LIBR 280-12 Library Study

[marysharpwitted]

The City Library and the Salt Lake City Public Library System
MaryAnn Sharples

Introduction

The new Main Library in Salt Lake City embodies the idea that a library is more than a repository of books and computers--it reflects and engages the city's imagination and aspirations. (SLCPLS, par. 1)

The City Library stands as a symbol of Salt Lake City's community spirit. In 1998 the citizens of Salt Lake City overwhelming passed an $84 million library bond in support to construct a new building for the Salt Lake City downtown main branch. The library and the community sought to create an environment of learning, of participation, of community. In Utah the public library movements were often used by the non-Mormon citizens of the city, which was a very small minority of the population, to try to educate the Mormons out of their unorthodox practices, other endeavors were meant to bring the community together. To create a cohesive city society and it is not surprising that most of these public library movements failed due to lack of community support and funding.

History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

During the 1820's the countryside of Upstate New York was alive with religious fervor. In this setting the 14-year old Joseph Smith, Jr. prayed to the Lord that he might know which church to join, either the Presbyterians or the Methodists. Smith claimed that in response the Lord and his son Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him to join neither church; that all churches were corrupt, and that the Lord would set upon him the responsibility to restore the true Church of Christ to Earth. In the succeeding years Smith continued to live, work, and marry on his family's farm just outside of Palmyra, New York. He asserted that he continued to receive revelation from the Lord and visits from heavenly beings to direct him in the work of restoring the Church to all men.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was officially established on April 6, 1830 by Joseph Smith in Seneca County, New York. Members of this church are commonly known as "Mormons" because of their faith in The Book of Mormon. Members believe that The Book of Mormon, which was first published in March of 1830, was translated by the will of the Lord through Joseph Smith; it is viewed as scripture by the Church and its members. The church is a Christian denomination, using the organization of the Primitive Church as its foundation: the church believes in prophets, apostles, priesthood, visions and revelation. The organization is hierarchical, consisting of a president (the prophet), aided by two counselors, and a quorum of twelve apostles. There are also bishops (and two counselors) to guide the religious well-being of congregants who are formed into geographical wards. Wards form stakes that are lead by a stake president (and two counselors) and a high council consisting of twelve councilmen.

The Church shares many doctrines in common with other Christian denominations, such as, belief that the Bible is the word of God, in the divinity of Jesus Christ, in the Atonement of Christ, in the resurrection of Christ, and that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ. It is where the Church differs from mainstream Christianity that causes many other denominations to question the Church's inclusion to Christianity, despite the fact that all commonality coincides with the belief in Christ. One difference is the rejection of the concept of the Trinity. Other denominations believe that God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are one person or substance, but the LDS Church believes in the Godhead, where the Lord, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are three separate beings sharing a common purpose and will. The LDS Church also rejects of the Eucharist and the concept of transubstantiation. Another difference between the LDS Church and mainstream Christianity has been the acceptance of additional canonical scriptural text: The Book of Mormon and The Doctrine and Covenants and additional doctrine and practices which did not previously exist within either the Catholic or Protestant religions.

Due mostly to these unorthodox doctrines and practices, residents in Upstate New York began to resent the LDS Church, its members, and most notably Joseph Smith, who in 1830 became the head of the church as its president. In 1831 it became necessary for Joseph Smith and his family to leave New York. He chose to move his family and church headquarters to Kirkland, Ohio. The leadership of the Church urged all members to follow to Kirkland, where there was great promise of their beliefs being accepted among the present populace. However, as the number of destitute members arriving began to overwhelm Kirkland and its resources, resentment began to foster among the old Kirkland residents. Resentment also came from LDS Church members over the institution of The Law of Consecration and Stewardship, an "economic system that required that each church member consecrate his property and annual surplus to the bishop of the church (later called the Presiding Bishop), and that the member receive back a portion of that surplus according to his needs" (Alexander, et al., p. 100). The system, idealistically, was meant to help the Church care for the poor and to support the Church and its expansion. The leaders of the Church thought that by sharing resources among the entire Church that it would promote unity. Those members who showed a commitment to the Law of Consecration were "called" or asked to settle in and around Independence, Missouri and to establish the Church there. During this time in Kirkland, the Church began to send out missionaries to the eastern states, Canada, and the British Isles. The new religion appealed to many people and a great number of people converted and relocated to Kirkland, which contributed to the strain on the Church's and Kirkland's resources. The Church headquarters remained in Kirkland until 1838 when the extent of social unrest and persecution demanded that the Mormons flee the area to one of the Church settlements in Missouri. Residents in Ohio began to fear the influence of such a large population of religious individuals would upset balance of political affairs and as such adopted the policy that the state would be better off without them.

Exiled from Kirkland, the members who had not yet relocated to Missouri took refuge among the church members there. The situation in Missouri was not much better than in Kirkland. During the preceding years the old residents, acting on land speculation and political resentments, forced the Mormons from Independence and Clay County at gunpoint. The governor rejected their pleas for legal redress and compensation for the property lost. Caldwell County was suggested for their relocation. The Mormons established Far West and displaced church members flocked to it and to a few other Mormon communities in Daviess (Adam-ondi-Ahman) Carroll (DeWitt) counties. The tension, however, followed the Church from Clay County. "As opposition again manifested itself among land speculators, politicians, and other non-Mormons alarmed by the influx of Latter-day Saints, a wave of apocalyptic fervor spread through Far West. A secret band called Danites soon recruited as many as 300 men who were prepared to use violence against external foes and internal dissenters" (p. 102). The presence of theDanites did nothing but spur Missourians into action.

After a series of forays by armed bands on both sides, Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs declared the Mormons in rebellion and urged their extermination. A band of anti-Mormon militia attacked a settlement at Haun's Mill, killing seventeen and wounding twelve. After this the Saints at Far West were besieged; the prophet sought peace. While he and other church leaders were incarcerated to await trial for treason and murder, the people from Far West and other church settlements fled the state. The extermination order, the massacre at Haun's Mill and their general treatment in Missouri remained vivid in Mormon minds and contributed to a growing sense of solidarity and alienation (p. 102).

The church fled to Illinois and once there they began, once again, to rebuild their lives. The local citizens were sympathetic to the Mormons and offered them shelter. Joseph Smith, after having escaped from jail in Missouri, joined the members of the Church in Illinois. He was able to secure a significant acreage of swampy land to the north of Quincy on credit, which he named Nauvoo. The members of the Church drained the land and made it habitable and Nauvoo's businesses, economy, and population (due to continued missionary efforts) began to grow and prosper. Nauvoo was becoming one of Illinois' largest cities.

Yet, just like in Kirkland and Missouri, the Illinois natives in Hancock County began to fear and resent the Mormons. This was due to several contributing factors: some of the new doctrines and practices introduced and instituted to the Church [FN1],  Nauvoo's prosperity, its liberal city charter, and the powerful influence the Mormon's introduced to Illinois' party politics. Smith and the Church had essentially established a theocracy in Nauvoo--Smith was the leader of the Church, but he was also elected the mayor of the city, making him the leader of both spiritual and secular matters in Nauvoo. His dual roles led him to make unwise decisions. In 1844, after urging the Nauvoo City Council to dismantle a dissenting newspaper, Smith and other city government leaders were arrested on charges of promoting the riot that ensued in other cities after the destruction of the dissenting newspaper. Knowing that he would not receive a fair trial in the county seat of Carthage, Smith prepared to flee west through Iowa, but he was convinced to submit to arrest and was taken to Carthage to await trial. During the course of the trial members of the Carthage and Warsaw militias stormed the Carthage jail and murdered Joseph Smith, Jr. and his brother Hyrum Smith.

Leadership of the church fell to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and its senior member, Brigham Young. In 1845 the Quorum decided that the Church should move west possibly to the west of the Rocky Mountains or California. The first wagon train left Nauvoo early in the 1846 season. Bogged down by wet spring weather and hampered by an overly muddy trail, the company made it as far as Iowa's western border and decided to winter over at two locations: Council Bluffs, IA on the east side of the Missouri River and Winter Quarters, NE on the west side of the river. The following spring an advanced company of those settled at Winter Quarters and Council Bluffs pushed towards the Rocky Mountains. It was not yet decided that the Great Basin would be the Church's permanent home, but the Church's leadership was strongly inclined towards that location. By the time the advanced company entered what would become known as the Salt Lake Valley in July 1847, Church leadership had determined to settle in the Great Basin permanently.

Colonizing the Territory of Utah

Work began immediately on settling the land near the Great Salt Lake. The land was surveyed and analyzed for the best planting locations. A spot in the east bank of the City Creek was selected for the first planting location. This location is today's 400 South and Main Street. Home building was also a priority for the advance company as was exploring the neighboring regions. The advance company was split into committees:

one group staked out, plowed, harrowed, and irrigated thirty-five acres, planting potatoes, corn, buckwheat, beans, turnips and other garden produce. Another group laid out a city in a 135 ten-acre blocks, with a site for the temple in the center. Others were assigned to build cabins and a fort, 'sixty to hoke, twelve to mould, and twenty to put up walls'. A public adobe yard was established, an adobe wall was constructed around the three open sides of the fort, and within a month twenty-nine log houses were built within (p. 125-6).

There was a committee to find wood in the nearby canyons, to construct a road, extract logs for the cabins. A boat was made to traverse the streams, a blacksmith established, corrals set up, and a storehouse built. There was a committee for hunting and fishing and even a committee to attempt extracting salt from the Great Salt Lake.

The 1847-1848 winter was a mild one on the Mormons, but the spring threw them a curve ball. The spring crops, both grain and garden, all showed significant promise, then a late frost set in and then the Latter-day Saints were besieged, for a two-week period, by an infestation of crickets that devoured crops and gardens. The settlers were beginning to despair, when the gulls came to their rescues and devoured the crickets in turn. Despite the challenges, the Saints were able to muster a decent harvest in July and August, but that victory stretched thin as more members of the church trickled in from the trail. The 1848 traveling season saw their numbers increase by the thousands causing to make the 1848-1849 winter season long and cold and some of the settler's toughest test. It was reported that some families had to resort to eating rawhide, thistles, and sego lily roots. The Church did its best to equally distribute food supplies and no one starved, but once spring came many of the settlers decided to continue on to California and more moderate climates. They most likely joined the small colony of Saints from New York, led by Samuel Brannan, that had traveled by sea and settled in the area around present-day Modesto. [FN2]

Within a year of the saints first pitching tents in the valley, there were 5,000 people settling around Salt Lake City. Other families also branched out within the valley. The Herriman brothers looked the southwest, the entire company from Mississippi went southeast from Salt Lake City and established Cottonwood creek. A man named John Neff had transported his milling machinery to the valley and by the end of 1848 he produced flour in what is now Mill Creek. Salt Lake City and the outlying southeast settlements were connected by two roads at this time. The Upper County Road ran north from Big Cottonwood Canyon to 1600 South Street. The Lower County Road received the higher road's traffic and continued North into the city.

Businesses were established and began to flourish in the city; the west side of Main Street soon became overwhelmingly commercial. James A. Livingston and Charles A. Kinkead opened the first retail store on West Temple Street, offering eastern goods. The store stocked silk, calico, and linen, which began to replace "worn-out clothing and homespun" (Silltoe, p.43). Also carried in the store were "saddles, tools, and household goods" (p. 43). Ben Holladay was able to procure surplus army wagons and oxen. He purchase about $70,000.00 worth of good and hauled the merchandise back to the valley and sold it all. The next year he bought twice as much and has as equal as a success. The church leaders in the meantime preached self-sufficiency and did not approve of these first entrepreneurial endeavors. First the merchants were not Latter-day Saints, but outsiders (or gentiles as non-Latter-day Saints were termed) and making a profit off of the Saints' needs or perceived needs for eastern goods. The merchants came only to make money, not to build up Zion. Brigham Young said, "If they impoverished themselves to buy things that couldn't be provided within the territory, they would forever be the slaves of the gentiles" (p.43). Despite the guidance from the Church leaders, the demand remained high for eastern goods.
Ironically, Young saw nothing amiss with taking advantage of the westward gold seeking thousands who bought animals and food stuffs at highly inflated prices and sold items at equally deflated amounts. As one can imagine, freighting also became a huge industry and to compete with the Pony Express the Church established the Brigham Young Express and Carrying Company. The Church also began collecting a toll in 1849 "from travelers entering the valley through Parley's Canyon" (p. 44). The Church leaders saw their crossroad location an advantage and disadvantage. While they recognized that the situation benefited their economy, it also encouraged non-Mormons to settle in the area and start businesses; "…by 1854, at least twenty-two non-Mormon merchants did business in the valley" (p. 44).

The Church also established public work projects so that new arrivals would be able to work and become productive members of the new society. A few of these projects were the "Council House, the Deseret Store, an adobe church office building, a public bathhouse at the warm springs, a wall around the temple block, and an armory on Ensign Peak" (p. 42). Some of the other public work projects assisted in fostering the social life in city. Church meetinghouses were not only places to meet for religious instruction, but they become the neighborhoods' schools and social halls. The population was also quite diverse. Latter-day saints came from the eastern states, the British Isles, and the Scandinavian countries

 The Church also sent parties of families out to establish communities in other areas beyond the valley: to the north, south, and west. Indeed settlements by 1850 stretched as far as Southern California's San Bernardino and as far north as part of Southern Idaho. The United States government established a territory, named it Utah, and established Brigham Young as the first territorial governor. The government at this time resembled greatly the theocratic-inclined government from Nauvoo where spiritual leaders held secularly equivalent positions of influence and authority. The status of territory also authorized the territorial assembly to incorporate Salt Lake City and form Salt Lake County. In January 1850 when Salt Lake County officially came into existence the population totaled over 11,000 residents. The position of mayor and the city council was creating for Salt Lake City. Young even talked of establishing a library.

The Quest for Statehood

The territory applied for statehood in 1850, but Congress denied the application in February 1851. Federal officials came to inspect the territory in 1851 and were more than shocked over the very little distinction established between Church and State. "Utah elections were viewed by the federal officeholders as little more than sustaining votes for church-selected candidates, since there was no political party system. The federal appointees viewed the Mormon church as controlling every aspect of territorial life--from government to the economy to the school system" (Firmage and Verdoia, p. 45).

The practice of government, however, was inferior in concern to the "peculiar institution".

In 1851 Brigham Young publically confirmed a belief in plural marriage as part of the faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he acknowledged its practice by many of the faithful within the Church.

Plural marriage, forced somewhat inaccurately under the label of polygamy, had been a quiet tenant and aspect of the Mormon faith for more than ten years. Church founder Joseph Smith acknowledged that he had taken multiple wives under divine guidance; however, he had confided the call for plural marriage to a few trusted associates (p.46).

Brigham Young delivered the confirmation in front of the Territorial Assembly ensuring that the federal officials would hear of it. He proclaimed that he had more than one wife and that he was not ashamed of it. Orson Pratt offered a vigorous speech to defend the practice of plural marriage, citing the First Amendment and asserting that any law to prohibit a man's free exercise of religion would be unconstitutional.

In 1857 when James Buchanan was sworn into office of the President of the United State he was determined to quash the central hold the Mormon had over the political state of affairs in the territory. He devised a plan that would divide church and state rule forever. He would depose Brigham Young as territorial governor and replace Young with Alfred P. Cummings. He sent a group of federal judges to support Cummings and both Cummings and the judges were escorted by a U.S. Army battalion of 2,500 men. Brigham Young and the church saw this as an invasion of "an armed mercenary mob" (p. 63), prepared the territorial militia to resist army, and even declared Martial Law. Contingents of the militia attacked the army's supply trains, causing the battalion's slow march across Wyoming. An early fall snowstorm halted its progress entirely until the spring thaw.

In the meantime, an old friend to the Mormons, Colonel Thomas L. Kane was dispatched from California to negotiate the entrance of the federal appointees. All winter "he shuttled between Salt Lake City and the federal camp" (p 67). He succeeded in achieving a breakthrough. In the spring the army marched into the Salt Lake Valley unimpeded and continued 40 miles to the west of the Salt Lake Valley. The Mormons, inhabiting Salt Lake City, however, were not at hand to witness the Army's progression through the city. The Church led them on a temporary exodus to Utah Valley. Brigham Young remained the leader of the Church, but it was clear with the installment of non-Mormon territorial officeholders that the time when the Mormons and its practices were beyond the reach of the federal government was passed.

The last challenge to Utah's admittance to the Union was plural marriage. In 1862 the Morrill Act was passed that outlawed polygamy. And in Salt Lake City and throughout Utah, Church leaders and member alike were being tried for practicing plural marriage. In 1874 church leaders convinced the territorial U.S. Attorney to temporarily stay the prosecutions until a test case could be processed through to the U.S. Supreme Court. It took four years for Reynolds vs. United States to reach the Supreme Court justices. The case challenged the constitutionality of the 1862 Morrill Act. The justices in October 1878, however, decided against the Church. In the decision, Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite wrote, "Can a man excuse his practices to the contrary because of his religious beliefs? To permit this would be to make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land, and in effect permit every citizen to become a law unto himself" (p. 115). In essence, when it comes to religion one could believe anything one wanted, but one must consult the law before acting on those beliefs. This decision placed the Mormon Church's practice of polygamy strictly outside of the protection of the First Amendment.

Succeeding Presidents Hayes, Garfield, and Arthur continued to urge Congress to crackdown on polygamy in Utah and at their recommendations laws were passed in the 1880's that would disfranchise polygamists, and further prohibit them from holding public offices or sitting on juries. The passage of the Edmunds Act of 1882, made the situation in Utah impossible hundreds of men were being arrested on charges on polygamy and the leadership of the church went underground, being shuttled from safe house to safe house. All across the territory Mormons refused to renounce the practice of plural marriage. It was a matter of principle to the Latter-day Saints. To reject the practice would be to reject the laws of God. In 1887 Congress passed an even harsher anti-polygamy law in the Edmunds-Tucker Act. The law disincorporated the Church and all assets exceeding $50,000 were to be seized unless property in particular was used for worship (making all but temples vulnerable to seizures), the sale proceeds from the seized properties were to be used to fund a public school system. The anti-polygamy laws were broadened to make prosecution easier. In 1890 Wilford Woodruff, the President of the Church, faced with the question of the Church surviving the government-sponsored persecution of the Latter-day Saints, proclaimed that the Church would obey the laws of the land and that the practice of plural marriage would be abolished.

The concession was at first received suspiciously in Washington and it took another six years for the territory to be granted statehood, but with the abolishment of plural marriage, Utah was able to recruit more support for their cause and, finally, in 1896, after 45 years of struggle, Utah was accepted to the Union as the 45th state.

Salt Lake City's Tradition of Libraries

During the struggle for statehood, three separate organizations within the city of Salt Lake embarked on three different attempts to establish a function library for use by the patrons within Salt Lake City.

The Ladies Library Assocation

The Ladies Library Association was organized in the home of Mrs. Lucien P. Sanger on November 30, 1872 in answer to the growing needs of society and to "advance the literary tastes of all classes of the community" (Goodwin, p. 17). The officers were chosen at this meeting and would serve for terms of six months were Mrs. William Haydon (President), Mrs. S.A. Cooke (Vice President), Miss Georgia Snow (Secretary) and Mrs. B. Overton (Treasurer). The association advertised the formation of the association and called for the donation of items. The association secured a room on an upper floor the First National Bank Building. When the doors opened for the first time on December 16, 1872 there was over 400 books on the shelves and a small reading room set up. The library also offered the latest magazines and periodical. The library also maintained a lectures series. The library experienced surprising success and popularity and it became necessary for the association to move the library and reading room to another location. The library extended its original hours, being open Monday through Saturday evening from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Wednesday and Saturday afternoons from 1:00p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The library also received a bit of competition. In the summer of 1873 Campbell & Pattenson, a book selling firm announced the opening of its subscription library. It is unknown if this library really gave the public circulating library much trouble and neither is it known what sort of success this private enterprise experienced, but the association's library continued to popular. Another library opened that same summer, a seasonal public library and reading room on the Deseret University (University of Utah) campus. It offered collection of over 2,000 volumes. It was later discovered that this library was in fact the personal library of the University's President, Dr. John Park

The fund-raising endeavors for the Ladies Library Association were successful to a degree, but the association still wasn't able to fully fund the library on its own. In 1875 the association petitioned the City Council "to devise means of placing the institution on a permanent foundation" (p. 21). The proposal was passed to the Ways and Means Committee, but no decision was immediately forthcoming. The City Council received many entreaties to permanently fund the library. Bishop Daniel Tuttle, of St. Mark's Cathedral along with the heads of the local school endorsed the proposal. One letter "emphasized the need of a public library as an adjunct of the schools" (p. 22). Yet when the matter come up to the committee, it decided that the best location for a public library would be on the Deseret University and referred the matter back to the Council for a decision. The proposal died out and the library, unable to fund its operation closed in the spring of 1876.

The Masonic Public Library

Around the some time as the formation of the Ladies Library Association the Masons aspired to build a private library for the purpose of collecting books and works of scholarship on the Masonic Fraternity available to members of their organization. The Second Grand Secretary, Christopher Diehl, however, saw this as a great opportunity to open a public library institution in order to educate their Mormon neighbors from the practice of plural marriage. Yet, the Grand Lodge was quite hesitant to open a public library. No doubt recalling the issues the former association experienced with funding the operation of the library. Diehl first worked on convincing the committee that it would benefit the library to add works on Utah history to its purposed collection. When Diehl succeeded in building a collection of books on the Masonic order and on Utah's history it was only a matter of time before he was able to convince the Library Committee that opening a public library would benefit the community and the Masons' standing within the community. In 1875 the matter was approached for consideration and a committee established. During the 1876 session it was decided that they would open their library to the public September 1877.

The Masonic Public Library received its first donation from the Ladies Library Association. The association proposed the donation of their collection on the following terms: "that the Masonic Library should be public to all, and that in the event of failure on the part of the Masons to carry out this undertaking the books should revert to the original owners" (p. 28). The library opened rather quietly on the second floor of the First National Bank Building on September 1, 1877 from the hours of 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. The death of Brigham Young, however, on August 29th reasonably overshadowed the opening of the new public library. Many would have considered this a foreboding omen for the success of the library, yet it was anything but.

The library quickly picked up business and circulation to the point that the Librarian, Diehl proposed the hiring of an assistant librarian within the first year of the library's operation. After careful review by the Finance Committee, the proposal was agreed. Other cuts had to be made within the organization, but the committee understood the importance of an assistant librarian to assist with the library. A byproduct of this proposal was that the Grand Lodge decided that it would become necessary to separate the library into two departments: the Masonic department (the collection on masonry and the history of Utah) and the Public department. The organization would continue to support both departments, but the financial affairs would be handled by two separate committees. The library's first assistant was Thomas A. Clark.

Diehl's pet project was the Public Department and he did all in his power to expanding the collection and ensuring the public received the services it needed. Circulation and demand continued to increase. The only year the library experienced an alarming drop in patronage was 1888. Diehl attributed the decline to the enforcement of the Edmunds-Tucker Act.

During years of 1889 and 1890, the library experienced a bit of opposition, from mostly within the organization. One chapter no longer wished to contribute to paying the $2.50 per month for the library's rent fund. Members of the Grand Lodge also questioned and disputed policy or other matters related to the library. Despite the growing unpopularity toward the Public Department of the library from within the Mason Fraternity, the Public Department received considerable recognition from fellow Masonic organizations, from such parties as the Boston Commandery K.T. and Albert Pike. Notwithstanding the library's popularity, it came to a point in January of 1891 when the Grand Lodge could no longer afford to support the Public Department of the Masonic Library. The rent had increased and the funds required to operate the library were burdening the organization. As a solution to not closing the library, the library committee formed the Pioneer Library Association. Article of Incorporation, By-Laws, and Rules and Regulations were drafted and preparation was made for "all the books, property and belonging of the Masonic Library (except strictly Masonic works)" (pg. 43) to be transferred in ownership to the Pioneer Library Association. It is not known how the institution fared at educating the Mormons out of polygamy, but it may be argued that due to Wilford Woodruff's Manifesto abolishing the practice of plural marriage that the Grand Lodge reasoned that their greater purposed had been accomplished and that the job of educating the mass in general should fall to another organization.

The Pioneer Library Association

On March 1, 1891 the fledging Pioneer Library Association met, passed its Articles of Incorporation and elected thirteen members to its Board of Trustees. The members were Charles W. Bennet, Christopher Diehl, John Shaw Scott, William F. James, Robert Harkness, Lewis S. Hills, John Donnellan, Fred Simon, C.E. Allen, H.C. Lett, William F. Van Horne, A.M. Grant, and Charles B. Jack. On March 10, 1891 the following gentlemen were elected to these respective offices: Charles W. Bennet as President, Fred Simon as Vice President, John Shaw Scott as Treasurer and Christopher Diehl as Secretary and Librarian. The Grand Lodge received 500 shares valued at $25.00 per share in the transfer.

The board's first order of business was to procure suitable premises for the library. Fred Simon, who served as the President of the Chamber of Commerce and he proposed and negotiated for the library to occupy a floor in the Board of Trade building. The move began in April 1891 and the new library did not open until August of the same year.

When the library opened in August, the board found that they had produced very little interest in the community for the library. They were perplexed and disappointed. Goodwin suggests that it might have had to so with the library still be run by the Masons. While the Masons no longer financially supported the library, the members of the Board of Trustees were all members of the Masonic order as were all the elected officers. For whatever reason, the library experienced difficulty in generating the initial interest and financial support from Salt Lake City residents. Financial records indicate that from January 1893 the City Council was providing the library with an annual budget of $1,000.00 to be paid monthly at $166.66 increments. Unfortunately, the payments ceased in March 1895.

One organization that tirelessly supported the library was the Ladies Literary Club. They frequently fund-raising drives to benefit the library. One such drive on June 7, 1892 produced $3,100.00 for the library. With the fund the library added 2000 volumes to the library collection. The addition, at last, generated community interest in the library and use of the reading room and circulation materials began to increase.

The library, however, continued to be plagued with funding issues. During the March 1894 Board of Trustees meeting, the members were informed that the funds for the library were exhausted. In order to keep the library open in some capacity, the reading room was disbanded, library hours reduced from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and the assistant librarian's salary slashed from $80.00 a month to $40.00.[FN3]  By tracking he assistant librarian's wage fluctuations (at one point the was down to $30.00 a month and then skyrocketed to $80.00 a month), it is apparent that the library subsisting on next to nothing during the years of its existence. The fact alone that it did exist is a miracle in itself.

In 1896, after Utah's inclusion to the Union, the Grand Lodge, as major shareholders in the library, was approached to propose to the City Council that the city take over the library. With the rights of statehood, the Utah Legislature approved an act on "March 18, 1896, which authorized cities and towns to levy a tax of one-third of a mill annually, for the support of Free Public Libraries and Reading Rooms" (p. 51). The Salt Lake City Council followed suit in July 1897 and in November Mayor Ezra Thompson appointed nine people to the Board of Directors. The Grand Lodge formed a committee to assess the financial and practical advantages or repercussions of transferring their 500 shares in the Pioneer Library Association to the city. In December of 1897, the Grand Lodge voted to transfer their shares, books, and other property to the city to form a new city library.

The Free Public Library of Salt Lake

The Free Public Library opened its doors on the top floor of the City and County Building on January 1, 1898. Annie E. Chapman, the assistant librarian employed with the Pioneer Library was asked to stay on at the city's library as its sole employee. Miss Chapman was born in Lodi, Medina County, Ohio. She immigrated to the Salt Lake Valley in the 1880's after the death of her parents to live with a brother. Nothing is really known about her formal education but according to an obituary she was educated in Princeton, Ohio public schools.

The collection of the new city library, as explained earlier was transferred to the new library from the Pioneer Library Association. It was estimated that the Pioneer Library passed a collection containing 11,910 volumes. The books consisted of non-fiction and fiction volumes. The previous librarian of the collection was especially interested in foster the education of the populace and he would emphasis in his monthly reports that the reference resources were often used, however, nothing exists at this point in time to shed light on the types of volumes, and at what percentages, were contained in the library's budding collection.

By 1900 the library collection had grown to 14,515 volumes and the current facility in the City and County Building were proving insufficient to handle the needs of the library. In October of the same year, John Q. Packard donated a piece of property in a prime downtown location and capital for a new library. The new library building had not finished construction until 1905. Miss Chapman died on September 8, 1903. Joanna Sprague was hired as the library director and served in that capacity until she retired in 1940. Miss Sprague was born on September 25, 1862 in Madison Wisconsin. She moved to the Salt Lake Valley when she was thirteen years old.

A report of the library board meeting in the Salt Lake Herald lets us know that in 1900, Miss Chapman had at least one library clerk, a Miss Price took a Miss Mabel Anderson's position when said Miss Anderson resigned from the position. The library board met frequently to discuss the financial management and related business concerning the library, its policies, programs, and building. The library board also represented the library organization before the city council. The library director, it is inferred, was directly responsible the library board of directors.

The services offered to the public when the library was located in the City and County Building was limited to circulation and reference materials and a reading room. It was not mentioned if the library instituted a lecture series until the library moved in 1905 to the new building at 15 South State Street. At the new building the library offered the same circulation and reference materials, multiple reading rooms, and a lecture hall. The library sponsored lectures on various topics such as literature, science, and education. Every service offered by the library was free of charge.

From 1906 to 1921 the library expanded in not only collection size but in the number of branches. The first three branches were established in public schools: Bonneville, Emerson, and Franklin. The fourth, fifth, and sixth branches were converted from other buildings. The fourth from the an old drink dispensary near the Warm Springs Sanatorium. The fifth was converted out of the old Western Telegraph Office. The sixth opened in 1912 in the old Horsley Department Store at 610 West North Temple; it was named the Chapman Branch in honor of Annie Chapman. In 1914 the library board elected to open another branch to the east of the city in Sugar House. It was the first Sprague Branch library and it would later be renovated extensively in 1989. On February 15, 1917 the library was awarded a $25,000.00 grant from the Carnegie Foundation. The library used the funds to build a branch for the west side of the city at 577 South and 900 West. This branch replaced the earlier branch dedicated to Annie Chapman and it, too, was name the Chapman Branch. Over the years new branches would open and old ones would close. Present-day there ware six total library branches associated to the Salt Lake City Library. They are currently: the Main Library, the Anderson-Foothill Branch, the Chapman Branch, the Corinne and Jack Sweet Library, the Day-Riverside Branch, and the Sprague Branch. Interestingly enough, the Sprague Branch is the only one of the branches not to have been relocated.

Main Library Buildings

The Main Library, has traditionally, been the largest of all the city's library branches. It has always been centrally placed within downtown to provide the urban population with the library services it needs. The Main Library has had four homes; three of which have been within the same two-block area and the site farthest north was less than a mile from the other three. [FN4] 

The City & County Building The first main library location was within the City and County Building. Construction of the City and County Building was completed in 1894. The building was designed in the Richardson Romanesque Style. The library occupied the top floor of the building, which Allowed space for a reading room and stack space. The City and County Building is currently on The National Register of Historic Places.

15 South State Street The site and capital for the second main library building was donated by John Q. Packard, a mining millionaire. The site was located south of South Temple Street about a mile north of the City and Count Building. The building was designed with a combined Doric and Ionian, which is common classified as the Beaux Arts Style. The building served as the library from 1905 to 1964. The building has two floors. When it was the library the first floor contained a library assistant desk, reading rooms, a private office for the library director, and book stacks. The second floor contained and auditorium which could hold 350 people. In 1964 the library moved to the 209 East 500 South location when the building could no longer support the library collection and needs. The building became first the home of the Mr. and Mrs. George T. Hansen Planetarium and Space Science Library and then a location for jeweler, O.C. Tanner. This building is also included on the National Register of Historic Places.

209 East 500 South This site officially opened on April 6, 1965. The building of this library was included on a city capital improvement bonding bill voters passed. The Friends of the Library was established in 1962 and sponsored and pushed through the approval of a $2.5 million construction bond. This building shares the same city block as the new current library. When the library's needs outgrew this building, the city constructed the new library on the north end of the block. This building does not currently have an active use. The library oftens use the premise for space-intensive exhibits. For instance the building housed the BodyWorlds Exhibit when it was in Salt Lake City last year.

210 East 400 South In 1998 the city of Salt Lake passed a $84 million library to construct a new library on the same city block as the existing library. The library received a great amount of support in constructing and conceiving the community purpose of the new library. Patrons wanted a space that did more than store books. The new Main Library is a true community learning center. It is a six level building which encompasses a separate children's library, a café, a library shop, and other lease retail spaces. There are numerous computer areas, free WiFi accessible from any part in the library, a special collections department, an art gallery, and an exhibit rotation. There are also several meeting/lecture halls. The building lets in a lot of natural light, strategically, in the reading/studying areas, so as to protect the books from direct sunlight. The library is bright and vibrant and happy.

Summary

Utah's history of the development of public libraries proves that it is essential for the entire community to rally in support of a pubic library. There can be no hidden agendas or the library will fail. In the case of the Pioneer Library Association, the tradition of dislike between the Mormons and the Masons nearly failed the library. Despite the strong inclination for education and learning among both parties, the social and political atmosphere was such that neither group would have been able to make a public library succeed without the assistance of Salt Lake City's local government. The City of Salt Lake saved the public library movement in the Salt Lake Valley and today the Salt Lake City's populace is able to participate within a library system that understands its needs and attempts to engage its imagination.

Footnotes

 
[FN1] Such as rumors of practicing plural marriage, baptisms for the dead, and marriage sealing; these rites are meant to be performed within temples. (back to text)
 
[FN2] Just an interesting side note: Samuel Brannon met up with the advance company at the Green River and joined the company into the Salt Lake Valley. He did his best to convince the leaders to continue on to California. When he was unsuccessful, he returned to California. On the way he stopped over at Sutter's Mill and rented property for a store. Months later gold would be found and Brannan would become one of California's first millionaires. (back to text)
 
[FN3] The assistant librarian at this time was Annie E. Chapman, the first library director of the Free Public Library of Salt Lake. (back to text)
 
[FN4] All photographs were taken by MaryAnn Sharples. (back to text)

References

(1900, January 3). Library Board Meeting. Salt Lake Herald, page number unknown.

(1903, September 9). Good Woman Is Gone. Salt Lake Tribune, page number unknown.

(1961, January 9). Joanna Sprague, S.L. Librarian, Dies At Age 98. Deseret News, p. 5.

(2009). Salt Lake City & County Building. Retrieve online April 15, 2010 from http://www.slcgov.com/info/ccbuilding/default.htm.

Alexander, T.G, Campbell, E.E., Miller, D.E, and Poll, R.D. (1989). Utah's History. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press.

Firmage, R. and Verdoia, K. (1996). Utah: The Struggle for Statehood. Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press.

Goodwin, S.H (1929). Freemasonry in Utah: The Masonic Public Library 1877-1891-1897 Salt Lake City, UT: (publisher unknown)

Salt Lake City Public Library System. "About Us". Retrieved online April 1, 2010 from http://www.slcpl.lib.ut.us/details.jsp?parent_id=7&page_id=5.

Salt Lake City Public Library System. "History of the City Library". Retrieved online April 1, 2010 from http://www.slcpl.lib.ut.us/details.jsp?parent_id=2&page_id=293.

Silltoe, L. (1996). A History of Salt Lake County. Salt Lake City, UT: Utah State Historical Society.
Smith, J.S.H. (1979, August 7). National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Salt Lake City Public Library. Retrieved online April 15 from http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/79002505.pdf.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "Articles of Faith". Retrieved online April 2, 2010 from http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,106-1-2-1,FF.html.