Worcester 4545 1890 1890 26585 5800 8446 283 2263 76 yes 5300 130 1100 70 yes c500 1 3660 74 700 80 yes 236 1 32385 271 2000 70 yes 1300 1 674 1 660 90 7601 5 370 370 Tall 2 164 32 1961 7 2 1200 11500 11500 yes 1100 yes 275 1 8481 2276 614 11371 441 3184 72 yes c1100 1200 65 240 90 23000 233 no 70 604 4 80 655 150 800 15 401 J. Simpson. H. T. Folkard. J. Burchett. Wm. Kissock. 1062 150 11926 9 5 1000 3000 J. Elliot. : 128849 1862 1862 2 20162 15147 1520 36829 467 5860 77 yes 3000 1 no 130 1 1 3006 131 15314 2 90 1381 910 16777 6 10 2000 1700 |: yes 150 1 100 60 150 1 150 10 : : 1 90 : : : 1: : 1874 yes 2600 1 Battersea ..150458 1887 1887 2 10635| 7315 9902 27852 983 12666 76 yes 3000 1 Bermondsey 84688 1887 0 12 124 3000 L. Inkster. John Frowde. Not appointed. Ed. Foskett. APPENDIX I. [Suitable for Handbills.] WHY SHOULD EVERY TOWN HAVE A PUBLIC LIBRARY? I. Because a rate-supported Public Library is as necessary for the mental and moral health of the citizens as good sanitary arrangements, water supply, and street lighting are for the physical health and comfort of the people. II. Because the rate for its support is slight, and the boon immense; the utmost amount permitted by the Public Libraries Acts is One Penny in the Pound per Year on the Ratable Value. III. Because a Public Library is town property, into which any person can enter during the recognized hours without let or hindrance. IV. Because it is the University of the working classes. V. Because it is open to ALL classes, rich and poor, and where Public Libraries exist they are actually used by all classes, from the professional man to the humblest working man. In a large Midland town there are two chimney sweeps and two members of Parliament among the borrowers. VI. Because it is an educational institution; and education deepens the sense of the duties and privileges of citizenship. VII. Because the existence or absence of a Public Library in a town is being accepted as a standard of the intelligence and public spirit manifested in that town. VIII. Because the newsrooms attached to Public Libraries afford a place of rest, recreation, and improvement, without any charge for admission. IX. Because for young people of both sexes a Public Library affords some place to which they can go, instead of loitering aimlessly about the public streets. X. Because a Public Library is one of the best investments a district can make for the welfare of its citizens. XI. Because there is no rate for which there is an immediate and tangible benefit as out of the penny rate for the support of a Public Library. XII. Because it brings the vast stores of our noble English literature within the reach of all. XIII. Because it cultivates habits of reading, and reading brightens life and makes the home more cheerful and attractive. XIV. Because all progressive towns have adopted the Public Libraries Acts, and no town or village alive to the needs of to-day should be without one of these admirable institutions. XV. Because in no town where they have been established is the rate felt as a burden, and it is, in fact, in many cases the most cheerfully paid item in the rate-paper. XVI. Because Public Library buildings always improve the adjoining property. Some tradesmen advertise their business as being within so many minutes' walk of the Public Library. XVII. Because we do not want Old England to be behind other countries; and the United States, France, Germany, and the Australian Colonies have long ago accepted Public Libraries as absolute necessities. XVIII. Because the great usefulness of Public Libraries in towns where they are established has been proved beyond any possible doubt. XIX. Because a Public Library provides a place of reference for Patents, Maps, and Technical Books, Government Documents, &c., to which the artisans in every town should have easy means of access. XX. Because it is said that the workmen of some other countries are better educated than ours, and Englishmen are determined that this shall not be so; and as one forward step in this direction every town ought to have a Public Library. THOMAS GREENWOOD, THE OPINIONS OF SOME LEADING MEN ON PUBLIC LIBRARIES. [WILL FORM SUITABLE PARAGRAPHS FOR CIRCULARS, ETC.] The Late Lord Iddesleigh.-All that I have seen of these institutions is encouraging, except the smallness of their number. The Rev. C. H. Spurgeon.-I am in favour of Public Libraries everywhere. Their cost is small and the benefits great. The Marquess of Bute.-The universal consent of mankind has now made the use of a Public Library a necessary instrument of learning. Mr. Sydney Buxton, M.P.-Anything which helps to promote the Public Libraries movement will always have my warmest sympathy. Mr. Samuel Plimsoll.-The movement for establishing Public Libraries has my hearty sympathy, as I consider it a valuable means of helping upwards the working classes. Mr. J. A. Froude.-Public Libraries, if the right books are in them, will be of immense value. But we read more and more nowadays for amusement, and the most absurd books are the most popular. The Hon. C. Ritchie, M.P.-There is no more abiding pleasure, in my opinion, than that to be derived from reading, and I would gladly see the facilities for the pursuit of this pleasure, in the shape of Public Libraries, largely extended. The Rev. J. Clifford, D.D., ex-President of the Baptist Association.-I rejoice in the progress of the movement on behalf of Public Libraries, and trust that the day is not far distant when their benefits will be rendered accessible to every English man, woman, and child. Mr. Justin McCarthy, M.P.-I think a Public Library is one of the |