Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1915-02-12
L|BRARY'S tenth anniversary
CELEBRATED TUESDAY EVENING
WITH TALKS, MUSIC AND
SOCIAL, TIME


dence at the celebration of the tenth
anniversary of the Little Falls library
in it's present building, held there
Tuesday evening: As result it is
expected there will be a greater effort
on the part of the citizens to elevate
the standard and efficiency of the local
library.
Before the program was carried out
Bastien's orchestra rendered a number
Of selections which were very we'll re-
ceived.
S. G. Vasaly, president of the H.
brary board, gave the address OF well
come, after which he gave few re-
marks on "The Library's Relation to
the City, The value of the library
as an adjunct to the school is obvious,
Ire said, and the place should also be
made source of pleasure and profit
to all the people.
Mayor Fortier spoke upon " the rela-
tion Of the city government to the
ibrary.' The members Of the library
board are appointed by the city mayor.
Upon them depends largely the success
of the institution and it is therefore
essential that careful selection be
made. The members must have not
only ability but morality, he said. He
paid compliment to the present mem
bers Of the board, whom, he sa4A, had
these qualifications.
The city should help the library, as
also the making of parks and other
public resting places where the people
can 90 to recreate he said. In order
to do this, however, the officials must
have the backing of the citizens in
general.
E. F. Shaw talked on the subject
"The Library from the Citizen 3 or
Taxpayers Viewpoint The library
is a necessity, not luxury or an ex-
travagance, as some people consider it,
he said. This institution is the right
arm Of the public schools, but should
also be for the older people, some Of
whom have not had the advantages OF
education, and others, who though
they are educated, are engaged in oc-
cupations which require that they have
some form of recreation during leisure
hours.
Mr.. Shaw pointed out that the mon
ey spent by the. taxpayers for the
maintenance of the city library is the
best spent. The amount each taxpay-
er must contribute is very small, in
fact an average Of but So cents out of
each $50 paid in for taxes goes to the
the library fund. We are ivin" for
the future, said the speaker, and let
us do something for those who come
after us. =. Let LAS do tbetter-better-
better.'' y :.
Mrs. G. H. Brown gave history OF
the Little Falls library, which was in
brief as follows: In the year 1892
there were but thirty libraries in Min
nesota. Little Falls had none at that
time but Mrs. NJ M. Williams dec:
that one was needed here and in Feb
ruarx, 1892. she started to raise $1,000
through public subscription. The peo-
pie willingly placed their names on
the list for various sums, probably be-
cause they were sure that enough mon
ey could never be raised for such a
proposition Mrs. Williams finally
secured something over $1,1OO. On
August Is of that year citizens ,
meeting was held, at which library
board was appointed and committees
were appointed to get books and fur
| niture. Two rooms were secured in
what is now the First National bank
! building, where the library remained
for some time. 1t was then moved to
the court house but was later moved
from there to the city hall on account
| OF a lack Of room in the court house
Mrs. L. NJ. Benton was the first libra
| rian and Miss Sadie Fuller was mem
ber Of the first library board. She has
been on the board continually ever
since and is the only person who has
! that record here.
| Finally the city was asked to take
over the library and assum, it's debt
of $125, which was done. In 1902 the
library board got in touch with Mr..
| Carnegie and he donated $4,000 for
the erection Of a library building. In
order to get this money, however, the
board had to get $1,000 a year from,
the city. The board met with success
in this undertaking also and soon af,
ter the property Oh which the building
now stands was purchased and the
structure erected. The library was
moved there in 1905.
Mrs. Brown said that much credit
is due Mrs. Jeny Lind Blanchard, the
librarian, for the excellent library we
now have. She has been indefatigable
in her work for the betterment of the
library.
Miss Fuller addressed the gathering
on "the business end of the library. >
She said that when the library started
the board had about $500 year fol
its upkeep and. for the purchase OF
books. In 1905 the apportionment was
increased to $1,000 and in 1911 it was
again increased to $500. The money
which the library has received has
been barely enough to care for the
running expenses and for the purchase
OF a few books and it has been only
through very careful work and by
raising money in other ways that il
has been possible to fix up the interior
of the building. The club rooms have
been decorated and equipped with fur
niture, better water connections ant
lighting systems have been installed
and new library catalogues have bee,
purchased. During the last ten year.
the board has been able to spend onl,
about $4,000 for new books.
Miss Fuller ended her talk by child
ing the gentlemen members Of tn,
board. She said that if snow shove
is needed at the library ono nf th