Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1915-11-09
MAY Be
FORCED To CLOSE
DOORS To PUBLIC
Not Enough Money Under Pro-
posed Tax Levy to Furnish
Absolutely Necessary Ex-
penSeS, Say Board Members.

Thut there is grave danger that the
public library may be forced 10 close
its doors for an indefinite period ow-
ing 10 The insufficicucy OF the fund
which Il is estimated viii be raised
under the next tax levy 90 supply the
absolute needs uf a." institution. was
the startling statement made last
night 10y Col W. r. Mctcaf, Vice
president and treasurer Of the library
board, after meeting of the board
az which the finances of the library
were carefully considered
Besides Col Mctcalf the other
members Of the board present were
Isl II. Sabin. s NJ. Porterfield Mrs
Byron Henry Ives and Miss Ethel
Hickey After disposng OF routine
matters. the members came to the
consideration Of the financial status
Of the library and a problem was
found to exist for which no one pres
ent had a solution.
Expenses $4,000.
Figuring upon the most economical
scale possible il costs $4,000 year
to run the library. This includes the
salaries Of the librarian, assistant and
other necessary employees, the pur-
chase Of new books, subscriptions 10
periodicals. fuel ana incidental eX-
penses. And under the new levy II is
estimated that only Sl,750 will be
available for library purposes
The announcement Of the Curtail-
meut Of the income Of the library
came like a bolt from the blue to the
library board Counting on the usual
sum Of money for expenses bills had
been incurred which there seems
20 De no way to meet under the new
arrangement The winters coal sup
ply had been laid in new book stack
had been provided and the periodicals
for the coming year had been or
dered The library finds itself today
several hundred dollars in debt with
the means of discharging that in
debtedness greatly reduced.
40 definite action was taken at the
meeting last night II was decided to
1
there can be further conference with
city officials as to the amount that
may be expected, but Colonel MetCalf
declared after the meeting that he
could see no way out of the difficulty
at present except to close the library
for several months, an action which
would give black eye TO the city and
work a real hardship ON the thous-
ands OF bookloyers who are patrons Of
the library.
Letter to Hughes.
/ Colonel Metcalf also gave out the
following copy Of letter that he had
addressed to city CLERK Thomas
Hughes on October in response to
request from the latter for an esti-
mate of the needs Of the library.
"In response TO your inquiry beg
to submit the following Information
for the assistance Of the council in
making the 1915 levy.
General statement The income
land expense Of the library has not
varied materially from $4,000, on each
/ side of the account, for several years:
Income About $4,000 of this
amount is derived from taxes. The
bulk Of the other $500 comes from
rents and an insignificant sum from
fines.
Expenses Tho salary list amounts
to about $1,000. the books, periodicals
and binding amount to about $500,
fuel about $3.50, and repairs incidcn-
tai and miscellaneous expenses
Iamomt 10 about $3.50.
Salaries The hours from . a. IN.
ito 9 p. m. necessitate a librarian at
SIS per month and an assistant at $40
Iper month Janitor service coses S25
per month for siNth months of SUM
mer and $50 per month for six
months of winter Light and water
are furnished free
I Remarks If the levy Is reduced il
is plain that we must return TO hours
which will permit one librarian to
supply The service. Janitor service
must be lesSencd and an inferior per-
son employed. which may result in
deterioration Of grass and excessive
fuel costs and repairs TO furnace. The
small amount now expended for books
must be reduced or entirely cut out.
The results would seem TO be de-
plorable, but If city cannot or does
not wish TO support a puElic library
with it's infinite possibilities for edu-
cation and service, then it should be
prepared to accept such results as are