Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Patrons of the Spokane Public Library were confronted with this jarring sign when they arrived: “Closed in the morning on account of insufficient appropriation.”

The library was locked in a funding dispute with the city, and the library’s reaction was to close in the mornings.

The Spokesman-Review was not pleased with this situation, for two reasons. 

“In the first place, there ought to be enough money to keep the library open morning, afternoon and evening,” an editorial said. “If a library is not continuously accessible, it is not much good. If running expenses have to be cut, the cutting might begin a good deal nearer to city hall.”

However, the paper was not impressed with the library’s reaction, either. 

“If shortage of library funds is absolutely unavoidable, the library can act with much better grace than at present,” the editorial said. “Scolding or its equivalent will not help matters. … It gives the impression of one member of an otherwise happy family lifting up its voice in querulous complaint over the stinginess of another member of the family.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1911: Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris.