As necessary as public libraries are to a community, they are a fairly recent phenomenon, and that is a thought worth seriously pondering as the Salt Lake City public library nears its 100th birthday on Saturday.
Free civilizations cannot thrive unless people are educated and informed. Free libraries send a clear message that education and information are for all segments of society, from the richest to the poorest. Today, families take their local library branches for granted, and they use them to instill an early love of learning in children. But libraries ought not be treated lightly. They deserve strong public support.While Salt Lake City's official, government sponsored library didn't open until 1898, occupying the top floor of the City-County Building, the tradition of compiling a reservoir of books is as old as the first pioneer settlements. In 1851, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints acquired the first volumes for a territorial library. In 1872, a group calling itself the Ladies Library Association opened a reading room in the First National Bank Building. It lasted only four years. Next, the Masonic Order opened a library that eventually failed for lack of funds.
Thankfully, the first state Legislature in 1896 saw the need to fund free public libraries. Since then, the tradition has continued, with varying levels of public support in each community. Libraries have gone through the necessary, and often rocky, agony of deciding how to handle questionable material and whether to provide movie videos. They have graduated from the paper and text age to the electronic information age. Each new challenge has helped define the communities they serve. Always, they have remained important community centers of learning, discussion and debate.
Now, the city's library system stands at the threshold of another new era. Within six months, a design team will have decided on a concept for a new central library, one that will require voters to approve a bond of $40 million to $50 million. It would replace a main library that has served the city well since 1964, but that is now entirely too small.
The new library is expected to fill 200,000 square feet and be "a cultural and civic jewel," according to Library Director Nancy Tessman.
Indeed, it ought to be. Any city that treats its library as a jewel is destined to have a healthy populace. The city's library deserves a hearty "happy birthday" from all.