The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 18S3. The Ashburton Library.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 836, 8 January 1883, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 18S3. The Ashburton Library.

A good many months have elapsed since Ashburton suffered a disastrous loss by the destruction of the Library, but beyond a quantity of desultory talking, and some squabbling over the site on which a new building is be erected, next to nothing has been done towards supplying a decided want. It is certainly not to the credit of a prosperous and growing community like ours that we should be without the advantages which places of far less importance enjoy, and it is to be hoped that the work of raising money for the purpose indicated will be taken up with more energy in the future than it has been in the past. The necessity of having a collection of standard works and a reading room where the English journals and magazines can be consulted is so generally recognised that no words of ours are needed to emphasise it. How many young men are there amongst us who would be satisfied with passing their evenings in a reading room, but who are now driven to the billiard-room and such like places, in order to while away their idle hours ? VVe feel sure that the absence of a Library for so long a period has done no little harm, and it is imperatively necessary, as we have said, that somebody should take the matter actively in hand without delay. Much good might be done in this direction by a systematic canvass for subscriptions, and the amount thus raised might be supplemented by a series of entertainments to be given for the benefit of the Library Fund. An excellent idea has been mooted to the effect that a “ costume ” cricket match should be got up. This is a species of fun that is both harmless and entertaining, and we hope that the fact of the meeting, which was convened last Thursday for the purpose of arranging the preliminaries, being attended by so few people was due to Dr Stephenson’s lecture being given on the evening in question, and not to apathy or indifference. Then, again, a course of lectures and a scries of concerts, ®r even an amateur theatrical performance, might be arranged. We have surely sufficient talent among us for such undertakings as these, and past experience his shown us that they can be successfully carried out. The critical faculties of the people of Ashburton are not so acute as to prevent them appreciating the performances of local amateurs —

they have learnt the wisdcJpt of the bfoverb, which tells them that When they cannot have what they like they niust like what they have—arid we feel certain that if the scheme we hav6’ hinted it were carried out a goodly sum of money could be obtained. What is wanted in the affair above all else is proper organisation. If an influential committee is formed and the work undertaken in earnest, the public will be only too glad to give what assistance is in their power. In the meantime, would it not be possible to establish a lemporary reading room ? There are, as we understand, a number of books recently arrived from >• ngland to the order of the Library Committee, and these might surely be made available to the reading public.