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185
opportunity of viewing the building with him, subsequently
several interviews were had by the Chairman with Mr.
Minet, and he met the wishes of the Commissioners in a
most liberal spirit, and expressed his willingness to adapt
the present building for the purposes of a Public Library
by the erection of a Librarian's house and Lending Library
adjoining.
This Library being on the borders of Lambeth Parish,
we came to the conclusion that the Ratepayers of that
Parish would benefit equally with our own, and we requested
our Chairman to put himself into communication
with Mr. Evan Spicer, one of the Lambeth Commissioners
thereon, and we also wrote to that body, that
having regard to the position of the building, and the great
benefit it would confer on their Parish, whether they
would be prepared to contribute £500, halt' the estimated
cost of furnishing the Library with books, and also the
like proportion of the cost of the future maintenance of
such building, and in the event of their acceding to such re-
quest, we deemed it only just that three Commissioners
should be appointed by Lambeth to assist in the management
of such Library.
The Lambeth Commissioners expressed their willingness
to comply with our request, but the question arose
whether the Act allowed them to contribute to a Library in
another Parish. A Bill was then before Parliament for the
Amendment of the Public Libraries Acts, upon the question
of rating land, and it was at once deemed advisable to take
advantage of this Bill to obtain the introduction of a clause
allowing one Parish to contribute to a Library in