Library Closing Celebration - Remarks
Remarks by elected officials at the June 13, 2004 ceremony celebrating the closing of the library for reconstruction.
Lois Sockol, Chair of the Needham Board of Library Trustees
When it comes to libraries, the people of Needham have a long history, beginning in the year 1796 when a group of Needham citizens formed an association library, as was the custom of the day. The value of the library, $100, was divided into an equal number of shares, worth $3 each. The library had a collection of 110 books and each proprietor paid 0.25 annually to buy books and make additions to the library.
As time went by at least 20 other private libraries were established by individuals and groups. In 1875, The Needham Library Association was formed, addressing the need for a broader, more inclusive library system. Under its guidelines everyone above the age of 15 was eligible for membership upon paying a $5 fee, which entitled the member to a vote in the association. But even if you weren’t a member of the association, you could use the library for an annual fee of $1. Ultimately, it was the Needham Library Association that was the catalyst for the Needham Free Public Library.
Unfortunately, after only two short years, the Association’s Library burned down. Subsequently, the 1888 town meeting voted to establish a Free Public Library.
The sum of $428.10 from the dog tax money was appropriated to support the library, which was housed on the second floor of the Moseley Building, on the corner of Chestnut and Great Plain. In October of 1898, the library moved to two rooms on the first floor of the newly constructed high school, the building we know as the Emory Grover Building.
When the library was established in 1888, the town’s population was less than 3000, the Town of Wellesley was a mere 7 years old, Needham had a two fire engine fire department, and the school department employed 16 teachers.
The early decades of the new century saw many changes for the town and the library. When the library’s allotted space in the Emory Grover became inadequate, the library was on the moved again. Temporarily, it found quarters at Town Hall.
In 1903 the Town was the beneficiary of two gifts, a library building from Andrew Carnegie, and a site of land from William Carter at the corner of Highland Avenue and Mellen Street — where Citizens’ Bank now stands. However, there was dissatisfaction over the gifted site. It was convenient for the people of the Heights but inconvenient for those living in the central part of Needham. To accommodate those outside the Heights a branch library remained at the Town Hall, which in time caused space problems for the departments housed at the Town Hall.
In 1914 William Carter offered the town a solution. . . the land which the Library stands on today, $8,000 in cash and $12,000 in return for the Carnegie Library building and the land at the Heights. For many years the building served the offices of the Carter Company, which eventually sold the building to the Norfolk County Trust Company (bank), which tore the building down in the 1960s to make way for a new Norfolk County Trust Building.
In 1915, when the town’s population was 6,507, the library was completed at a cost of $30,000 and was planned to hold 40,000 books
With the natural progression of time, the town grew, the library needed more space and in 1961 an addition increased the Library’s size by one and a half times the original 1915 building. In 1981 came the addition which included a handicap access and an elevator.
In the library’s first annual report for the year ending 1888, the largest weekly circulation is noted to be 225 books. In recent times, our busiest week circulated 9,600 items, our busiest day, 1,308, and our busiest Month, March 2003, circulated 42,796 items. Needham’s propensity for reading continues to flourish.
The Library, a solid structure of bricks, steel, shelves and books, is actually fluid, growing and changing to meet the needs of its citizens, and its time. Long may it be so.
Jim Healy, Chair of the Needham Board of Selectmen
Thank you, Margaret, for your gracious invitation to speak. In addition to the special guests introduced earlier, I would also like to welcome Senator Scott Brown — Sen. Brown has already made a number of appearances here in Needham and we are again grateful for his presence today. I also want to acknowledge former School Superintendent and Selectman, Bill Powers. Lastly, my Needham public education would have taught me nothing if I did not properly recognize the best 9th grade English teacher a student could have, Ms. Eleanor Weekes.
I have been asked to speak about the library “present” — in truth it would have been much easier to speak about the “past” — I could have simply produced a detention slip circa 1964 from being tossed out of the children’s reading room or an overdue “late” notice for not having returned the 3rd series of the Hardy Boys mysteries — The Secret of the Old Mill — the accumulated fine on that book might even have paid a good portion of this project.
But instead I focus on the “present”, and in so doing I offer the following observations:
Libraries, like this one, are a vital component of not just Needham’s but the world’s system of communication, education, and even entertainment.
Libraries make available to all of us the great collection of “ideas” that have accumulated throughout the ages but are now presently available and accesible for our consumption.
Libraries house the common assembly of “thought” for us to injest, analyze, dissect and absorb — not simply to learn about and understand the past, but also to better serve the society in which we now live, and even better yet, to prepare us for greater successes into the future.
Libraries provide recreation for our citizens — book clubs and just plain “reading” are widely recognized as some of the most popular leisure activities enjoyed by people of all ages and all cultural backgrounds.
At this juncture, my junior high and high school Latin teachers, Harriet Tippet and Fred Muir, might remind me that the word “library” comes from the Latin “liber” meaning “book”.
But today’s library is so much more than books — it is periodicals, magazines, newspapers, paintings, films, photographs, music, microfiche, videos, tapes, CD’s, and even DVD’s — all of which define our cultural history — who we are and where we have been — and they are all freely available to anyone who dare only to ask or dream — “what now can I learn?”
In closing, I note that one of the first free tax-supported public libraries was established just north of here in Peterborough, New Hampshire in 1833. I am so very proud that our hometown of Needham continues to carry on this most important tradition.
On behalf of the Needham Board of Selectmen, I first say thanks to all those citizens who have supported this free public library both in the past and into the future. The Prop. 2 1/2 override vote in favor of the reconstruction of this library was an example of extrarordinary generosity. I also congratulate and convey best wishes to the library trustees for their fine stewardship of this vital public service.
A free public library invigorates our minds and souls, it allows new ideas to flow, and it causes our society to be more educated, further informed and better able to handle the challenges of tomorrow — in the end, we become better citizens for the mutual benefit of all of us.
Thank you again, and best of luck.
Ann MacFate, Director of the Needham Public Library
I’m delighted to be here and to be a part of these festivities. Celebrating the closing of the library building, so that a new and better library can be built, has been a long time coming. It has been a ten- year process to get where we are today. I am so excited to be able to tell you what is going to happen in the short term and what the new library will be like.
At 5:00 p.m., on Saturday, June 26th, the library will close at this location [Highland Avenue].
On Monday, June 28th, the move to temporary quarters at the High Rock School begins. Everything in this building must be moved out — all the books, magazines, newspapers, videos, DVDs, CDs, books-on-tape, computers, furniture. No small task.
The move will take three weeks, and for three weeks there will not be a public library in Needham.
On Monday, July 19th, the library will open up for business in its temporary location at the High Rock School. The construction time-line calls for the library to be at the High Rock for about a year and a half. While at the High Rock School, the library staff will make every effort to continue delivering the excellent library service that you have come to expect.
In late fall or early winter of 2005 the new library will be ready, and you’re going to love it.
The new library will preserve the historic Highland Avenue portion of the building, while adding much needed space for people, materials, and programs to the parking lot side. The main entrance will be from the parking lot. It will be convenient, large, and gracious. The book drops and the Community Room will be located near the main entrance. After you go through the entrance vestibule you will be at the return and check-out desk. The Children’s Room will be located to your right, and to your left you will find the new books; the DVD, CD, video, and books on tape collections; the large print collection; and the mysteries and other fiction collections. All on one floor!!!
Back near the circulation desk you will find a staircase or elevator to use to get to the second floor. On that floor you will find the reference librarians and the Reference Collection, plus all the computers, the nonfiction collection, the magazine and newspaper room, the business room, the young adult room, the archives and genealogy rooms. Again, all conveniently located on one floor!!
Isn’t that great! All public services will be located on two floors.
There will be conveniently located seating and study carrels and tables located throughout the building. Plus, plugs for your laptops, wireless capabilities for your laptops, Minuteman Library Network catalog computers located in the book stacks. The Community Room will contain all the latest technology. The Children’s Room will have its own story hour room, a craft program room, and a new, imaginative play area.
Unlike the present building with its book-stack-supported floors and load bearing walls, the new building will be constructed for maximum flexibility, so that it will not only be able to be the library for today but also the library for tomorrow.
Bear with us during the interim inconveniences. Believe me, the wait will be well worth it.
Representative Lida Harkins
[Rep. Harkins’ remarks were delivered by legislative aide Edmund Donnelly.]
As we prepare for the reconstruction of our library, I feel that the combination of the classic architecture of our library that is to be preserved and the modern renovation about to take place is a harbinger of the library’s future role in our town.
Constructed in 1915, the façade of the library facing Highland Avenue, along with its neighbors Needham High School and the Needham Town Hall, provide some of the most unique architecture in town.
With a growing population and constant technological advancements, the classic, old building, along with its 1961 and 1981 additions, are no longer capable of housing the collection of over 140,000 books, periodicals and audio visual pieces. The registered borrower population of over 18,000 individuals, and their evolving technological needs, are placing strains on the building that are too much for it to bear effectively.
The proposed renovations are a perfect fit for this new role of the library in our current society. In the coming years, libraries should be dedicated to preserving the tradition of free access to knowledge and information in a world where this search does not exclusively involve books. The familiar front door and steeple will be a reminder of our town’s commitment to education and learning, while the resources within the recognizable exterior will be cutting edge.
I look forward to celebrating the date two years from now when the new library is finished and the town has a building capable of continuing the ever changing work of public libraries in the next century.