The age-herald., 1898-03-10
ETCHINGS FROM
 CURRENT TOPICS

a public library which shall be in every way worthy of the best element constitut- ing the population of the city. A committee of women has been duly ap- pointed and will begin immediately to can vass the town in the furtherance of this project, which they have undertaken. This committee has been arranged that the city will be canvassed in districts, in that way insuring thorough work and also an | opportunity to every business man to con- tribute something to so good a cause.
 Every man will be requested to become a subscriber to the public library and as the membership fee is only two dollars per year-wth all the privileges appertaining to a complete and modern library-there will surely be a. generous response to the women's appeals.
 | This Is not public charity, in the usual sense; the women who are undertaking this | admirable work are not asking favors at the hands of the citizens. They are sim ply endeavoring to provide for the commit nifty public library in keeping with the demands of progressive citizenship. | They have decided-these women-to | rifice their personal comfort in the effort to benefit Birmingham and they should re- | every thinking man and woman in the city In becoming members of the Library Asso- | citation, for the insignificant of two dollars per year, every individual will en- | joy certain opportunities for self-improve- ment which can be gained in no other way | for moderate an expenditure. | Every man who has the welfare of the community at heart must recognize the benefits to be derived from the establish ment of d splendid public library upon a permanent basis, and having done so, should gladly contribute the mite of the 1 price of membership to a cause which | signifies so much to himself, his family and l the city at large
 The inauguration of this enterprise does | not in any wise conflict with the High | School library, which stands a monu- ment to the unselfish patriotism of Dr. J. H. Phillips, superintendent of the Birming- ham public schools.
 | This library has been an essential fac | tor in the cultivation of the community, and it is the corner stone upon which the | proposed library will be built. | At time when the city was not able to | cope with serious an enterprise as the | establishment of a public library, worthy of Alabama's most progressive community | Dr. Phillips was devoted and untiring in 1 his efforts to make the High School library i worthy of the encouragement and patron | age of reading people. How entirely he succeeded can be decided by visit to this | library, the shelves of which are carefully
 stocked with several thousand excellent | volumes
 In this connection, the question arises,
 naturally, '"Then why attempt to secure
 another library, if the one at the High | school is so satisfactory?"
 l For the simple reasons that the location | at present precludes a large membership, | because of it's inconvenience and inacces- l sibilty; that there is not a sufficient in
 come to warrant employing suitable li-
 brarian for each day in the week, save
 Sunday; and it is time that Birmingham
 should have a public library, comparative | with those of other cities of like population. l
 pr. Phillips Is in full sympathy with the | present movement, and if the labors of the | committee are rewarded with the success,
 they deserve the High School library will | be merged into the public library, and will
 become at once the nucleus around which
 the greater enterprise will grow and ex-
 pand.
 In 1884 or 1885, when Birmingham was
 just emerging from the village environment
 and beginning to aspire towards a broader
 and brighter future, the Public Library as-
 sociation was formed with about 150 mem
 bers. MT. John Towers was made president
 and the board of managers was composed
 of such representative citizens as Messrs
 G. M. Cruikshank, B. K. Campbell, J. H. | Phillips and others, who have been iden-
 tified with Birmingham's progress.
 At first rooms were secured on Second | avenue; a librarian was employed and two | or three hundred good books were placed on the shelves.
 The membership fee was 50 cents per
 month, and several generous citizens loaned 1 books to the association. At first there was l much interest and enthusiasm exhibited,
 but the boom appeared about this time, | and the members became absorbed in the | financial excitement of that fateful period. As a natural sequence, the library affairs
 languished; dues were unpaid. and finally | the books were levied upon to secure the
 rent of the rooms. The board met, and l LIT. fHllllpS eAerteu IlnSeut prl- | marily, to have the books released, then to
 provide a refuge for them He desired to | build upon the remnant which he received, | and nobly and unseEfshly he has done this.
 Every year some money has been ex-
 pended for good books and periodicals. This
 money has been obtained in various ways,
 by subscriptions. by the giving of enter | tainments, etc. In the year 1892, the most | fortunate period in the history of the Ii- | brary, N,500 was secured for the associa- l ton.
 The income is now steadily on the de- | crease, and the membership list continues
 to grow beautifully less by degrees" not | withstanding all efforts to induce a more | hopeful condition.
 Montgomery has public library which is an ornament to the city. It occupies two | large, convenient rooms in the center of