Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-02-18
PLANS TO GET BOOKS
To Fill the Shelves Of the New and
Prospective Free Libraries.
COMMISSIONER MACBETH'S SCHEME
BE FsvOrs the Raising Of Fund by POpu-
lar Subscription,
LEAVING NIB. CARNEGIE 20 BUY SITES

Now thar formal action Of City Councils
accepting the municipal gift of Mr.. Andrew
Carnegie is all that is necessary to insure
Pittsburg her free Libraries, the question of
sites and books is beginning to occupy the
minds of the members of the commission.
Mr.. George A. Macbeth, the Southside
member of the commission, makes propo-
sition that sites do not necessarily need to
be donateo-that a sufficient amount of the
81 ,OOO, 600 donated by Mr.. Carnegie can be
legitimately spent for property on which to
erect the libraries, but that the citizens and
the public generally should provide the
books.
When seen by a DISPATCH representa-
tive, yesterday, Mr.. Macbeth said: ''There
are no less than so persons in this city who
can afford to give 5000 apiece. And they
ought to do it. Mr.. Carnegie is waiting to
see what the people will do for themselves.
1t is not lair to expect Mr.. Carnegie 70 do it
all, although he has said that Pittsburg can
have just as good library as she wants.
WILLING TO DO MORE.
"I take it that If the people take an in
terest in the matter and do their part, that
Mr.. Carnegie will not hesitate to do more
than he has already done. As soon as Mr.
Carnegie's gift is accepted by the city L
will, with one or two other members of the
commission, call on several of the wealthy
manufacturers and merchants and present
the scheme TO them and see what they will
do. 1 don't think there is any time to be
lost. There never was time when. Pitts
burg needed q library as she does now. The
(arnpnIa
library has kept the Mercantile Library
down, and believe that the Libraries can
not be completed too soon"
Mr. Macbeth is also in favor of the adop-
ton Of some sort of a cooperative plan by
which the Pittsburg and Allegheny libra
ries can be run without, duplicating books
in either. OF course, there is q large num-
Der of books in literature and science that
must of necessity be duplicated, but Mr..
Macbeth thinks the large majority of the
books need not be duplicated, and that
Pittsburg and Allegheny people might have
equal access to both libraries.
Mr.. Macbeth is also very much taken up
with the organization of the Academy of
Science and Art. He has in his possession
the petition for charter signed by over 200
prominent Pittsburgers and Alleghenians.
Mr.. Carnegie's name is first on the list. The
object of the society is to support and main
tain an institution devoted to literature and
scientific purposes, and for the promotion of
knowledge in relation thereto and in rela-
ton to the fine arts.
HEARTILY APPROVED.
Mr.. Macbeth SAYS that Mr.. Carnegie has
most heartily approved the academy scheme,
and he thinks by submerging all of the
- engineering, architectural, art botanical
microscopical and historical societies into
one o. under one roof they will have a ma
chine that could not be bettered to carry on a
library.
jdr. C. C. Mellor, another member of the
commission, was seer. He heartily ap-
proved Mr.. Macbeth's scheme to call upon
the people for donations for the purpose of
purchasing books, and he thought that
those subscribing should be given long
period of time in which to make payment,
as a great number Of the most desirable
books can only be gotten through long years of
careful wstchfulness. The Boston Public
Library bought Al, 900 volumes few davs
ago, and the lot included books that can sell
dom oe secured. The management Of the
library, according to Mr.. Mellor's idea,
ought to have fund always available so
that when the opportunities for purchasing
q rare collection OF books were afforded they
could do so.
MIGHT NOT LIKE IT.
Mr.. Mellor did not take very kindly to
the proposition to cooperate with the Allie
gheny Library. The Allegheny people
would imagine they were being made
branch of the P;ttsburg Library, and they
would not be likely to accept that.
Mr.. Maebeth's reason for favoring
the cooperative plan is because so many of
the people who have signed the petition for
the Academy of Art and Science are resi-
dents of Allegheny. These, however. are
but few of the many questions to be con-
sidered bv the commission as soon as it
gets to work