Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-07-02
FUTURE OF PUBLIC LIBRARY
WRITTEN BY GUssIE PACKARD DU BoIs.

even invent, new METHODS of Tighten
! ing labor. 1t is not the world
wealth that the artisan should crave
but the worlds education.
Lovers of social purity know tina
the mind that is stored with wis,
and good thoughts has no room fol
vice. Religious workers find allie:
in good books. Many, denied an edu
cation in their earlier years by the
hard necessities of life, find here. il
the bound friends. great and gooC
teachers, while for others it * the
only solace and recreation in life
of toll and self-deniaI.
The library should he a recognized
factor i'm the higher life of the city
civic, religious. educational. literary
and social. and not only the work OF
the librarian, but the tremendous
power that lies in her hands for the
advancement of the city's interest
should he calculated upon and count
ed. This power should he vested only
AS il is in the Rock Island public
library-in one who has from child
hood been intimate with books; no
study of later years can supply that
which a whole life time is too brief
To attain, and no purely mechanical
ability can take its place.
Now that the beautiful housing of
the books is made possible. an en-
dowment fund * the next great need
and a necessity of the near future.
y successful library should not only
meet the demand for books-it should
anticipate it. With the assessment
available in Il place of this size, it is
impossible to do this. Not only must
all running expenses come out of this
amount. but all wear and tear on
books must he made good; and this
is no small item. The amount left
To he devoted To the purchase of new
books is too small for adequate
growth. An endowment fund i'm a
public library should demand from
the city the payment of all running
expenses. salaries. etc. so that il may
be used in its entirety for books
alone. As the new building Will i'm
itself demand Il larger working force,
and the added books from the use
of such fund would necesSitate
workers-for. as / have shown. books
will not care for themSelves-the
growing population and increasing
assessment would meet these re-
quiremeuts, and the contents of the
building would compare more favor
ably with lis beautiful housing.
The city has in its present collec-
tion the nucleus of a library such as
will make Rock Island rank with the
foremost cities of the union il it can
he assured a steady growth. Her
muneved men should realize this.
take pride in the fact, and assure its
future, and nothing else but an en-
dowment fund now will do this,
since such growth must he contin-
Uous, and steady. No less sum than
s. 900 yearly income from endowment
can make this a certainty: with this
sum Rock Island can step into the
front rank and hold her position.
Can she take pride in anything more
juStifiablc? Every dollar will return
TO her Golfers. thousand times null
tiplied. from her educated men and
women of the future. and no small
part of il will he saved that would
go into penal institutions.
How could one choose to be better
Monuments crumble.
beautiful windows perish. but boolI'
are the best thoughts Of the best peo-
pie, and passing into the minds of
others they live forever. The man
who makes such an endowment pos
sibIe is infinitely better for the Civ
ing. the city is better for the gift.
and who shall measure its influence
on the future.
This * written by one entirely an
who. coming to the city of
Rock Island comparative stranger,
was thrown upon the resources of the
public library for reference work in
literary labors. Coming from n
years work among the books of the
library of Chicago, and
two years work in the study room
of the Chicago public library. the
Art institute and Crerar libraries. [
have been astonished and pleased be
yond measure to find in this city not
only fine building i'm process of
erection. but a collection of books
that shows wise and skillful selec-
tion. and careful and perfect cata-
loguing and card cataIoguing that is
a qualification to the student, while
it is a source of amazement to one
who understands the labor involved
in such work, and sees how it has
been accomplished.