Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 247, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 October 1915 — Old-Time Library. [ARTICLE]

Old-Time Library.

Just as Arlington was about to carry off the palm for having the oldest library in the state, organized in 1803, along comes Wilmington with the statement that during a recent cleaning of an attic in a law office in that place a book of records was found which showed that the Wilmington so cial library was organized December 31, 1795, with a constitution, by-laws and a list of subscribers. This book has been presented to the present Wilmington institution, the Pette Memorial library, to be kept as a relic. Some of the entries in the book are very interesting. I§rael Lawton was fined 17 cents for dropping tallow on book No. 93, Timothy Castle was fined 6 cents for getting one drop of tallow on book No. 16, Levi Packard was fined 60 cents for tearing the binding on book No. 106, and several others were fined for turning down leaves and for finger marks. The latest date in the list of revenues is October 4, 1813.