History of the Library

"Above all, let the books be read and let this become emphatically a reading community. . ."

From a letter to the Middleborough Gazette, 1853

Chapter One

From these small beginnings. . .

 

It seems strange to us now, looking back across the century, but there was once a time when our town did not have a library open to all its citizens. In fact, the "Rules and Regulations for the establishment of a Public Library" were not actually presented to Town Meeting for adoption until 1875 - even though Middleborough had been an incorporated town since 1669. The simple rules adopted by the assembled townsfolk stated that a Board of Trustees would be chosen at Town Meeting, and that all citizens over 18 be eligible to take books, children under 16 with parents' consent. "Proper deportment" within the Library room was mandatory of course.

 

The Town Report of 1876 relates the fledgling Library's progress, which was delayed on account of "scantiness of means" - a situation that was to be only too familiar many times in the coming years. The number of cataloged books was 1,843. The Library Room in Town Hall was opened on September 27, 1875 with daily hours from 4-8 pm. The amount received from fines for the entireyear was $11.12. By 1877 the Library is a rousing success, marked by "liberal patronage and ready compliance with its rules." The Librarian comments that the only drawback has been a shortage of books!

 

By 1883 the Librarian noted that all the books loaned that year had been returned, "with the exception of 2; one of which, the borrower left town without returning, and the other was lost, but made good by the loser." (Plainly, such dreadful misbehavior was out of the ordinary.)

 

In 1885 the Library's collection had grown to 3,864 and that single room in Town Hall was beginning to be a tight fit. The Annual Report noted that "the present shelves in nearly all the classifications are crowded, and many valuable reports and documents are not cataloged for want of room to shelf them." The question is asked: "Will not the citizens of the town see that their Library has a place such as befits its sphere of usefulness?"

 

In 1888, Middleboro acquired a High School and so another temporary solution to the space problem was found: the Library was moved to a larger room in Town Hall previously occupied by the High School class. The increased space allowed for the opening of a "pleasant and well-lighted" Reading Room with a supply of magazines, such as the American Agriculturist and the Overland Monthly,from 9-12 and 2-8 pm.

 

Chapter Two

Becoming a Town Institution

 

The Library turned 20 years old in 1894. That year the most requested book among the 5,895 in the collection was General Lew Wallace's Ben Hur. A later report noted the first bequest the Library received: the munificent sum of $10,000.00 (roughly equal to $200,000 in today's terms). The donor was the late Honorable Enoch Pratt, a wealthy industrialist famous for building and endowing the central library of Baltimore, Maryland, from which Andrew Carnegie drew ideas for his own library gifts. Enoch Pratt was actually born in Middleboro in 1808, and as Mrs. Thatcher commented in her Annual Report, "Surely his kind thoughtfulness for this, his native town, must ever be gratefully remembered."

 

As the year 1898 drew to a close and Librarian Thatcher made notes for her Annual Report, she mentioned that "Mrs. Lavinia Magri has donated from the library of the late 'General Tom Thumb' 22 volumes of the Illustrated London News. The Library is still the proud possessor of those volumes! Rules for borrowing are still extremely restrictive by our standards: - the number of books that an individual is allowed to check out is two. As the 20^th century approaches, the rumbles of changes in manners and society are to be found even in the Library : "Of the many young people who frequent the reading room every day a few are wilful and disorderly and a great hindrance to those who wish to read or study." The salary of the Librarian is literally creeping upward. When the Library Room opened, her salary was less than $150.00 per year; now, more than 25 years later, it has reached the splendid sum of $300.00 per year.

 

Chapter Three

A Home of Our Own

 

The Annual Report for 1901 contains the most momentous, earthshaking news ever for the Library and its supporters: the announcement of Thomas S. Peirce's bequest of $50,000.00 to erect a true library building, plus the income from an additional $50,000.00 to serve as a trust fund for materials purchases. The New Bedford Standard Times reported in April of 1902 that the Trustees had decided upon a two story brick structure with the library proper on the first floor and, surprisingly, the second "cut up into a museum in which the pictures of famous citizens" as well as some artifacts will be collected to interest "citizens of this generation and of future generations." The second floor was also expected to have an art gallery in the hallway. At this point "the Trustees are laboring very conscientiously to secure a location for the building." Later in the year contracts awarded to W. H. Wardwell of Brockton for the work, Frederic N. Reed of New York as the architect, and Winthrop Alexander of Brockton and Boston as the Inspector. By June the pencil drawings had arrived from the architect and in the process of being approved. The foundation was laid but "labor troubles and the approach of winter seemed to make it advisable to suspend the work for the winter. The walls were covered to protect them from frost and snow." The entire collection is to be re-cataloged, "under new and up-to-date methods," prior to the move. 1903 sees both processes, building and re-cataloging continuing at a less-than-brisk pace: the Librarian writes, perhaps a bit wistfully, "The new building will be completed soon . . ."

 

At last, in 1904 the Annual Report becomes longer and more detailed and there is a palpable sense of exited pride as the Librarian relates that the new building opened for the informal inspection of the townspeople on April 25^th and "the following day, April 26^th, it was opened for business." The total number of volumes is now a substantial 12, 779. A new registration of users has begun, "using red ink to distinguish from the old." New services are begun: books can be reserved for a penny, duplicate copies of the most popular titles are purchased, there is a special Children's Room, and lists of the new books begin to appear in the Middleboro Gazette. The Library is open from 2-9 every weekday and 2-7 on Sundays. This Annual Report and the one from 1905 could (almost ) be described as dramatic as the scope of the Library expands along with its floor space!

 

The Library continues to expand the number of newspapers and magazines it provides for the varied tastes of its readers (for instance, in 1908 a magazine called Modern Sanitation was added, as well as Womans Home Companion.) A hint of modern technology begins to appear in the form of a notation that two stereoscopes are now available - with views of Switzerland and "Children of many lands."

 

By 1911 the Library is trying a radical experiment: being open from 9 am to 9 pm instead of the traditional 2 pm to 9 pm hours. The yearly report comments that "This has been found a convenience to many . . . the schoolchildren from the suburban districts and those working in the shops." And speaking of hours open, during the following year, the Library had to be closed for two weeks in April due to a serious, town-wide epidemic of scarlet fever.

 

The 1915 Annual Report makes a point of noting the following about financial matters: "The Trustees serve without pay. The Librarian who spends practically her whole time in the work, receives a salary of but $550. The three assistants are paid 20 cents each per hour . . ." The Treasurer adds, rather tartly, that perhaps the Town should consider an appropriation for the Library's working needs, instead of a "fluctuating income" as has been the custom up till now. An inventory taken in August found that the collection now numbers 20,476.

 

Chapter Four

Taking Part in the Wider World

 

In 1917 the world went to war, and the Library contributed to the effort in various ways: the Red Cross utilized the rooms upstairs and "large quantities of pamphlets on war subjects " were distributed freely. As part of the national drive to get books to soldiers and sailors, people donated books to the Library for shipment to armed forces camps far and wide. To conserve on fuel and light, the Library was closed from 9-12 daily, and with the outbreak of the worldwide influenza epidemic, closed entirely for a month. The deadly seriousness of that illness is often forgotten now, but the lengthy closure reminds us of how frightening it must have been. Also for the first time starting in 1919, the back stack room was opened to the public, "giving people freer access to the books than they here-to-fore had."

 

The Library progressed quietly, although society may have roared, in the 1920's. In 1921, another in the long line of assistants was hired, but this one, Mertie Witbeck by name, was to have a major impact in years to come. Changes in service to the public occurred: the Librarian mentions for the first time that there are genealogical questions coming in from other states, that Interlibrary Loans are possible, that there is a demand for books of technical instruction in fields as diverse as metalwork and apple-growing, and that assistants are attending "district library meetings and round table discussions" - in other words, continuing their educations. Finally, the limit on the number of books that a reader may borrow has been changed from two to unlimited, in part perhaps, because the total collection has risen to its largest number yet - 26,540.

 

1924 also finds the inauguration of story-telling - "a feature which will be made permanent" (as indeed it has: the Library now hosts an Annual StoryTelling Festival).

 

1925 brought the celebration of the Library's 50^th Anniversary with a tea for the public, a Pageant of Bookland put on by children and even an Anniversary Poem. The year also sees Miss Palmer going off to become Reference Librarian at the New Bedford Public Library; the new Head Librarian is Mertie Witbeck. Summer Reading, with certificates awarded for the number of books read, begins the following summer. Mrs. Witbeck concludes the first Annual Report of her long tenure in an obviously enthusiastic state of mind over the past year's "splendid results" in all areas (there is a pleased smile behind those words.) New ideas are blossoming forth all over the building: new signs here, books displays there, art exhibits upstairs and even, during the 'Know Your Library' campaign, "attendants dressed in appropriate costumes to care for the books - one in old fashioned dress for books on antiques and rare volumes, one in a genuine Swedish costume for travel books." A course in "Modern Literature" was held and "much enjoyed by the large number who attended the class."

 

In the spring of 1926, Mrs. Witbeck took on another project: setting up a proper library at Middleboro High School (or, as she delicately puts it in her Report: "There were many usable books at the school, but no work had been done toward cataloging and classifying them.")

 

Chapter Five

Hard Times

The Report for 1929 doesn't yet foresee the economic changes the Crash of '29 will bring to all of America, but it does take note of an all-but-forgotten contagion, smallpox, which rampaged through Middleboro. Not only did book circulation drop by a third, because people did not venture out, but the collection declined in numbers since the Library could not take back any books that had been in an infected house; they had to be destroyed. Somewhat sadly, it is noted that "the library stands the loss, feeling it is wiser to sacrifice the book and save the peace of mind and retain the confidence of the public."

 

The Library starts a Rental Book Collection in 1930. Those eager readers who want the newest books first can get them if they are willing to pay a fee. There have been "pleased comments" about this from the public, even though the fee is the tidy sum of .02 cents per day!

 

The Librarian notes that the halls both upstairs and down are "badly in need of repair" and hopes that something may be done in another year. As the Depression deepens, she says people are reading "to take their thoughts off their own misfortunes and acquire a happier frame of mind" - perhaps a bit of wishful thinking on her part. Circulation continues to climb but the need for retrenchment has caused reductions in both staff and resources - so  much so that the Library has been forced to close in the mornings and an hour earlier at night to save heat and light. The Assistant Librarian, Miss Robinson, leaves and her position stays unfilled. Even the exhibits the Library customarily offers seem to be affected by a shrinkage in funds: during Book Week of 1932, for instance, the primary feature was 100 pieces of Ivory Soap sculpture, lent by something called the "National Committee on Small Soap Sculpture, of Chicago." There is a bit of pathos about that.

 

The staff soldiers bravely on, "Although the strength and nerves of librarians are being taxed to the utmost," and they have already contributed 5% of their wages to the town's Welfare Fund. Everyone learns to make something- even when there's very little to work with. For instance, one Book Week display features "a miniature house, tiled with tiny book jackets and surrounded by a white picket fence, within which was a garden and tiny figures representing book characters." Bookmarks were made "by using strips of colored cardboard and pasting at the top tiny colored pictures garnered from a variety of sources - discarded books, Christmas cards and book jackets. The cost was almost nothing and the result was successful beyond our dreams." Unfortunately nothing remains today from these two projects, much as we would wish to see them.

 

Finally during these years there was also a narrow escape from a library's worst enemy: fire. On the morning of December 6, 1935, the roof was discovered to be "burning briskly." Roof and rafters were badly burned, but it could have been much, much worse.

 

Chapter Six

Moving Toward Another War

The circulation desk has turned into a constantly busy place. As Mrs. Witbeck writes in her Annual Report for 1938, "Books are the very life blood of a library and it is as necessary to renew, replenish and keep frequently circulating the blood-stream of a library as in the human body." The collection has grown to over 36,000 volumes and 2,215 people are library card holders. The Librarian writes a column for the Gazette and gives talks to groups. The time has come to restore the hours lost "when the whole country was feeling the effects of the depression," and repairs need to be done. After all, the Library Building is now nearly forty years old and there have been years of neglect as America suffered through the long Depression. The Librarian asks for a maintenance budget and does not mince words on what will happen without one: the building will be "deteriorating into an unsightly and dilapidated structure."

 

Changes are arriving in all sorts of ways. By the end of 1940, there was a fad for quizzes in the newspapers and on that lively invention, the radio; people began coming to the Library in search of answers (or in search of the prizes correct answers would bring). The librarians were at first startled: "These quizzes are causing much wear and tear on reference books," and then pleased that the seekers often "take out a card and go home with some books." The Library returns to morning hours for the first time since 1933 and opens a branch in South Middleboro. In light of world events, it's easy to understand why maps are now "objects of constant interest and study," and some customary readers "busily engaged in war industries." A "Victory Book Campaign" gathered books for men in service, the students from MHS displayed posters on "Anti-Propaganda," and the Women's Volunteer Defense Service kept up an activities board.

 

The terrible war years drag on longer than anyone had initially envisioned, but the will to public service grows even stronger on the part of the Library, which now serves as a War Information Center. For those of us who were not yet born, the Annual Report gives a sense of the era's urgency: "Young wives rushing in to find where in the United States is located the army or vmenuy camp to which the husband has been sent; workers coming directly from defense plants, grimy overalls and identification badge conspicuously displayed, asking for a book on ship wiring. . .The Library stands ready to dispense information on any and all subjects."

 

Chapter Seven

Mid-Century Years

The Library added lots of vocational items and information about post-war services like the G.I. Bill, began to circulate books to the patients at St. Luke's Hospital, and received a substantial collection of items related to the local cranberry industry. That collection is still intact, more valuable than ever, and has been referred to in numerous books and articles. But perhaps the most exciting event for the Librarian and her staff was the installation of a new heating system; the original coal burning furnace installed in 1903 had drawn its last gasping breath, despite valiant efforts to hold on.

 

With the price of books rising by 30% and outstripping the Library's inherited funds, the Town of Middleboro appropriates money for the first time, permitting "the acquisition of new books which otherwise would have been impossible." Another development has struck fear into the heart of the librarian, as acknowledged in the Annual Report for 1950 which begins: "Throughout the land . . .libraries are definitely feeling the effects of television upon the reading public. At the moment television is proving a greater distraction from reading than motion pictures or the radio." She steadfastly maintains that the love of reading will be "invincible" - but it is evident that the spectre of TV looms large and dangerous.

 

The Library fights back with new services, including the "the lending of phonograph records." On another front entirely, $90.00 was spent on "Roost-No-More" in the ongoing battle of patrons vs. the pigeons.

 

Despite television, the Library's circulation continues to climb during the 1950's, as does the size of the collection. In 1957, it reached 61,290 books and 618 phonograph records. Outreach to the schools and summer reading programs flourish. The Library also aims to vanquish the old stereotype of the frowning librarian on guard, noting that "Every member of the staff tries to make it a friendly welcoming place to which people like to come." The citizens of Middleboro responded in kind - each year as the 1950's draw to an end, the Librarian notes with gratitude the gifts of cookies and chocolates that come across the Circulation Desk from the public side.

 

Chapter Eight

"The Times, they are a-changin'"

 

"The machine age has caught up with the public library," Mrs. Witbeck announced in 1961. She was referring to the acquisition of an automated book charger, (with a "photo-copying machine" to follow on its heels the next year), but there were other changes as well. After a 42 year tenure (most of the town's citizens had never known any other librarian), Mrs. Mertie Witbeck retires as Librarian. The new Head Librarian is Mrs. Eleanor Tompkins and in 1965, she does something astounding: she submits the Annual Report to the Town in verse! (Remember, it is the 1960's, after all.) The decade is also reflected in the proud notes on redecorating - green and turquoise drapes with gold Naugahyde chairs (undoubtedly the cutting edge of interior design at the time, the thought of that color scheme makes the reader cringe now).

 

The movement toward regional library collections is beginning to grow, so that "the people of Middleborough have available to them, not only our own collection, but the thousands of books in the regional center." This movement toward cooperative lending among libraries is probably the single most significant - and most beneficial to library users - trend of the last quarter of the century.

 

The 1970's passed by in a rush of putting on a new roof, the building of a young adult room in the basement, new story hours for pre-schoolers, 'Times New Roman' contests and celebration of the Bicentennial with the rest of America. Probably the single biggest hit of the decade, though, was the children's Stuffed Toy Pet Show in 1979 - which led to both the children's room and the hallway being jampacked with "fuzzy friends."

 

Chapter Nine

Toward the Century's end

Another period of financial austerity began for the Library as the effect of statewide Proposition 2 1/2 began to make itself felt on the Town's resources. In 1982 Mrs. Tompkins is brusque in her assessment of the situation: "Book prices have tripled and our book budget has not," and the following year is worse still - or as she writes, "depressing." But not every prospect is bleak. The Trustees, particularly Mr. Thomas Weston who made a very affecting speech at Town Meeting, fight back and get a line item for books restored. Story hours thrive, art prints go out, large print books have arrived, and at least 50 children watch a movie in the young adult room every Wednesday. Mrs. Tompkins retires in 1985.

 

Mrs. Marjorie Judd brings new ideas and energy to the position of Head Librarian. One of the first, and most important, innovations is the establishment of a Friends of the Library group to increase town input into what the Library offers. Mrs. Judd works from a firm belief that the Library should be responsive to community needs and changes. She also moves the Library in other new directions: applying for grants to help out the budget and start new services, purchasing audiocassettes, books-on-tape, museum passes, and videos, expanding children's programming and encouraging staff to continue their education.

 

But the biggest project EVER is yet to come: renovating and enlarging our venerable building for the next information age! Plans were delayed in the early 1990's when the state suffered an economic downturn, which the Library helped to combat locally by establishing a Job Search Center on the Main Floor. However everyone - the librarian, trustees, staff and townspeople - persisted, and simply refused to give up on the idea of a bigger and better Library for Middleboro.

 

As if this project were not huge enough, the Librarian and staff had to climb yet another mountain:. We needed to prepare to automate the Library's circulation system and join ABLE, our regional network of libraries. All of these changes were to bring much faster service to Middleboro's library users - but hundreds and hundreds of hours had to be spent on the conversion before the improvements would be felt. Volunteers pitched in to help the staff with the hundreds of hours of data checking and inputting. Not only that, but volunteers lent many a hand during the literally backbreaking task of first moving the books out of the old building and then moving them all back into their new quarters.

 

The next two years flew by as both these projects approached completion - to the loud and happy cheers of everyone involved. It was a triumphant moment in 1992 for all people who care about libraries.

 

With its new look, the Library adopted a new slogan - Window to the World - to describe its broader mission and a monthly Newsletter was begun to make sure word of the changes reached a wider audience. And with our own collection of over 60,000 items, and electronic access to a half million more, that newly minted motto is right on target.

 

But a good library goes right on reinventing itself, which is what Middleborough Public Library is very proud of doing. New items and services in recent years have included free computer classes, books on CD, DVD's, free public access to the internet, large print books, a library web site available 24 hours a day, the Library in the Park, online databases available either at the Library's computers or on home computers, Middleborough Pictorial History on CD-ROM and widely expanded borrowing via the Interlibrary Loan system, the SAILS network and now with the Virtual Catalog, statewide. If you've never thought of your library as an exciting place, it's time to begin doing just that.