Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-19

wealthy and public spirited, which should
| be considerable in amount are to be de-
voted to the purchase of books for the mu-
nicipal library, which being legiSlatively
created and municipality controlled will be
like the public sch6bls-an institution of,
Forum of this year Herbert Putnam, libra
rian of the Boston Public Library, demon
strates clearly this origin and character Of
the public library of the modern type. He
refers in the course Of his paper to the
fact that the tax-supported library utilities
all elements of interest in library matters
in the community. and avoids all clashes of
petty personal ambitions and jealousies,
saying Of the endowed library that 'identi-
| fed as 1t is, by name with the original
donor. 1t fails to attract gifts from other
persons. who are not content to have their
| be glad to share with him the honor of CIV
| ing to city institution" And after an ex-
| haustive consideration of the whole sub
| ject, he concludes: add. then, the direct
educational value to the citizens who use
| 1t Of library which they feel to be their
own to maintain as well as enjoy, and there
would seem to bo strong reasons for saying
that no endoW ed library can do the fullest
work to the community without having
| associated with it municipal funds and in
some form municipal control"
That municipal maintenance on the same
| basis as for the public schools is essential
| recognized not only theoretically by the
| writers. but prac tically by the phifanthro-
| pists in this field. most of whom have
| turned over donated libraries to municipal
| control, and conditioned their gifts on mu-
| nicipal maintenance. Mr.. Putnam says in
| the article above quoted: There was pro-
| found foresight in the course taken by Mr.
| Pratt. Instead of placing his endowment
| in the hards of a private corporation, he
| turned over the million dollars direct to the
municipality merely stipulating that the
city should appropriate annually an
amount equal to the income of that sum
| for the maintenance Of a free library. The
private endowment, therefore, became
| merged in the public undertaking, and eX-
memory of the gift the institution would
appear simply as municipal enterprise on
the part Of the city of Baltimore"
Mr.. Cnrnegie's Gifts.
The same principle has governed Mr.. Car
negie in his numerous gifts of libraries as
to Edinburgh, Ayr and Dumfermline, in
Scotland; Johnstown Pa; Fairfield. Ia and
more recently, Allegheny City and Pitts
burg. Mr.. Carnegie is quoted in the Octo-
Der, 1895, Review of Reviews as saying:
THE result of my own study of the question
What is the best gift which can be given to
a community is that free library occu-
pies the first place, provided the community
will accept and maintain it as a public in
stitution. as much part of the city prop
erty as its public schools, and indeed an adj
iunct to these"
In the course of his remarks at the recent
dedication of the library which he gave to
Pittsburg, Mr.. Carnegie said: when the
library is supported by the community as
Pittsburg is wisely to support her library,
all faint of charity is dispelled. Every citi-
zen of Pittsburg, even the very humblest
now walks into this his own library, for the
poorest labcrer contributes his mite in
directly to its support. The man who en-
tiers a library is in the best society that this
world affords; the good and great surround
him, welcome him, and humbly ask to be-
he Salf
his own earnings, contributes to its support,
he is more of man than before
Surely Washington's+ library subscribers
on a small scale cannot do better than imi-
tate the library subscribers on a large scale
like Pratt and Carnegie. and condition their
subscriptions upon municipal participation
in the project. 'l'
While municipal maintenance is the goal
toward which every public library, however
created. steadily moves. many libraries
which nave later secured public support and
full success have been in their feeble and
precarious beginnings supported by private
subscriptions alone often with a small
charge upon those who use the books, and
even today in the villages of new and unde-
veloped communities a start is thus made of
necessity at the foot OF the ladder of library
development. o. r,
Through growing appreciation of the de-
mand for and usefulness of such an institu-
ton and sympathy Bithits struggles public
sentiment in these communities has been
educated. as designed by the library pro-
meters, until finally the taxpayers were con-
WINGED of the beneficial influence of the IL
brary. and came to its support. 1t grew in
favor, until the community was ready to
maintain by taxation real public library
| of the modern type.
Conditions in Washington.
At times and in communities when and
where there is no other practical way of
educating the taxpayers resort must be had
to this method, but there is no necessity for
this preliminary education Of the Washing
ton taxpayers of 1895. Our population is
large, intelligent and progressive; the tax
payers are today ready to have small part
or their contributions expended in this way;
| they do not need the object lesson of strug-
| Cling, feeble library to convince them on this
| point. The private subscriptions to main
| tain such library can in the case of Wash
| iEgton be employed to better advantage as
an argument for library legislation of the
kind desired by being offered in humble imi-
| tation of Pratt and Carnegie for the pur-
| chase of books for library to be maintained
from taxes. Indications of assent and even
| of enthusiasm, on the subject of tax-sup-
ported library have been displayed by prac-
ticaily every organized representative Of
local public sentiment. In legislation on this
subject Washington is ready at least for
the third stage of enactment which was
reached in some of the states and in Eng
land nearly half century ago.
Wherever support by taxation. the goal
d y
is struggling, could be reached by an easier
and shorter way than by undergoing the dis
tressing, infantile experiences of many
libraries founded in the early days, that
way has, as a matter of course, been select
ed. In the case of Washington the peculiar
local conditions and the labors of the board
Of trade have already cleared such a way,
which may, If there is united local effort, be
easily trodden. For these reasons the COM
mittee has decided to move directly and as
speedily as possible for municipal mainten-
ance. without diverting money, or time, or
energy to the creation and support of an I'M
satisfactory, semi-public, semi-private libra.
ry. sustained exclusively by private SUBJ
scriptions, of the kind which has often,
though not always, or of necessity, been the
forerunner of the public library in the mod
ern sense.
In addition to private subscriptions and
MUNICIPAL maintenance, 1t will be noted that
the committee has relied upon certain ma
tional donations of temporary room space
and of books. The propriety of Washingtons
requests on these points was fully recog-
nized by the House District committee,
which embodied the reasons urged in sup
port of this national action in its favorable
report to the last Congress- These opinions
OF the House committee are added as an ap-
pendiX to this report
1t is thought that further effort should be
made to these donations of hooks