The new buildings of the London Library were opened to
the public on Monday with a modest but well-attended ceremonial. As we have said elsewhere, we think the Com- mittee of the Library should have erected a new building on cheaper and less cumbered ground; but they probably know their own business better than we do, and if their decision is accepted, they have done their work exceedingly well. They have changed a roomy private house, 14 St. James's Square, singularly ill-suited for a great library from deficiencies of light, into a public institution, with two large, well-lighted halls for readers and those who exchange books, and an infinity of book-rooms, which, though closely packed to hold more than a hundred and sixty thousand volumes, can still be traversed witY some ease. They have, moreover, kept their expenditure within their means, a most unusual merit, made possible only by the fact that their financial management is so trusted that they can borrow at 3 per cent. That is most creditable to a group of literary men, and their able secretary, but, for all that, they should gather a reserve fund. Ten years hence they will be compelled to build, and by that time a fall in the prices now ruling in St. James's Square may have diminished their best asset. They could get a good deal now by selling life annuities, and giving the annuitants no trouble.
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