The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-06-13
CITY LIBRARY NEEDS
Trustees Annual Report Shows
What Is Most Desired.
POPULARITY IS EVIDENT
CIRCULATION OF OVER 100000
BOOKS LAST YEAR.
Library Has Grown to $4,000 Vol
umes and Sig, 900 Is Wanted For
Next Year-Two-thirds of a Mill
Tax Levy Will Raise the Money
Three Trustees to Be Appointed.

As public institution the free library
and reading room has been in existence
less than year and half. That il
has filled and will continue to fill a
long-felt popular want is attested in
the report of the trustees for the year
ending May 81, which was filed with the
city recorder yesterday for presenta-
ton to the mayor and the city coun-
ell. The report emphasizes the fact
that during the twelve months just
ended over loo. 0G0 books were loaned
from the library shelves for home read
ing and for reference in the readlng
rooom. During this time more tnan
10000 persons, nearly twice the city
population, visited the library. These
facts, the report notes, are quite con-
elusive evidence that the taxpayers OF
Salt Lake City appreciate the lnstltu-
ton as a public necessity.
Starting with the nucleus of S,642
bound volumes from the Pioneer LII
brary association, the number incr eased
to 1882 books on June /, 1888, and at
the close of this report 1,344 volumes
had been added during the year. Eight
hundred and seventy were purchased,
259 were acquired by binding maya
zines, etc, and 215 were donated, but
the di3carding of 1853 worn-out and the
loss of % made the net gain for the year
1,159, leaving 2,00l serViceable books on
June l of this wear.
Up to June l, 1898, borrowers cards to
the number of 2,7S4 had been issued,
but now there are E,773 in use
The trustees report states that the
patronage has been far beyond expec-
tation, and it is now entirely impossible
to properly accommodate readers, stu
dents and borrowers of books. The
necessity for more room is apparent,
and a request is made that some ar
rangement be effected whereby the two
rooms adjoining the library quarters
on the north, and now occupied by the
city recorder, may be given over to the
librdry'S uses.
\ more liberal appropriation or rate
of tax levy is asked from the mayor
and the council for the maintenance
and the enlargement of the library.
With the amount available the past
year from a third-mill levy, it was
found impossible to do much more than
to keep the library open, repair books
and to purchase a very few reference
volumes and some of the current liter
ature most in demand. The demand is
large and continuous for deficiencies In
reference books, works on mining, ir
rigation and agriculture, mathematics,
philOlogy, juvenile subjects and current
literature.
During the year Al 101 volumes were
issued for use in the reading rooms,
and 65,545 were loaned to holders of
borrowers cards, the circulation being
classified as follows: Fiction, 4O,7S4; ju-
venile, 1891 literature. 1851; !
1854: history, LAS; geog- |
raphy and travel 1853; religion, 667; nat |
ural science, ca; sociology, $50; fine |
arts, 2S2; useful arts, 2S7; philology, 1873; ]
German, 81; French, 20; government I
/
One hundred illustrated periodicals {
and current magazines are taken by the /
library, besides a score of daily and 4
weekly newspapers.
ON June l, 1898, the library had |
balance on hand of S5,5SS.14. The tax I
evy yielded S5,l76.35, and S23S.S4 was I
derived from fines for detention and |
oss of books, making a total of S11,-
,O3. IS.
The years expenses were S7,517.5S,
eaving, on June. /. 1899, the sum of
g, 1913. The disbursements were seq
'egated as follows: Salaries of library
staff, S3,2314S; cataloguing, 1,775.O6;
of books, S1.095.S3; rebinding
books, $4,000; furniture and fixtures
S70.01; subscription to periodicals,
80; stationery and printing, S2l4.90;
binding magazines. $129.15; general ex-
)ense, S42. sc.
An estimate of the library's financial
leeds for the coming year is given as
ollows: For purchase of books, Sc 900;
to periodicals, $500; bind
ng and reminding, $1,000; salary of Ii
'rarian, 5000; four assistants, including
Jerk, stenographer and cataloguer,
., 400; janitors and house cleaning. $500;
stationery, postage, freight,
xpressage, fixtures, etc, $1,000; total,
i 2 600