The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-01-16
is NEWHALL A
MOSES TO THE
MERCAN T|LE2
Will Be the Library's
New President.
GINGER is IN HIS POLICY
A GREAT PROGRAMME FOR THE
OLD INSTITUTION.
No Opposition at To-Day's Annual
Election-Pay the Debt, De-
liver Books and Get
Members.
A GREAT PROGRAMME FOR THE
OLD INSTITUTION.

Is the dawn of another bright and glori-
Gus day just breaking in the east for the
Mercantile Library?
The whole city is interested in any good
fate that may come to this old and long
honored Pierian spring.
1t has come to pass that George A
Newhall is to be its new president, with
a new policy in which is to be high per-
centage of ginger.
He heads the regular" ticket for the
annual election from a. m. to s D. m.
to-day, and for once no Opposition"
ticket is heard of. The regular nominat-
ing committee has put forth the follow
ing:
President. George A. Newhan: vice presi-
dent, F. P. Deering; treasurer, T. R. Banner
man, reeoraing secretary charles j. King;
tees-Thomas Magee, Dudley c. Bates, James
Linforth, Latham McMullen. Miss Sarah Ham
lin, Miss Agnes Manning, A. Nj. Robertson,
A E. Kellogg, T. Norwood.
OF these nominees Messrs. Bannerman,
King, Kellogg, Doxey, Bates and Linforth
and Miss Manning are renominated for
the positions they held last year, while
President Thomas Magee is made a trus-
tee. In the absence of opposition this adj
mnistration will be chosen to-day with
out any fuss and the venerable institution
calmly awaits its manifest destiny.
Can George A. Newhall save the Mer-
camille Library and put new life booming
through its veins?
II have decided opinions" says Mr..
Newhall. For one thing we must have
a messenger service to receive and deliver
books at homes of subscribers. Let a
subscriber telephone to the library and
then let a uniformed messenger respond
with catalogue. Let the subscriber
pick out his book and return the one Dor
rowed, and let the one ordered be deliv-
cred. The location of the library is
against it. but such a plan would make 1t
the most popular in the city"
Then there should be downtown dis
tributing branches. But what the library
most needs is a fund TO buy all the cur
rent popular books. Let US beg, borrow
or raise somehow money for that any
how.
of $75, 900 that piles up $500 interest a
year. 1 have suggested trying to fund it
another plan which l cannot speak of
now"
It is encouraging, for If by any plan
that overhanging $4,000 debt can be lifted.
the Mercantile Library will be itself
'sThe library has allowed the leading
families to gradually drop out" observed
Mr. Newhall further Let us get them
Hobart''-and Mr.. Newhall fired at the
chance flashed by a remembrance of the
Burlingame Club-'take George A. Pope,
the Crockers and those people-what is so
cents a month to them? Get them I'M
Then the building needs to be spruced up
a bit 1t needs whitening and paint
and putty and an air of prosperity in
stead of looking hard up with a lot of
dusty offices to let signs all over 1t.
The poetess Ina D. Coolbrith, the
librarian of the Mercantile. sat at her
desk yesterday in the magnificent but
rather lonely library room, and said of
the prospects of the library:
II don't know. l don't know that we
have men of sufficient public spirit to put
the library on its feet. The debt should
be paid or funded in non-interest bearing
bonds We have the finest library room
this side of Chicago and the finest library
except in recent works. When 1t was the
only library in the city it invested it's
money in rare works that are invaluable
to scholars, artists and investigators.
Every day scholars from the city and
from Stanford and Berkeley come here
looking for books they can find in no
other library, but that does not pay ex-
penses. It is a pity the debt should not
be lifted now when for the first time in
years the library is self-sustaining except
for the interest charge. The debt and
money for new books to popularize 1t are
it's needs. IT is a shame that San Fran
cisco cannot sustain one scholarly library
like this
The last years account shows an in
come from rents and dues of $3.50 a month,
RUNNING expenses of $3.50, net paying
membership of 725, about 500 new books
and $500 of floating debt paid.
This is the best showing made in years
and now great promises are in view.