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Show II THE SALT LAKE PULSE By BOB HICKS According to the local dailies the capital improvement bond issue is about ready to go. Reports Re-ports last week mentioned fire nouses, sewers, and other items on the "must" list, but this writer writ-er noticed nothing said about a new central library. The Deseret News carried an article stating that the present library is built on land willed to the city for the purpose of1 having facilities "in perpetuity," i.e., no other spot but that one can be used for library purposes. In order to get another piece of ground, the heirs of the original donor will have to be found and their consent obtained before the work can be started. That this arrangement may have been adequate under the conditions of the early 1900's can be conceded. However, citizens citi-zens desiring a more modern facility will be appalled if a clause in a will withholds progress prog-ress badly needed under present conditions. This writer has utilized library facilities in New York City, Chicago, Chi-cago, St. Louis, Denver and Los Angeles. Being an avid reader he knows something about li braries. Even places like Provo and Cedar City have more adequate ade-quate facilities than more metropolitan metro-politan Salt Lake. Our local monstrosity seems never to have even heard of the Dewey decimal system. Books have accumulated on the shelves where room enough to hold them cannot be found. No provision seems to exist for emergency in case of fire. The rear of the building is next to a local apartment house with only a narrow passage between them. No comment on the air conditioning condi-tioning sroudl be necessary. Rest room facilities are disgraceful. That a city like this should neglect neg-lect so important a building is puzzling. In the immediate vicinity are three large universities and two or three small colleges. It is natural that those in pursuit of education should come to the library for research, but what materials there are can be located lo-cated only with extreme difficulty. diffi-culty. It is time that a source of civic embarrassment be eliminated eliminat-ed in order that Salt Lake City have a library commensurate with its status as a metropolitan center with a fast growing population. |