The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-10-08
In addition to tho moro Legitimate pc.
cial feld Of tho library.
Dotn0 Great uu..L

ciai held OF tho library.
| Doing Great Work.
| 1t should be said. too. before leaving
! the subject of the State Library. that
1t is doing extremely good work
through It's travelling libraries (221 col.
! lections, having 1o,4s2 books in the ag-
! gresate) in supplying at least a taste
{ OF good literature to as many com.
/ munities and schools as possible
I throughout the State. that 1t ia u
{ rcau OF information applied to in ever
| increasing measure by people all over
| the country, and that II is engaged IN
caring for and publishing a unique
manuscript collection. In the perform
/ ance OF It's varied functions are con-
! sumed the energies of an enthusiastic
staff. Hut II cannot. owing Doth to
the Limitations set upon 1T by law and
! to the mcagreness of It's funds, take
{ the place in all respects of a free pub
lie library for the vity OF Richmond
! Richmond. however, has up 10 tho
! presen. time done nothing towards
! supplying library OF It's own, beyond
/ voting small appropriation in aid Of
the Rosepary Library. a subscription
library OF several thousand books In
this respect our capital city differs far
| iio'n otherN capital cities of like size
F., throughout the country. The census Of
D.
l2I,62s. The two capital cities of the
Union nearest to it In population arc
! Atlanta. Georgia, with lS4s39 and
| Nashville. Tennessee. with llO.3s4-
| both of them Southern cities. Atlanta
| has free public library, established
in 1897. which in 1905 according to a
/ report published by the United States
Bureau OF Education) contained 49,
600 bound volumes. added 5,s45 books
In tpA ha,t
cards in force. on which were issued
132,25o books for home use, and cx-
pended during the year $4,000 Nash
vile has FREQ public library fconded
| in 1885. In 1908 II contained 35IS2
bound volumes. of which 1856 were
added during the year: 1t had ELSA
borrowers cards in force, on which
were issued for home use Io2,Ss4 books,
and It's expenditures were Slo.l50. Hart
ford. Connecticut a capital city with a
slightly smaller number OF people (9S.-
| o15) has public library OF IS, 600 VOL
umes. OF which 5,o59 were added in 1903.
with $4,000 borrowers cards in force.
/ on which were Issued during the year
! FOR home use 23i.4i5 books II ex-
| pended In 1908 $lS.457. Grand Rapids,
Mich, to take an example OF a city
| not state capital. has population
| OF ll2.57i. In 1908 its free public
Horary. "hlch was founded In 1871,
/ contained e2.558 bound volumes u.s.
26o pamphlets. 1885 books and pam
! phlets having been added during the
year There were 20.ss3 borrowers
cards in force. on which were issued
I 3o7.4ts books for home use (of which
| 1893 were for children), and /, cx-
| pended during the year $i7.s40 These
figures show that Richmond Is In IL
brary progress far behind her sister
! cities OF tho same rank. In fact, she
has not yet even set out on the march.
And the same may be said In reference
TO the other cities and towns OF the
state. with the exception OF Norfolk:
and even Norfolk. which has the proud
distinction OF having the only free pub
lie library Of over@five thousand vol
umes in the State. IS when II comes to
the size OF the library and the money
expended on II. behind most cities Of
the country with like population.
Comparison With other states.
II may be OF some interest 10 com.
pare Virginia as whole with some OF
her sister States In regard to library
facilities OF all kinds. though the read
err of the figures which follow must
bear In mind that a library of an edu-
cat!onal institution or of an associa-
ton Is OF use only to a limited num-
Der. not to the public at large, and
that the vast majority OF Libraries in
virginia are OF this kind. whereas in
other states, more particularly the
Northern and Western states, many OF
them are free public Libraries The
figures are taken from the same source
that supplied the figures given
above for the cities namely
the United States Bureau or Education
Bulletin 1902 No. 5. bearing the title
statistics OF Public. Society. ana
School Libraries. having 5000 volumes
and over in 1905" This pamphlet does
not attempt TO give. as Is seen from
the title. the figures for the smaller
libraries. II 1t did. the relative POSI-
ton of Virginia would be lowered. for
In most OF the States other than Viz
gina and her sister Southern States
there are large numbers of public II.
hraries having fewer than 5000 vol.
umes each. Each village is apt to have
Its public library, though 1t may be
small one. In Massachusetts, there
is free public library in each town.
ship in the State. According to the cen.
| sus of 1910, Virginia. with o.OSl,6I2 IN
habitants. was the goth state in rank
in population. The 18th State in rank
| measured in this way was Minnesota
I with 2oT5.IoS inhabitants: the 2Ist was
Mississippi. with 1,T0i,114: and the ed
Kansas. with l.6a0,94a. Virginia had
twenty sevan libraries OF over 5000
bound volumes in 1905. which contained
| 4s5.65t bound volumes. and on which
was annually expended s505s6. Min
nesota had In the same year fortyttHo
| libraries of over 5000 volumes each
/ which contained 933.S5S bound volumes