Evening star., 1914-10-11

Of the library's work and the details
OF its activities are interestingly shown
in the Librarians report to the trustees
which Is attached to and made q part
Of this report. -. -
Under any test that can be applied
Washington's library maintenance Ii
Inadequate. compared with that OF
other libraries Of its class. The COM
parison is unfavorable to Washington
"a In the aggregate amount of library
appropriation, (2) in per capita library
expenditures and (3) In percentage OF
total municipal expenditure applied tc
library purposes.
There are fifty-six cities in the
United States having over 100. 900 popu-
lation. OF these only seven have smaller
Washington. There are 1875 cities in
the United States, including Washing
ton. with over 10000 population, and
of these only eighteen have a smaller
percentage of library expenditure than
Washington.
Many Spend More Money.
"washington's percentage Of library
expenditure is far exceeded, not only
Cleveland and Detroit, but by Kala-
mazoo. Terre Haute, West Hoboken.
Oshkosh. Joplin, Perth Amboy and
Muskogee.
There is no other item of municipal
expenditure in this comparison which
makes so discreditable a showing for
Washington. The Washington percent
age of expenditure as compared with
the average Of all Of the 1876 American
for the police department and a little
less for the fire department.; a little
less for sanitation and more for high
ways: much more for charities, hospi-
tails and corrections. and less for
schools. But in none of these cases is
the difference extraordinarily great.
1T Is only in respect to library MAIN
tenance that Washington enjoys the dis
creditable distinction Of assigning to this
important educational function only eight
thirteenths Of the average percentage of
total municipal expenditure that is as
signed by all other American cities and
only half the average percentage of the
group Of cities between 10000 and $4,000
amazoo. 1t Is In respect to library main
tenance alone that only IS out OF
1876 American cities fall below it in per-
centage Of expenditure.
Suggest 60 Per Cent Increase.
''The suggestion of these figures is that
the Washington library expenditures could
be increased over so per cent and then
not exceed the average percentage of
library expenditures in all American
cities. If the trustees estimates for 1916
were approved and appropriated in full
Washington's library expenditure would
fall far short Of being as large per-
centage Of the total municipal expendi-
ture as that of the average American city.
The table of estimates with which
our report concludes expresses the con-
vtction Of the trustees as to the pro-
vision justly to be made to put our Ii
brary on approximately the same basis
Of maintenance as that prevailing in
other American library supporting cities.
In support of our contention that ade-
quate maintenance Of the library is
found in the figures Of the estimates and
not in the figures Of past appropriations,
we have compared the maintenance Of
the Washington library with those Of
other cities by every conceivable
method Of measurement, and the result
Is in every case the same-to demon
strate conclusively the soundness of
this contention"