Thus the libraries are endeavoring to make themselves useful in every
field of human enterprise or interest; with books of facts for the
information they possess; with books of inspiration for the stimulus
they give and the power they generate. Conjointly these yield the
equipment which develops the constructive imagination, without which
the world would seem but a sorry and a shriveled spot to dwell upon.
The poet and the dreamer conceive the great things which are wrought;
the scientist and the craftsman achieve them; the scholar and the
artist interpret them. Thus associated, they make their finest
contribution to the common life. The builders construct the great
monuments of iron and of concrete which are the expression of this
age, as the great cathedrals and abbeys were of generations that have
passed. Adapted as they are to the needs of this day, our artists and
our writers have shown us the beauty and the art which the modern
handiwork of man possesses. With etcher's tool one man of keen insight
has shown us the art that inheres in the lofty structures which line
the great thoroughfares of our chief cities, the beauty of the skylines
they trace with roof and pediment. With burning words another has given
voice to machinery and to the vehicles of modern industry, and we
thrill to the eloquence and glow of his poetic fervor.
"Great works of art are useful works greatly done," declares Dr. T. J.
Cobden-Sanderson, and, rightly viewed, the most prosaic achievements of
this age, whether they be great canals or clusters of workmen's homes
worthily built, or maybe more humble projects, have a greatness of
meaning that carries with it the sense of beauty and of art.
In medieval days, the heralds of civilization were the warrior,
the missionary, the explorer and the troubadour; in modern times,
civilization is carried forward by the chemist, the engineer, the
captain of industry, and the interpreter of life--whether the medium
utilized be pen or brush or voice. Without vision, civilization
would wither and perish, and so it may well be that the printed page
shall serve as symbol of its supreme vision. Within the compass
of the book sincerely written, rightly chosen, and well used are
contained the three chief elements which justify the library of the
people--information, education, recreation.
The urge of the world makes these demands; ours is the high privilege
to respond.