Carlyle, who mourned in
one of his early letters that every village in England had its jail, but
none its open library. It is a pity, therefore, when a man of high
standing and great influence writes of these institutions thus hastily
(I take the passage from a well-known literary journal): "Among the
forms of beneficence for which our own generation has been conspicuous
is the Free Library.... But it is, I apprehend, no exaggeration to say
that such well-meant generosity has _oftener than otherwise_ (the
italics are my own) been chilled and discouraged by its results.
Appreciative readers are few, the best books are largely let alone, and
the cost of the 'plant' and the taste which are put into it are often in
most painful contrast to the appreciation which they have received."
Now, while every count of this last sentence may be true indictment, it
is easy to show how little it sustains the verdict. "Appreciative
readers" are few in the most cultivated circles, if their appreciation
must be tested by "the best books" only. It is not easy even to know
what the best books are, if we may judge by the tiresome failures in
making out the list of them; and suppose that they were known, do we
find many clergymen or bishops who habitually read Plato, Aeschylus, and
Dante, rather than "Ben-Hur" or "The lady or the tiger"? It does not
therefore follow that people are unworthy of public libraries because
"the best books are largely let alone"; the question is whether even the
second best may not be good reading. We have the medical authority of
Hippocrates for saying that the second best medicine may be better than
the best, if the patient likes it best. So in regard to the fine
buildings, the success of republican government happily does not depend
on how far our citizens appreciate the architecture of the Capitol at
Washington and the State House at Albany; and it is surely the same with
libraries. Grant a few over-fine library buildings, built to please some
private benefactor; grant a few mismanaged public libraries--though
where these buildings or these libraries are I do not myself know--does
the kindly writer of these lines mean to be understood as saying that
"oftener than otherwise" our free public libraries are failures?

If he does, it can only be said that this remark adds another to the
innumerable illustrations of that invaluable remark of Coleridge that we
must take every man's testimony to the value of that which h