The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-01-16
The Public Library

The Public Library
The popular notion prevails that public IL
brary is an institution where one may be sup
piled gratis the of the most recent best SELL
ers. Many think of it as home of rather
quiet kind of amusement. Others look upon it
as harboring place for idlers who like to squan-
der their spare hours in browsing about among
story books and illustrated magazines.
If this were all that library is good for it
would be an incumbrance on the street and not
worth an inch of space in paper. But every
person with the least idea about the more i'm
portant interests of life knows that library is
very much more than that.
AS civilization goes and grows from
strength to strength it is bound to become more
complex and as it becomes more complex it will
have more and more to depend upon books. Some
imagine that private families acquire libraries
of their own, the public library will become
perfhlous, but this is fallacy. The more books
in the homes, the more demand will there be for
such institution. 1t is precisely those who
read most that demand most reading. And
life and the various professions become
specialized individuals will depend the
printed page. A live man needs to know thous-
and times more than he can carry about in his
head
What does town read? Answer that and
you will know what the town is.
A library is necessary to supply the facilities
of education to those young people who have
been denied the privileges of schools and col
leges. 1t is surprising how many eminent men
have been library educated. Charles Dickens
was; and Bernard Shaw; and so was Thomas Ed
ison; and how many others nobody can tell. If
youngster has spark of ambition in him he
can arrive at the best that has been thought and
said in the morld merely by applying himself to
the public shelves.
The library is needed to supply better facili-
ties for study to those whose home surroundings
are unfavorable. A student needs quiet and a
good light and place to lay scratch pad and
book, things denied to inmates of many homes
end boarding houses.
1t is also needed for research work. Every
student requires to use now and then volumes
unobtanable to a private individual or too ex-
pensive for meagre income. Or he may need
to make slight use of book too expensive to pur-
chase for short a service. In all these cases,
the open stack of the public library is god-send
indeed
A majority of students need books most at
the very time they are least able to buy them.
The young apprentice working at six dollars
week should have opportunity to inform him
self more largely about his profession. If he can
y
he will be able to increase his efficiency many
fold.
Most taxpayers more concerned about the
economy of library than any other feature.
But the true economics of such an institution lies
in this last mentioned point. we'll used library
means more efficient town and product
i've people. Every thousand dollars put into it
comes back later on increased and multiplied.
Local taxpayers are beginning to feel this
about own library. With the sure instinct of
the business trained they asking themselves:
Are spending enough on this institution
Had we not better increase it's capital stock? If
study can transform book into increased eff
ficiency had not better supply more books
And had we not better to it that the library
will reach more people and try to get still others
to it?
This the sense of the very timely and
good-natured discussion which was held on the
floor of the Commercial Club last Monday even
ing. Few things have been more prophetic of
live town than that very discussion and there are
few things every awakened citizen will be more
rejoiced to than the increased usefulness of
one of the most useful organizations in the city.
AT DAYBREAK