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’ l IIHHSVHJIIFREE PUBLHIIJBRARY
Support of the library dropped sharply after
`— 1881. There were 5OO subscribers in that year
\ in contrast with the 173 recorded in the next.
This drop coincided with an increase in mamber—
d ship of the competing Polytechnic Society, with
\_ t its relatively more public library facilities
(see Chapter lll). Difficulties were aggravat— i
ed by the withdrawal of a $40—a—month income
` formerly paid by the Board of Education for the
E use of the library’s facilities by teachers and
1 students.(24)
IQ Still another factor contributing to the li-
* brary’s ultimate demise was the cheapening of
`T books. It was the era of the "Seaside Library"
{ ,, and similar popular publications, offering
j L standard works and current popular fiction at
1 twenty-five cents a copy, much as Pocket Books,
t the Modern Library, and other reprint editions
A e do now (1942) at the same or somewhat higher
‘ prices. These books were paper bound and were
fairly well printed in double columns on paper
’ of a slightly better grade than newsprint.
l A In 1885 there was a move to transfer the
1 property of the Library Association to the t
Polytechnic Society. This failed because of a
A provision in the ass0ciation’s charter that it
E would lose its endowment if it should surrender
its identity. Apparently the association did
’ not survive long after abandonment of negotia-
t * tions with the Polytechnic Society.
When the Young Men’s Christian Association
t was formed in Louisville in 1867, such books as
J remained from the older and defunct libraries
X were given into its keeping. Although many 4
” volumes had been lost or destroyed during the
war, enough were left to form the nucleus of a
t 18
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