Troth and
Nv. Dawson.
The proposition 10 make partial amalga-
nation of these two societies has been aglla-
ted for some time, and favorable preliminary
action has been taken by each. The adVan-
,ages that would be derived are obvious. The
number OF volumes would be largely increas-
ed BY the contrlbutionsthat the. popular young
association would be enabled to make to The
common stock, and the kind OF books that
they would naturally select would be such as
the old library is most deficient in, while at
the same time the members of the younger
association would have the advantages of the
solid and valuable works now belonging to
the Charleston Library. The Apprentices
Library Association has become extremely
popular since Its reorganization, as is attestea
by the rapid increase of its membership within
the past two months, and this Increased mem.
bership would prove a very useful addition 10
the Charleston Library Society.
committee was appointed few weeks
ago by each society to form a joint committee
of conference upon this subject, and this COM
mittee agreed that the proposed union was
expedient and desirable. At the last meeting
OF the Apprentices Association, held on The
Sd Inst, the committee OF that association re-