The Wrangell sentinel., 1927-03-10

maintaining public libraries. Mrs. Frank Adams, the corresponding secretary, was instructed to write Representative Charles Benjamin elieiting his support of the propos- ed bill.
 The skagway Women's Club in itiated the movement. They state their reasons for asking for such legislation as follows:
 Every town in this northern
 country needs a public library.
 The school library does not take
 the place of a public library in
 any community; while the pub
 lie can and should be a very val
 uagle adjunct to the school With
 some Territorial assistance every
 town could have a public library
 and reading room if it so desired
 and those already maintaining
 such could have better ones.
 The provisions which the clubs hope to see incorporated in a bill to aid Alaska towns in the estab- lishment and the maintainance of public libraries are as follows:
 1. That the legislature shall
 appropriate at it's biennial
 session certain amount of
 money to be known as a Public
 Library Fund.
 2. This fund to be available
 yearly to the Alaskan towns
 complying with the conditions
 governing it's distributions.
 (a) Each application for Ter
 ritorial Library Aid must come
 from duly appointed Library
 Board. (b). No town or com
 munity shall receive a larger
 amount of money from the
 Territorial Fund than it can
 show by attested report that
 it has expended from it's own
 resources during the previous
 year. (c) The maximum limit
 of five hundred dollars shall
 be placed upon the amount
 any one town may receive
 from the Territory during one
 year.
 The Women's Civic Club founded the Wrangell public library and reading room in 1921, and have carried on the work through all difficulties in raising the necessary funds. The women of the club. all busy women, nevertheless found time to hold innumerable food sales to raise money for books. If the library could have the "fade-outs of the movies, patrons would see the cases of books slowly dissolve and rows of chocolate cakes and toothsome dainties take their place.
 The facetious saying that the way to a mans heart is through his stomach, may also be applied to the Wrangell public library. For the way to the book shelves is streWn with edibles of all kinds. Even when the Club gave dance card party, or some other form of entertainment, a group of faith full women served something to eat over in some corner; and as faith fully washed the dishes.
 About two years ago the Club appealed to the city council re- questing that the municipality pay the public librarians salary of $20 per month. It happened that prac- tically each councilman had Civic Club wife and had first hand knowledge of the long struggle of the women to finance the public li- brary and reading room. The coun- cilmen showed their good citizen ship by putting through motion in record time to pay the librarian s salary.
 With that burden lifted the club members could build the library as before but have less frequent teas and food sales. Even so, the financial path has not been rosy one
 The benefits of a public library are manifestly such that the estab- lishment and maintainance of li- brary and reading room are of con cern to the larger body politic of which the community is part. And it is, therefore. neither right