The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-24


lature, the system ofttraveling libraries.
which ,h, has met with smuch favor in
older, as well as2younger communities.
The system, in. brief, contempIates the
creation of a state spublic library COM.
mission, to beicompased of five mem
beers. three of Whom shall hold office for
six years each and the other two shall
consist of the president of the state uni
versity and the state superintendent of
public instruction. These members are
to serve without compensation, and the
whole amount paid for their expenses,
including clerical assistance, during
any one year is not to exceed 81, 600. The
business of this commission is to con-
sist in forming, by purchase, collections
OF books suitable for circulating IL
braries. These are to be divided by the
commission into groups and loaned for
stated periods Of time to small COM
munities which have not libraries Of
their own, or added for the same
period to the collection of libraries al
ready existing, but of narrow resources.
AT the expiration of the loaning period,
the group Of books which has been
used by one community is returned to
the commission and forwarded by 1t to
another community, while another
group Of books is supplied to the first
borrower In this way a comparative
ly small collection of valuable books
may be circulating over the entire
state, and the best reading,be brought
within the reach Of those who could
not otherwise command it.. 1t amounts
to the virtual establishment of a small
library in every town and village that
shall prove DESTROYS and worthy of the
privilege, and to increasing the small
collection existing outside of the great
er cities by very considerable volume
of standard and current literature
When it is stated that in our entire
state, with it's great area and it's nearly
two million people, there are today only
sixteen free public libraries, outside of
the large cities, the,5need of some such
assistance is apparent. The education
al advantage of, access to the best
thought and established facts which
have their record in the book world is
hardly to be Exaggerated and needs no
repetition here 1t is coordinate with
and, in some respects, even superior to
that form Of education which the state
already provides so 1hberally and at so
| vast expense in its high schools and
other educational institutions. While
we view with disfavor the multiplying
of boards and commissions and the gen
eral tendency to make the functions Of
the state more intricate and to remove
them farther from the people by this
increasing of machinery, the present
| cause seems to US SO worthy, and the
apparatus Of it SO simple and inexpen-
sive, that it ought to commend itself
to- our representatives. The total ap-
preparation contemplated in the bill,
aside from the personal expenses al
ready mentioned, is 5000 for the eur
rent year, to provide the first collection
of books, and $4,000 every year there
after. III i,
We think that possibly, for this COM
munity, the project could be carried out
successfully with a considerably small
err sum. There are large city libraries
which have to keep in touch with the
times and to provide their readers with
current, as we'll as standard and refer
ence books, which have no more than
this amount to- devote to actual pur-
chases in any one year. The state is
not in position to encourage large ap-
preparations, and we believe that this
plan can be carried out satisfactorily
if the sums named in the bill are re-
duced from 80 to so per cent. The idea
itself, howeveriais a worthy one, is in
no sense experimental and is certainly
adapted to and required by the condi-
| tons and needs of our state. Right
action dependsson right thinking and
right feeling, and there are few things
which conduce more effectively to this
| than good reading. Such a commission
would need to-. he. selected with the
| greatest care, Gsand should consist Of
men determined MOTTO indulge and en-
ervate the public by gratifying an ap-
petite for TRASH, but to put within the
reach of all the bestT5fruits of our liter
allure. If the plan can be carried out
on these lines, and we see no reason
why it should not, it would meet with
our heartiest approval.