A CENTURY ago, Malvern Urban District Council voted by eight votes to four to accept a donation of £5,000 from millionaire philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to build a new library in the town.
Malvern's first library had opened a few weeks previously in converted premises in The Exchange, but now the search was on for a new site.
"We want a good site, as central as may be," said the Malvern News's leader. "Probably eight of ten votes would be given in favour of Belle Vue Terrace, Church Street, or somewhere near.
"Sites anywhere near the centre of the town are, of course, difficult to find and costly to buy," continued the paper before urging the Lord of the Manor, Sir Henry Lambert, to help find a solution to the problem.
But the vote in the urban district council did not run smoothly, with the News commenting on the "wordy warfare" between the pro and anti-library factions.
"Outspoken criticism is a healthy factor in public life, and should always be welcomed, but innuendo and personalities invariably have harmful results," it said.
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