Saint Mary's Beacon

Here might be quoted a few remarks from F. A. Hutchins on the advantages of a free public library to a community:

What it would mean to us to have a library

A public library in our community would be an influence for good every day in the week.

It would make the town more attractive to the class of people we want as residents and neighbors.

It would mold the characters of the children in our homes.

A good library would get gifts from wealthy citizens. No other public institution offers so fine an opportunity for a public spirited citizen to help his neighbors and win their approval and affection.

A library would be the center of our intellectual life, and would stimulate the growth of all kinds of clubs for study and debating.

It is a great part of our education to know how to find facts. No one knows everything, but the man who knows how to find an indispensable fact quickly has the best substitute for such knowledge.

We need a library to carry forward in a better manner the education of the children who have left school, to give them a better chance for self-education.

We need it to give thoughts and inspiration to the teachers of the people those who in the schoolroom or pulpit, on the rostrum, or with the pen attempt to instruct or lead their fellow citizens.

We need it to help our mechanics in their employments, to give them the best thoughts of the best workers in their lines. Whether these thoughts come in books, papers, or magazines.