Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-30

ten ~ branch libraries hero. take 4 To-
i granted that this COMMITTEES = In favor y!
the plan. Certain q = that the Housefol
eress. a9ter favofabas report b. the Com
| mittee On the District Of Columbia G6sn
Cong, "a Seas. H. n. Report 1850 parsed
l q bill Oh. r. 14040 similar to the one now
| under consideration except that II provided
/ for the erection of an entire system Of
Commissioners ana the hbrary trustees
vide the necessary maintenance. The pop
ular branch Of Congress. with which APP
propriations originate. IL. therefore. on rec
ord as approving system Of branch lie
was defeated In the Senate on the expressed
fear that the local authorities might move
/ too rapidly and too suddenly add greatly to
the tax burden. OF course. no such thought
existed In the minds Of the Commissioners
or the trustees. After the bill had been
defeated in the Senate, members Of the
District and appropriation committees or
that body expressed to the library trustees
their willingness to entertain proposals
looking to the granting Of authority Tor
establishing the system, one branch at q
slime. and put this principle in effect by
passing the bill now before you. Inasmuch
IA the House had previously passed the
bill Ell tkorfzing the entire system We had
expected as ready an acceptance OF the
snaller proposition in this body as In the
Senate.
ALLOW me to present few arguments
for the locating Of the first branch in the
suburb of Takoma Park. I should state
that on the occasion Of the dedication OF
our central library building. given by MI
Carnegie. he offered to give whatever should
be needed to build q system Of branches
and mentioned 900 as q suitable sum.
though he did not fix that as his limit. Fol-
lowing this announcement a large number
Of suburban sections Of the District applied
for branches, many of them going so TAR
as to purchase sites which they onered ZOE
the purpose. One of the most satisfactory
offers and most urgent appeals came from
Takoma Park After the bill providing Cor
the entire branch system was defeated, the
contributed sites, including the one at Ia
koma Park, were sold. When new nope
was held out to the library trustees tnat
the Congress was ready to pass acts for in
dividual branches, the favorableness OF tne
original offer and the urgency OF It's nrst
appeal led the trustees to turn to Iakoma
Park Its citizens promptly responoeo, Or,
1anized an association, collected money 10
the extent of nearly $1,000 and have pousn.
and paid for two corner lots IN oroer 70
make a large fine site, 82x17O feet. rms
they offer to convey to the Commissioners
as soon as this bill becomes law.
A Good Stroke Of Business.
"By accepting this offer the Congress
will do q good stroke Of business. num-
Der of other municipalities have recognised
the educational work Of the library oy
meeting at public expense the cost OF sites
and buildings for central and Drancn
libraries. Were there no Andrew Carnegie
to offer buildings. and were there no public
spirited citizens like these OF Takoma Park
to offer free sites, 1t would then be fncum-
bent on Congress on the ground OF PUBIC
policy to purchase sites and erect buldines
precisely as they now do in the case OF the
public schools. Inasmuch. however. as an
opportunity IL offered to secure both site
and building for this branch entirely free.
1t should prove an especially attractve
bargain. Moreover, the acceptance OF this
donated site would make q sort OF prece-
dent for the donation Of other sites when
other branches come to be PROVIDED.
should not want to 60 on record as aaVo.
eating for the future the postponement OF
the construction Of any given branch nulid-
ing until q site has been contributed How
ever If it were q matter OF choosing among
ing equal, the earlier choice would natural
ly fall on the one Offering free site.
1.-The rapidly growing suburb Of Takona
Park, D. c., now contains population OF
sons residing just across the line in Mary
land would be entitled to library privileges
because Of having regular employment or
business I'm the District The section o.
easy reach Of the branch, SO that easily
1899 persons would have access to this
branch, which would be located fully hve
miles from the central library ar .,,
priation. estimate that from 5000 to
s, 500 year would be required to run the
branch when 1t Is opened. divided some
assistant $50: page. 1890; 1anitor, $50;
fuel, light, telephone, ETC., 500; books and
periodicals. $7S0-total, $500"
Mr. Angus Lamond Of the board Of trus-
tees which holds the deed to the site for
the library at Takoma, replying to ques-
ton by the chairman. said It would cost
nothing at all to prepare the grounds ana
sidewalks about the proposed library build
ing. He said that the site is on grade and
that the sidewalk "a granoltthic WAX.
and he would guarantee that the citizens
of Takoma would do anything that would
be necessary.
Large Population Benefited.
Gen. G. c. Kniff1n, president Of the Ia
koma Park Citizens Association, spoke Of
the large surrounding population that
would be benefited by the library building
He said that 1t would not only be of use
to the public school Of Takoma, of which
1t Is within half a square, but would be
of almost equal use to the public schools
of BrightWood. He spoke Of the kind Of
people who live at Takoma Park, and said
that they formed an unusually intelligent
and refined community. Within year, he
said. large army hospital will be built
within a quarter of a mile Of this proposed
library building.
Mr.. Chas. J. Bell referred to Mr.. Carne-
gle b pan IOF giving $oOO,UUU Tor pranCQ
libraries in the District. and he said that as
long as Mr.. Carnegie lived that money
would be available. He said he thought
that a start should be made to build these
branch libraries at Takoma Park the peo-
pie Of which community had provided site.
He said he doubted whether q better Ioca-
ton of the library than Takoma Park could
be found anywhere In the District Of Column
bia.
Mr.. b. H. Warner stated that having lived
In Takoma for twenty years that he was
very familiar with that part Of the country
and said that community was made up Of
people from every state in the Union. He
hoped to see the bill passed. He added
that within the last ten days Mr.. Carnegie
had an estimate of the number Of men en-
ployed in building libraries for which he
had contributed. and the estimate was over
90 0OO reOple He had contributed more