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Public Library Celebrates 100th Year of Service to Town By: David Deschesne Fort Fairfield Journal, October 16, 2013
The Fort Fairfield Public Library celebrated its 100th anniversary as a
Carnegie Library on Monday, September 30.
Fort Fairfield had a private library as early as 1880.
It became a town-supported library in 1894 with a circulation of 300
books.
In 1911 the town received a grant of $10,000 from Andrew Carnegie - one
of seventeen in the state of Maine.
This started a process, with support from the town, that culminated in
the Fort Fairfield Public Library which was completed and officially opened on
September 9, 1913.
In 1925 Colonel Franklin Drew, from Lewiston, who regarded Fort
Fairfield's public library as one of the best in the State, donated his
personal library to it.
Thus, the room where the genealogy records, town reports dating back to
the late 1800s, the Fort Fairfield Review, and the Fort Fairfield
Journal are kept are named after his father, Jessie Drew.
This room still retains the name, The Drew Room, today.
In 1994 to 1995 a beautiful addition was added as a community room to
be used for the benefit of the inhabitants in Fort Fairfield, local clubs and
organizations, and boy and girl scouts. It also features a the children's
room, the librarian's office and bathroom, which are all handicap accessible.
The community room was used as a temporary town office during the 1994 flood.
In 2007, with the urging of the trustees who decided to join the
technology world, a decision was made to computerize the library's collection.
14,000 books were entered into computers for the librarian's and
library patrons' use.
The old card catalog was kept upstairs just in case for almost a year
before moving it down to the basement.
It hasn't been used since then.
Today, in 2013, there are ten computers on site - eight for the public,
one for the librarian and one for the circulation desk.
The library can also download e-books through a website connected to
the Maine State library.
The directions are given by the staff to any person who wants to use
this technology. Each
library patron is given a coded library card to present when taking out a
book. There
is no more signing your name.
“This beautiful building has seen a lot of history within its
walls,” said Sue LeVasseur, current chair of the library's board of
trustees. “None
of this could have been done without the support of town government, all the
librarians and their staff from past and present, and the trustees who gave
their time to support this building and make sure it's kept its glory for many
more generations to come.”
In addition to town support, the library also receives donations from
the local Lions Club and Rotary Club as well as many memorial donations given
in memory of loved ones.
The reading room furniture, oriental rug and many other beautiful
assets were donated to make the library a comfortable and inviting place to
visit.
“It's been an honor to be a trustee and it's an honor to be part of
this celebration today to celebrate with Fort Fairfield this beautiful,
stately library,” said Natalie Foster, past trustee member.
“There isn't anything greater, or more important than having books
available for children and for ourselves.
The library has adapted to a hundred years of change while it is still
embracing the 20th century's charm and dignity.
Thanks to our town, trustees, librarians and employees past and present
and may it
continue for at least another one hundred years.”
A large wooden plaque is now on display at the library naming all of
the past librarians and trustees of the library since its inception.
Lori Ireland, from Senator Susan Collins' office presented a flag that
was flown over the District of Columbia on September 9, 2013 in commemoration
of the library's 100th year anniversary.
“Senator Collins was very pleased to donate and have this flag flown
over the capitol in honor of this centennial celebration,” said Ireland.
“Reading is very important to Senator Collins.
She reads at libraries and schools all over the state.
In fact, her very first job ever was working for the Caribou
library.” Robert
Bixler constructed the display case for the commemorative U.S. flag which is
now on display at the library.
“I've been the town manager for fifteen years and obviously am
responsible for the library and its staff,” said Fort Fairfield town
manager, Dan Foster.
“I'm very appreciative of all the work that Sharon has done, and the
staff to deal with all the changes they've made over the years.
They just really do a nice job.
In addition to that, we have the trustees.
In the library trustees, we have a group of citizens who are volunteers
who spend their time trying to make sure that not only is the facility in
great physical repair but that it's relevant to the needs of our citizens
today and that's not always an easy thing.”
With a recent town wide notice soliciting ideas for ways to help the
town deal with the current financial crisis, Foster noted the library was
targeted by some citizens for closure but also noted its extremely small
overhead compared to its community benefit.
“One of the things that came back from the respondents a fair amount
was we don't need a library.
The library represents a very small percentage of the town's overall
budget, but what's interesting about the library is that it's the only
department of the town that has its own group of volunteers looking out for
its best interest.
Not only that, but the Public Library is the only entity that actually
has people leave money to it and they do it on a fairly regular basis.
Now obviously there's something important about having a facility and
what it represents to the citizens of the community that are willing to
volunteer their time and resources to make sure that it exists, to make sure
that it is relevant.
Maybe some folks think the library is not that important, I would
totally disagree and there are an awful lot of citizens who feel the same
way.”
During the anniversary ceremony, Mr. Foster also introduced the
donation of a painting of the library by his family.
“My mother's been an avid reader and a patron of this library for
many, many years.
She was a trustee for ten years.
One of our librarians was my dad's aunt, Margarite Foster.
She was a librarian from 1965 thru 1975.
As a very accomplished painter, she painted an oil painting of the
library in June, 1966 and gave it to my mother.
It's been hanging over the piano since that time.
They felt that an appropriate place for this painting, because of the
history behind it, would be at the library.
They thought the centennial celebration would be a great time to donate
that painting that was done so many years ago.
The frame for the picture is a frame that came from the Foster
homestead at the turn of the 20th century.”
In addition to the flag and painting, the
library also received a beautiful Roman Numeral clock from the
Starlight Rebecca Lodge.
The library trustees had been planning their centennial celebration for
several months and the library has held special programs to help commemorate
the historic event.
“We started thinking about the centennial celebration in the
Spring,” said Ken Peters, library trustee member.
“We met many, many times trying to do different activities.
One of the things that we wanted to make sure was that this building
was in good shape.
We've done a lot these past four or five months.
One of the things we've done is paint and redo the ceilings in the
community room, downstairs.
We've repainted all the white trim outside the building.
We found some deficiencies; all of the sashes on the windows of the
lower floor are rotten.
Kerby Doughty was hired to replace all of those sashes.
The new steps out front were put in last fall.”
From 1937 to 1959 there was no librarian on staff at the library.
During that time period, the chair of the trustees acted as the
librarian, but was not named as such.
Phil Roberts, past trustee member spoke regarding his experiences with
the library. “I
was privileged to serve on the library board for twenty years,” said
Roberts, who then jokingly added,
“When I first went on, I didn't realize there was no pay.
But I stuck with it, anyway.”
Sue LeVasseur read a note from Art Mraz who was unable to attend the
ceremony. Mraz
noted; “What
can you do with three and a half cents of your dollar?
Provide a great variety of books for the people who love to read in the
community; provide computer facilities for all those who are unable to have
that service at their home; provide books on tape and other services for the
visually impaired; provide an area for local groups to meet and the list could
go on. These
are some of the services that the staff and board of directors of the library
are expected to perform and improve as conditions warrant.
As communities face increasing financial problems, there are increasing
pressures to reduce spending.
In these circumstances, libraries are often considered one of the first
areas to see these reductions.
The job of the board is a challenging one under these conditions.
It's up to them to determine what activities and direction the library
will undertake to best serve the community.
It is not an easy task and the direction taken will vary by the vision
of the future the board adopts.”
Snacks and refreshments were available in the children's room after the
presentations were made.
“This will be the last 100th anniversary for the library that you
will be invited to,” said LeVasseur to the ceremony's attendees.
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Fort Fairfield Journal ©2013 David R. Deschesne, All Rights Reserved