The importance of the subject will, I trust be a sufficient apology for soliciting your attention to the following communication

Wayland (MA): John B. Wright, 1853. Printed Circular. 4to. 275 x 213 mm. ( 10 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches). No title. 3 pp. Printed on blue paper. Folded. Printed Circular. 4to. 275 x 213 mm. ( 10 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches). No title. 3 pp. Printed on blue paper. Folded. Letter to the citizens of the State of Massachusetts, asking them to act on a law that was passed two year earlier, for the creation of libraries in every city and town in the Bay State. Citing the examples of the towns of Wayland, Concord, Boston, Worcester, New Bedford, Danvers, and Northampton. the author outlines the great benefits that accrue with the tax support of a library and the minimal (truncated) cost per citizen to maintain a public library and its collection. The Reverend John B. Wight, a member of the State Legislature from Wayland, was instrumental in the passage of the bill that authorized the establishment and maintenance of public libraries throughout the state. In 1853, two years after the bill was passed, Wight returned to this issue by calling on the population of the state to take the initiate and realize the legislation by establishing libraries in every city and town. This circular was sent to every municipality and at the bottom of his letter, Wight states that 4000 copies of the circular would be distributed throughout the Commonwealth in an attempt to turn the legislation into a reality. Jared Mann Heard. Origins of the Free Library System of Massachusetts, Clinton, 1860. pp. 4-9. (350). (Inventory #: 350)