The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1891-04-09
The Library for Sewberry.

nrove of the idea-very correctly saying
that the library will be organized. AS
vet however, the plan of organization
has not been selected, that being,
n,atter to be determined by those VINO
establish the society or ASSOCIATION.
Meanwhile, all light on the sup]ecG
will doubtless, receive most cordlai
welcome; and is to be hoped tnat
those who fee d. interest IN the move
nent will attend the meeting TO oe
called for the purpose of adopting some
line of action in respect to the matter
and by their counsel and co-operatlon
aid in making the foundation success
full and beneficent undertaking.
Libraries are institutions by no means
unfamiliar to the people of South caro-.
lima. AS a matter Of fact, the idea OF
creating for the general good common
storehouse of books was one, OF tne
many very excellent seeds DrougnC
over from the old country by the early
colonists. In few communities, these
institutions, in spite of adverse clrcum-
stances. have long been nurtured; out,
unfortunately, in many lnstances-pos-
sihlv in the majority of finstances-tney
have either languished or altogether
ceased to exist. Recently, however,
the idea has in seVera; places been re-
vived with results that appear TO oe
biqhlv satisfactory and encouraging.
That such institutions have not OF !ate
wears to a greater extent hourlsneo III
this State, that their possl ollltles as
factor in the cause of popular eoucatloI
have not been more fully recognized
and that a more widespread and last,
inr interest in their formation ano
maintenance has not been aroused ano
lent alive may be ascribed to various
canses of which the fault of the people
themselves may, possibly, be one.
Whether the world is indebted to en-
hghtened Egypt for the origin OF nora q
ries or whether their germs may De
found in those collections of lnscrlp
tions on the walls and temples OF Tor
Gotten races may be point OF d!spuIe
never to be satisfactorily settled. 81
that as it may, however, ever sine
man man first learned the art of communi
eating his thoughts to others oy nean
OF symbols painted, drawn, or cnlseie'
-. upon substances capable OF recelVinj
impressions the notion or gatherln'
those productions together for presen
nse and for future reference has seeme
? to prevail. Greece, for example, 90!
rowing her culture from the Nile,
said to have numbered among the VeI
many institutions of which she coul
r iustly boast several well-known as we
f as Useful libraries, and the Roma
eaoles bore back to the 1iber thes
same institutions. Nor should the 1a(
Y he overlooked that on the breakup
! the western empire, it was III the llorS
o ries of cloister and convent that u
- sparks of civilization destined LOT
l time to illumine the world were pr
o sented and kept aglo~.
It THE wonderful impulse given to tE
o realm OF letters by the revival OF !earl
- ing, bringing with it the lnyentloe T.
= the art Of printing, FASTENED the 10
nation and growth OF libraries untll
last they have found their way 10 eve
n land in Christendom. Under the hoer
training of the common schools
/ modern times, moreover, libraries a
6 now everywhere recognized as insult
It tions at once both desirable ana nece
u sary. No longer the especial sanctuarl
of the learned, they have become u
le workshops of modern social Life. L
" stead of being found only in the gre
centres of population and industr
they have been firmly and successful
established in hamlets that have prov
u themselves large enough 10 suPps
le good schools. -,
al The objects for which a library
"a formed necessarily determines It's pl
III Of organization. Abroad, such founc
o. tions are largely the outgroWtn
s. religious and educational corporatlol
,l- although it appears that as far PACK
the year 1850 au act of par!lament "
passed in England authorizing dlstri
Ito establish libraries, and to taH I
inhabitants for that purpose" Cha
H. bers says that the first library f9no 1c
:. tion in America WAS este hiiaSs21l S:-n..d
.1-l - - o3sesoTrsuec
p III HAN Luz SN5 and a half centuries
pay through a benefaction from ar
, the known person in London, to the
dana rico College, organized by the colo
'o'ie Of Jameston, Virginia." This IN
noer ton seems to have perished, how
i'm when that town was destroyed o
per- savage Indians. At Harvard 20
y in Cambridge, Massachusetts,, 1t il
the next library was started; out
TORS tho ~ rroutb NJ Municipalities, 81
'hese institutions were founded IN
stees towns and cities. In the Iatter,
,sb;n of the libraries were begun by clel
stores, who, seeking recreation an
e ca provement in books, hit upon Ine
any of forming library societies oy q
who of q system of initiation fees al
woo nual dues. From such beginnings
A many of the large Mercantile LILO
of onr Eastern cities. Far-seelng
anx- ness men and great phlianthre
4 ont moreover, such as Astcr, LenoX
lping BODY Pratt t,a;r anu oTne n1es in magni
TAXA collections of books donated I
,ation public. Then there are the liora
Audi the various professions as well as
= -;,l of an exclusively reference cna
with no circulation feature VIVA
DOCKS Particularly in the Western :!
10 the there has been further developed
and ) tenn of school libraries for the use
~ oil children attending the 2uo!lc 81
l'O ''' but where town libraries ha7'
yes OF established, they have usually I
able to open their doors to the schooi-ch
In connection with many OF To
~ over ries of the present day are re
u w. rooms containing some of the
No. newspapers and magazines.
Of one; tables, the mechanic, for IN
in No. finds journals devoted to the e:
ton and description OF new mao
and inventions: the pnyslclan, a
IS tnls of the modern treatment OF q
to the the merchant, facts and 1igure:
list terests and importance 3e i0np1 to n!
a'ion instruct the mind. This is t
not only of the libraries OF larg
but those of country-toWns
;. The practical value of such an
ton to any place may, there
or Says readily recognized not to spea
3 Ap- higher considerations involved
In organizing library, the
ing outlines may then oe OF
c,o ! There are, for example, the,