The Manawatu Herald. Saturday, July 3, 1915. THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1419, 3 July 1915, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Saturday, July 3, 1915. THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Thk Foxton Public Ribraiy possesses a collection of books probobly second to none in any town af its size in the Dominion, The latest in literature is being continually added to the already large collection, and the supervision reflects the greatest credit upon the Committee and librarian. Yet the disappointing tact remains that this great boon Is only appreciated by forty subscribers, out of a population of nearly two thousand! We cannot account for such indifference on the part of the public. It surely cannot be that the subscription, 10s. per annum (2s. 6d. per quarter), is excessive. Still the fact remains that only forty people take advantage of this great privilege. “The plainest row of books,’’ says H. W. Beecher, “that cloth or paper ever covered is more significant of refinement than the most elaborately carved cl age re or sideboard.” Do our own bookshelves meet requirements, or have we abandoned ourselves to grosser forms of mental recreation ? Think of the immortality of books: Have not books become Our silent prophets, intellectual kings, And hierarchs of human thought To vice or virtue? Are they not like shrines For truth ?—Cathedrals, where a - chasten’d heart Can worship, or in tranquil hours retreat ~ , , To meet the Spirit of the olden time ? For there, the drama of the world abides Yet in full play, immortally perform’d ! We urge the public to make better use of our library and enjoy the good things awaiting them there.