1857
The legislature enacted that ten percent of the yearly income of the school fund should be applied to the purchase of town school libraries, and an annual tax of one tenth of one mill levied for the same purpose.
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The evidence
“Draper, urged upon the legislature a better system, of " town libraries," and a state tax for their creation and maintenance. In 1857, the legislature enacted that ten per cent, of the yearly income of the school fund should be applied to the purchase of town school libraries, and that an annual tax of one tenth of one mill should be levied for the same purpose. The law was left incomplete, however, and in 1862, before the system had been perfected, the exigencies of the civil war led to the repeal of the law, and the library fund which had accumulated from the ten per cent, of the school fund income, and from the library tax, amounting in all to $88,784.78, was transferred to the general fund.”
1879-history-of-rock-county/03-wisconsin-topography-geology-agriculture.md, PDF p. 144 / book p. 148
Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.
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