St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-02-23
VOTE FOR THE LIBRARY.

u liz ~" Ci IdC6 lSllSTS.
VOTE FOR THE LIBRARY.
The GIL o b e urges earnestly that
every citizen of St Paul cut out the
coupon which appeared yesterday
morning and appears again this morn
Ing in this paper, sign it and send
1t to the library committee of the Com
merclal club or to this Office. 1t is in
tended, by this method, to apply, as
far as may be, the principle of the
referendum to the question of utiliz-
ing the market house property for the
provision of a public library for the
city of st. Paul Whenever and wher-
ever proposition to do this has been
classes of people-the disinterested
citizen of limited vision, and the citi-
zen who is very much interested in
some scheme of his own-with the
allegation in reply that the people are
not as much in earnest in wanting a
library building as they are supposed
to be.
The time has now come for the people
to express themselves We are thor
oughly convinced that an immense ma
Jor1ty of our citizens are in favor of
a proposition to dispose of the mar
ket house property on the best terms
obtainable, and to apply the proceeds
to the erection of a library building.
We do not have in mind, in making
this statement, merely or mainly the
citizen of liberal education and album
dant means, who has plenty of books.
magazines and newspapers in his own
home, and is influenced in the mat
ter only by his desire that equal ad-
Vantages should be placed within the
reach of ALL We are thinking partic-
uiarly of the intelligent people of St
Paul of moderate or scanty means; of
people who cannot afford to subscribe
for all the magazines or to buy the
latest books; of the clerks in our
stores and the working men and wom-
en- in our factories and shops, for whose
entertainment, and culture most of all
public library building is desired
Let any man station himself for
day in the corridor of the city hall
opposite the library entrance and take
note Of those who are its patrons Not
many of the wealthy, of the leaders of
fashion, or even of culture, will be
found there; but, aside from the large
number Of children who draw books.
the majority will be found to be people
OF small. means, who, but for such
facilities as the library has to offer,
would be cut off largely from the up
lifting and broadening Influences of
good literature. 1t is for these people
that we want to! see spacious reading
rooms, where leisure hours and even
ings may be spent in comfort, in confer
ence with the best mfr-s5 of this and
other times. 1t is for these that we
want to have reference library so
bestowed that the seeker of informa-
ton can find his way. 1t is for these
that we want library placed where
it will be easily accessible, and may
be a veritable temple of learning for
the plain, everyday people of the
city.
The time has come for such people
to speak. Their wishes are denied and
their position, as we believe is mis-
represented. They have now an op-
portunity to vote. Let all the differ
tot
women in this city take up the ques-
ton and express an opinion which it
requires only the writing of a name
to put in evidence Sign one of these
blanks prepared by the Commercial
club committee. They will be found at
the newspaper offices, banks and other
places of public resort; but everybody
who reads this mornings G o can
put himself on record by cutting out
the coupon printed in another column
and sending it in. Let us have a full
vote, so that no one may ever again
declare that the people of ST. Paul are
so far below the average of those Of
other cities, of even little towns and
villages all over the country, that they
are either Indifferent or actually hos
tile to the library, project.