Lewiston Beats Walla Walla to a Carnegie Library—Will the City Council Act?
As tiny Lewiston secures a $25,000 Carnegie library, The Statesman demands Walla Walla's council accept Andrew Carnegie's offer and secure the city's claim to a 'Greater Walla Walla.'
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Lewiston with a population of not more than 3500 is to have a $25,000 Carnegie free public library on the same conditions offered Walla Walla. The site has already been purchased and the $2500 a year guaranteed for the maintenance of the library.
If Lewiston with one-fourth the population of Walla Walla can do this, it would be disgraceful for this city to reject the generous offer of Mr. Carnegie on terms that are certainly most fair and reasonable. The city now raises over $1600 a year for the maintenance of a free library by levying a half mill tax on an assessable valuation of something over $3,200,000. This valuation is less than that of the two years before and is no doubt much less than it will be under the next assessment. The rapid growth of the city makes it certain that in a few years a half mill tax will raise the $2500 maintenance fund required for the Carnegie library. It is plain, therefore, that the city can comply with the conditions of Mr. Carnegie's offer without imposing any appreciable additional burden upon the taxpayers.
To turn down the Carnegie offer would be an act of short-sighted stupidity and asinine folly that would forever condemn those responsible for it. Public sentiment in this city is practically unanimous in favor of the city council's accepting the Carnegie donation and meeting its terms without halting or quibbling.
The erection of a splendid public library building will be only one more step in the realization of that Greater Walla Walla for whose advent all loyal citizens of the town are hoping and striving.
“To turn down the Carnegie offer would be an act of short-sighted stupidity and asinine folly that would forever condemn those responsible for it.”
Carnegie's library offer was a 1903 version of a matching grant: the city had to commit to annual maintenance. Walla Walla eventually accepted and built its Carnegie library, which served the community for decades. Today, public libraries still rely on a mix of private philanthropy and local tax support, and the debate over whether to accept outside money with strings attached remains familiar.
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