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City to Donate Books
in Memory of Residents

The city of Spring Hill, Tennessee, will give a book to the library in memory of every resident who dies, according to a plan passed July 16 by the mayor and aldermen.

The plan was approved 6–2, in spite of strong opposition by Alderman Bruce Scotten, who also serves on the library’s board of directors. “Government should do only what citizens can’t do, like maintain the roads, keep the peace, that sort of thing. If a citizen wants to donate a book to the library in memory of someone, that’s something he can do,” said Scotten. “The point is, this is taxpayer money. It’s not a government function,” the Nashville Tennessean reported July 19.

Mayor Ray Williams responded that residents would have paid more in a tax increase than the occasional $20 or $25 book.

Alderman Miles Johnson added that when he had received cards in the past noting a book had been donated in a loved one’s memory, it “meant more to me and my family than anything.”

Posted July 23, 2001.

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