Mayor's Office,
Boston, Mass.
Of course, the financial return for money expended to maintain a public library cannot be definitely stated, as may be done in connection with municipal activities which deal solely with material things.
It is impossible to trace along commercial lines the influence upon the community of an institution whose prime purpose is not profit, is not even a product that can be expressed in terms of dollars, but is the enlargement of the individual life, and the promotion of higher standards of citizenship.
On the lowest and most sordid plane however, an institution like the Boston public library is worth many times its cost to the city merely on account of the number of persons from abroad who are attracted to the building as an example of monumental architecture, or because it contains exceptional works of art in its mural decorations, or who visit it as a museum of rare and interesting books. These visitors number thousands yearly; many of them stay in the city for several days, and their entertainment and their expenditure of money while they remain, add to the commercial prosperity of the city.
In somewhat the same way, but on a much higher plane, directly within the scope of the library function, numbers of students are yearly drawn to the city by the advantages the library offers for intellectual research. And the library enhances the importance and value of the various schools and colleges within our borders, by enlarging their intellectual resources.
In other directions the value of the library to the community is evident. The fact that it is here adds something to the value of every estate in the city. Persons seeking a desirable place of residence prefer a city or town which has good schools and a well-equipped and adequately supported library to a place without these institutions, even if no direct use is made by such persons of either. The influence of a good library on the general conditions in a community is therefore a profitable asset.
In assimilating the different elements of a mixed and rapidly growing population, the work of the library is obvious, and its results far outweigh their cost. And the increased efficiency of individuals, which the library promotes, has its effect in inestimable public benefits. For example, to take a single possible case out of many, here is a young man without money or influence but who has talent which, if properly fostered may become the source of power. Through the opportunities for study given by the public library he perfects an invention, or writes a poem, or enters a useful profession by means of which he ministers to the comfort and enjoyment of his fellow-men and confers honor upon this city. How can one over-estimate the social value of such lives, or the part which the library has played in their development? Such instances are by no means few, and unquestionably they supply an affirmative answer to the question as to whether or not the library is making an adequate return for its cost.
JOHN F. FITZGERALD.
Chicago, Illinois,
May 10, 1913.