The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-04-03
bridgeport Telegram.)


Building was given to the directors Of
the Bridgeport Public Library and
Reading Room and their successors
to have and to hold for library pur-
poses forever. The exact language
is:-'I direct that the said land and
the buildings now or hereafter stand
ing thereon shall be forever known
and called by the name of thes Bur-
roughs Public Library Building" It
is known to persons now living that
Mrs. Pettengill had a special desire
that the building erected by her
brother sh >uld be used for the pub
lie benefit and should stand as a
memorial Of her family. The clause
wa~ very carefully drawn with view
to some such contingency as hes now
arisen. The city of Bridgeport
through the board Of Directors then
in office. accepted the trust. AS no
funds were bequeathed for the al
terations Of the building. the directors
allowed it to stand I; - several years
until sufficient money had accumulat-
ed from the rentals of stores and Of
fees to warrant the beginning Of the
necessary changes. At a later date,
they acquired a piece of land at the
rear of the original structure to pro-
vide for future expansion, and upon
| this they placed some time afterwards
a block of stores in order that the In
come derived from them might help
to pay for the improvements. About
twelve years ago. they erected upon
this foundation an extension of the
stack room, a reference room, and an
art gallery which is said to be one of
the best in New England. Half the
present library building is therefore
of very recent date. ALI the enlarge
ments have been made by means of
the funds provided by the rentals
from the stores. and the whole build
ing is therefore the direct result Of
the generosity OF Mrs. Pettengill
There is still a mortgage upon the
building.
The Legislature Of 1909 permitted
the board of directors which was orig
inally constituted according to the
1880, to be changed into self-per-
petuating board which. although it
now handles money derived from tax
alton to the amount of more than
fac
and is not directly responsible to the
city government as other boards are
This body is DESTROYS Of selling the
present library building and erecting
the city, to be called by the same
name It pleads lack Of room; but
as a matter of fact, very few hbrar-
les in New England contain anything
approaching the space at its disposal
as things now stand. and by the
terms of Mrs. PettengilpS will the
stores may be taken for library pur-
poses if more room is required. The
directors also state that the art gallery
and lecture room cannot be used be-
cause recent alterations in a neigh
boring building prevent the erection of
fire escapes. A large elevator and ex-
cellent stairways front and back give
access to the rooms in question, and
although this is a question for ex-
perts to decide, it is the candid opin-
ion of many citizens that an equally
strict Interpretation of fire department
regulations would close the upper
floors of many places of business,
many lodge rooms, and some conspic
uous examples of very recent archi-
lecture.
The dust of the streets and noise
of traffic are patiently endured in
| many larger and Weather cities than
Bridgeport. These ars among the In
evitable objections to a central loca-
ton; but it is generally considered
| that its convenience and accessibility
atone for them. The present library
building is easily reached from all
parts of the city. It is in the very
heart of the shopping district, and
many people who would not otherwise
| have time to patronize the public Ii
| brary if they were obliged to make a
special errand, are able to use it free
IL now. Bridgeport has no branch
| reading room or libraries, and, out
side of the breach of trust involved
| in the unnecessary sale of the Bur-
| roughs property, there will be great
! injury inflicted upon the bulk of the
| library patrons, especially upon
| working people and women, by It's
| removal to purely residential loca-
ton which will be difficult to reach.
It is not in the least certain that
| the sale of the present properly will
| bring sufficient money to provide
equivalent accommodations in a new
| Burroughs Library Building. The di
| rectors not unreasonably contemplate
| an ornamental structure which will De
in itself a costly matter. If it is to
furnish anything approaching the
space the present library building
contains and avoid the stairways and
elevators which are so greatly depre-
Gated by the board, the ground plan
will have to be an extensive one and
| 70 CT he in oil w