Report of the city of Somerville 1947, Part 19

Author: Somerville (Mass.)
Publication date: 1947
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 434


USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1947 > Part 19


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Junior Assistant


MARY J. O'BRIEN


Junior Assistant


BARBARA T. O'NEILL


Junior Assistant


NON-PROFESSIONAL SERVICE


I. MARGUERITE SAWIN West Branch


RITA F. BRUNET


Circulation Department


CAROL M. IRVING


Office


AGNES J. KELLEY Periodicals


Helen M. O'Neil West Branch


HELEN M. WALSH


School Department


UNGRADED SERVICE-Part Time Attendants


KATHLEEN E. BOWSER East Branch


JOAN E. BRUNET


Teele Square Station


ALICE P. BURKHART


Union Square Station


ANN E. CAPODANNO


Central Desk


CLARE M. CONNORS


East Branch


FRANCIS A. CRUISE


Office


MARY F. DONAHOE


Central Desk


East Branch ANNE J. DURKIN


MARY E. LEYDON


West Branch


LEO MILLEA Central Desk


BARBARA MURPHY Junior Library, Central


PATRICIA A. O'HARA


Ten Hills Station


MYRTLE NICHOLSON


Station Executive


272


ANNUAL REPORTS


WILLIAM P. O'HARA FAITH A. SMALL


Central Desk


East Branch


BEATRICE E. WILLIAMSON


East Branch


MARY A. WILLWERTH


Central Desk


RESIGNED DURING YEAR


CATHERINE A. COTTER Executive-in-Charge, Winter Hill Station.


MARILYN F. LEGERE


Part Time Attendant


HELEN MacDOUGALL


Part Time Attendant


M. CHRISTINE McQUADE Non-Professional, summer


RUTH A. MALLARD


Part Time Attendant


HELEN O'BRIEN


Part Time Attendant


MARY T. RONAYNE


Junior Assistant


JEANNE G. SAULNIER


Part Time Attendant


ETHEL M. SMITH


Part Time Attendant


IRENE F. WARD


First Assistant


273°


PUBLIC LIBRARY


REPORT OF THE LIBRARY TRUSTEES


Honorable Mayor and Board of Aldermen, City of Somerville, Massachusetts.


Gentlemen :


In the name of the Board of Trustees of the Somerville Public Library, I wish to present to you this report of the li- brary's activities during the past year. Once again we are happy to commend Mr. John D. Kelley, the librarian and his excellent staff. Mr. Kelley with unabating devotion has given himself to the work of establishing the Somerville Public Li- brary in a position of unsurpassed excellence; and his keen ad- ministrative ability, his splendid choice of literature, his deep unselfish consideration of others at all times, he has done just that. He has not only established the excellence of the Somer- ville Public Library but he also attained for himself a name of recognized ability wherever Librarians are in conference. This, however, he could not have done without a devoted staff to sup- port him and cooperate with him. The Somerville Public Li- brary Staff has well merited highest commendation in every quarter of the city and this praise we are happy to extend to it ..


May we draw your attention in this report to the situation of the Library in Union Square. There the circulation is very high, the demand for books is growing all the time, but the phy- sical facilities have been reduced to a minimum. It will well repay the City of Somerville in one hundred ways to provide for Union Square a Library Center of fitting proportion, a center worthy of the rest of the city. We cordially request you, gentlemen, to look into this matter and give it consideration in order that we may make and keep the Somerville Public Library the best library in the best city of the land.


Sincerely,


REV. ANTHONY J. FLAHERTY,


President.


274


ANNUAL REPORTS


REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN


To the Board of Trustees :


With the disturbing influences threatening our social and economic system it is time for us to become aware of the treas- ures we Americans have created for all men; to hesitate to grasp at alien or untried ideologies and systems and to become militant for our own peculiar methods of government and living which have given to us the highest degree of freedom, security and material wellbeing ever attained in human history. Free- dom to discuss matters of controversial social policy and to present conclusions reached on the basis of honest inquiry is one of the great privileges of a free society. Freedom to learn is an indispensible element of education and any threat to impair the freedom of learning or thinking can not be offered any ap- peasement or compromise.


There has been of late considerable discussion regarding the freedom of speech and the freedom to read certain books of fiction, particularly some recent "Best Sellers", with the ex- pectation that the Public Library should furnish the requested book regardless of the opinion of the Librarian and the Board of Trustees as to its relative merit. The failure of these officials to furnish the particular title has been called, unjustly, censor- ship, without due regard to the responsibility placed upon those who make the book selections for the library. Freedom of speech does not mean that one can say or write anything. What the public confuses is that we officials are not judging the au- thor's mind and intention but the objective book itself. We do not pass judgment on the author's sincerity and purity of mo- tive and his zeal to correct the sundry and swarming abuses (if such be the case) he feels called upon to chart in painstak- ing bas-relief. The only thing we can judge is the book itself. If the book is of good intention, but the sincerity and serious artistry obscured by the swamps and offal heaps of indecent detail, we do not add it to our collection.


Today we of the library profession are faced with a serious problem in our efforts to fulfill our part in the educational sys-


275


PUBLIC LIBRARY


tem of our country since the social and economic developments in comparatively recent years have placed in the hands of our people a vastly increased amount of leisure time. Our respon- sibility, through the resources at our command, is to prevent this leisure time from being wasted in harmful and destructive ways but invested in constructive and recreative mediums. We must recognize that books and teachers are not the only media of education today, but that the movies, radio, records, and in the near future television constitute important elements of our educational systems and in turn necessary departments in our library. As a step in this direction, we have attempted the es- tablishment of a record collection though we have been severely handicapped in arranging the numerous details involved in such an undertaking. One of the principal difficulties is the un- fortunate situation of being forced to seek the cooperation of the Buildings Department to erect suitable listening rooms and adequate shelving arrangements. This difficulty, one of long standing and the result of the makeup of city departments, leaves us in the position of having no control over our build- ing, custodians, furniture, fixtures, or equipment which rests on the floor. With all other city departments making demands on the Buildings Department we are in the position of being just one of the many seeking improvements in the course of the year.


In connection with the improvement to buildings we are fast reaching the time when more adequate facilities will be re- quired at the Central Library. After years of weeding and dis- carding worn-out unnecessary material and books of extremely limited use, we find our book storage space becoming sadly overcrowded. As recommended some years ago, a balcony ex- tending along the northeast and south sides of Wellington Hall with provisions for a Trustees Meeting Room, Study Rooms, and Alcoves for our special collections would alleviate the con- dition. Furthermore, the need for more adequate lighting equip- ment is imperative. With the installation of fluorescent lights, though entirely satisfactory in their locations, we require at least ten or twelve more fixtures to provide sufficient light. At this writing it is practically impossible to read the titles of books on the shelves in various sections of Wellington Hall dur- ing the hours we most resort to artificial lighting.


The new Union Square Station location has proven def- initely inadequate to provide the increase in service that the accessibility of the new site has brought to the library. To quote from the report of Miss Niles, the Branch Librarian at Union, "The miniature size of this building has been resented


276


ANNUAL REPORTS


by the public and library assistants alike. Our adult borrowers have complained in no uncertain terms about the noise and confusion in the afternoon, which cannot be helped, when we are serving them and the school children at the same time. Al- though this station has no large facilities for reference work, the children still remain, do their homework, and use what few reference books we have. This alone makes for much of the con- fusion. The public feels that the Union Square Station is now in a much more convenient location but the facilities are not adequate to meet the increasing demands of our growing cir- culation."


At the West Branch a start has been made on the renova- tion of the interior with the filling of the cracks on the walls and ceiling. As this work ceased in the closing months of the year the interior presents a wierd appearance which we trust will shortly be corrected with the completion of the work.


With the opening of the fall session of school, we resumed the Saturday morning story hour for children at the Central Library which had been discontinued through the war years be- cause of lack of patronage and also the impossibility to carry 'on with our lack of personnel. The response has been spontan- eous with an average of fifty youngsters attending each session.


The Winter Hill Station has become a problem, the solu- tion of which we recommend, the discontinuance of this loca- tion. Our experience with this Station has been most unsatis- factory principally because it is located in a school building, which meant that during school vacations in the winter months we were forced to close because of lack of heat and during these same winter months suffered from the lack of heat after school hours when the boilers were banked for the night. The unap- preciable attitude of the youngsters in this neighborhood pre- sents a serious discipline problem and the patronage from the adults has been negligible. A relocation of this station in the business section of Magoun Square would be the happy solu- tion, but until that time arrives this present site is neither a credit to the library or an important influence in the commu- nity.


We might add that with the exception of the Winter Hill Station the other stations have functioned and served their locales most satisfactorily, and the executives in-charge have been received into the very heart of the community performing all sorts of extra curricular activities such as acting as the neighborhood confidant, reader's advisor, first aid assistant, and


.


277


PUBLIC LIBRARY


in the case of Miss Noonan, secretary to an elderly woman of foreign extraction who brings all her mail to be addressed. These things and the one hundred and other niceties which our staff members do for the public can not be measured in terms of circulation, yet illustrate the respect and influence which the library holds in the community, and though time consuming are graciously performed, very often on the assistant's off duty time, in the name of the Somerville Public Library.


Last March Mr. John F. Kennedy, Commissioner of Public Buildings, requested the use of the hall located on the second floor of the West Branch for use as quarters for the Auxiliary Police Force. Permission was granted by the Board of Trustees with the understanding that their meetings would not inter- fere with the service of the library. This agreement has been fulfilled to complete satisfaction to all concerned.


Due to the unavailability of store facilities in the Winter Hill section for voting purposes, the election commissioner re- quested the use of the Ten Hills Station for the primaries in October and election in November. In the spirit of cooperation the Trustees granted this request which necessitated the closing for library purposes of this location on these two days.


Our circulation has shown a modest increase this year with the interesting fact that commencing with the month of Septem- ber the increase became progressively larger for each month of the closing year with an average of 13% increase during this period over the same time last year. Registration followed the same line with an increase of 1203 more borrowers than a year ago.


Our personnel situation, though somewhat improved is far from satisfactory. We are definitely lacking in a trained pro- fessional staff and are rarely receiving applications from those who have attained a college degree. We have been fortunate however in our selection of prospects who though only possess- ing a high school diploma are continuing their studies in an effort to obtain a degree. We have attempted to be most liberal on schedule arrangements for these individuals, realizing the heavy burden they are carrying and have scheduled their work- day so as not to conflict with their classes. This has been in turn difficult, for although it might appear we have a sufficient staff we continually find ourselves in difficulty upon the ab- sence of even one member to arrange the subsequent schedule changes and are in desperate straits during vacation periods.


278


ANNUAL REPORTS


To further complicate matters three staff members have been on extended sick leave over a period of time and we enter the new year in the same predicament with a reduction in our woking hours.


Miss Irene F. Ward and Miss Catherine Cotter resigned because of their approaching marriages.


Under the Scheme of Service the following appointments and promotions were måde :


Appointment to the Non-Professional Grade :- Rita F. Brunet, Carol M. Irving, Agnes J. Kelley, Helen M. O'Neil, Ida M. Sawin, and Helen M. Walsh.


Promotion to 3rd Year Junior Assistant :- Mary Hen- eghan.


Promotion to 2nd Year Junior Assistant :- Gloria F. Graham, Lois MacDonald, Mary J. O'Brien, and Barbara T. O'Neill.


Promotion to 2nd Year Senior Assistant :- Irene M. West- hoff.


Promotion to Assistant in Charge of Periodicals and Bind- ing :- Katharine J. White.


To the members of the Staff I am indebted for their whole- hearted cooperation and extra efforts in their endeavor to fur- ther the prestige of the library.


To the Board of Trustees I extend my appreciation for their assistance and counsel.


Respectfully submitted,


JOHN D. KELLEY,


Librarian.


279


PUBLIC LIBRARY


AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION FORM FOR UNIFORM STATISTICS


City, Somerville County, Middlesex State, Massachusetts


Name of library, The Public Library of the City of Somerville


Date of founding, 1872


Name of Librarian, John D. Kelley


Report for fiscal year ending, December 31, 1947


Governmental unit of support and service, City


Population served (1945 U. S. census), 105,883.


Terms of use, Free for lending, Free for reference


Agencies-Central Library


1


Branches, in library buildings


2


1


Stations, in municipal building in rented rooms Others, in school rooms 244


3


in institutions


9


in clubs


2


Total


262


CIRCULATION AND USE


Number of volumes of adult non-fiction lent for home use


52,888


Number of volumes of adult fiction lent for home use 134,763


Number of volumes for juveniles


lent for home use 212,066


Total number of volumes lent for home use 399,717


Period of loan for the majority of adult book stock, 14 days


Number of inter-library loans, volumes lent volumes borrowed 65


50


Number of reference questions answered-17,800


REGISTRATION


Adult


Juvenile


Total


Total number of registered borrowers ....


10,248


6,363


16,611


Borrowers registered during year


5,374


3,231


8,605


Registration period, 2 years


BOOK STOCK


Adult


Juvenile


Total


Number of volumes December 31, 1946


90,175


36,515


126,690


Number of volumes added during year


4,851


6,020


10,871


Number of volumes withdrawn during year


3,215


5,480


8,695


Number of volumes December 31, 1947 ..


91,811


37,055


128,866


Number of newspapers currently received excluding duplicates


10


Number of periodicals currently received excluding duplicates


175


FINANCE


Assessed valuation of city-$133,975,950.00


Rate of library tax levy for fiscal year reported: 98/100 of a mill


280


ANNUAL REPORTS


RECEIPTS


Local Taxation:


Library Department


$99,533.59


Fines included in above


$3,648.82


Dog licenses included in above


4,299.08


Public Buildings Department .


37,385.73


$136,919.32


Invested Funds:


Balance from 1946


$2,726.38


Income during 1947


1,361.28


4,087.66


Total


$141,006.98


EXPENDITURES


Salaries: Library Department


$73,875.89


Public Buildings Department


20,305.38


$94,181.27


Books: Appropriation.


13,262.79


Invested Funds


862.17


14,124.95


Periodicals: Appropriation


758.95


758.95


Binding


566.93


Heat and Light:


(Public Buildings Department)


4,213.08


Rent (Public Buildings Department)


2,400.00


Insurance: Library Department .. Public Buildings Department ....


408.43


671.79


Other Operating Expenses:


Library Department


4,642.85


Public Buildings Department


10,058.84


14,701.69


TOTAL


$131,618.66


TRANSFERS


To Public Buildings Department


$2,300.00


To Engineering Department


3,100.00


To Auditing Department


180.00


TOTAL


$5,580.00


BALANCES -December 31, 1947


Library Department-


Appropriation


$582.83


Trust Funds


3,225.49


Public Buildings Department .....


$3,808.32 0.


TOTAL


$3,808.32


GRAND TOTAL


$141,006.98


263.36


BOARD OF ASSESSORS


281


REPORT OF THE BOARD OF ASSESSORS


January 1, 1948 ..


To the Honorable, the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen :.


The following report is respectfully submitted as the An- nual Report of the Board of Assessors for the year ending De- cember 31, 1947 :


CITY OF SOMERVILLE-1947 RECAPITULATION


A. City or Town: All appropriations since 1946 Tax Rate was Fixed ..


1. Total to be raised by taxa- tion


$7,158,756.76


2. Total from available funds:


(a) 1947


$267,732.16


(b) 1946


527,314.00


$795,046.16 $7,953,802.92


3. Deficits due to abatements in excess of overlay of prior years:


1931


$50.62


1932


57.52


1933


58.12


1934


58,20


1935


57.90


1936


321.98


1937


521.74


1938


762.53


1939


442.98


1940


403.21


1941


468.99


1942


368.50


1943


608.12


1944


15,707.01


1945


12,804.45


$32,691.87


1947 Estimates


1946 Underestimates


B. State Tax and Assessments:


1. State Tax


$88,550.00


2. State Audit of Municipal Accounts


2,365.81


ANNUAL REPORTS


3. State Exam. of Retirement


System


4. Smoke Insp. Service


267.89 473.54


5. Addl. State Assts.


467,796.70


$346.95 21,918.20


$560,453.94


$22,265.15


$582,719.09


C. County :- Tax and Assessments:


1. County Tax


$212,060.21


$2,341.13


2. Tuberculosis Hospital 81,414.08


Assts.


$293,474.29


$2,341.13


$295,815.42


D. Overlay of current year: $82,959.07


E. GROSS AMOUNT TO BE RAISED $8,947,988.37


F. Estimated Receipts and Avail- able Funds :


1. Income Tax $352,399.35


2. Corporation Taxes 216,518.95


3. Gasoline Tax


73,327.79


4. Motor Vehicle & Trailer


Excise


100,822.63


5. Licenses


118,934.66


6. Fines


6,162.50


7. General Government


10,408.08


9. Protection of Persons & Property


3,860.95


10. Health & Sanitation


25,802.33


11. Highways


918.50


12. Charities


99,298.15


13. Old Age Assistance


360,211.70


14. Old Age Tax (Meals)


21,525.00


15. Veterans' Benefits


10,860.37


16. Schools


43,538.33


17. Libraries


3,381.23


18. Recreation 587.35


19. Public Service Enterprises 527,519.09


20. Income Tax, (May 6) 157,056.77


21. Int. taxes & assts. 10,182.92


22. Dog Licenses 4,091.70


23. Tax Title Int. refund, etc. 211.00


24. Electrolysis 500.00


25. Corporation Tax, (May 6)


54,652.12


Total Estimated Receipts


$2,202,771.47


26. Overestimates of Previous Year:


(a) Charles River Basin .. $194.52


(b) Boulevards .01


$194.53


27. Amounts to be taken from available funds:


283


BOARD OF ASSESSORS


$244,785.00 Aug. 20/46 1,500.00 Sept. 13/46 3,200.00 Sept 19/46 3,430.00 Oct. 4/46


95,853.90 Oct. 18/46 3,600.00 Oct. 29/46


$20.00 Jan. 13/47 4,554.41 Jan. 23/47 1,827.15 Feb. 25/47 23,170,64 Mar. 10/47 1,994.00 Mar. 29/47 988.00 Apr. 22/47 29,200.00 May 6/47


8,397.00 Nov. 1/46


18,500.00 Nov. 6/46


6,556.00 May 8/47


11,092.35 Nov. 19/46


25,966.25 Nov. 19/46


1,748.90 May 15/47 789.88 May 27/47


3,700.00 Dec. 2/46


3,100.00 June 2/47


10,574.71 Dec. 27/46


72,424.79 Dec. 30/46


117,000.00 June 5/47 21,861.00 June 26/47


24,290.00 Dec. 31/46 2,367.01 July 7/47


125.56 Jan. 3/47


675.54 Jan. 9/47


15,600.00 July 11/47 6,154.07 July 16/47


30,000.00 Jan. 10/47


Total Available Funds


$795.046.16 Total Available Funds & Estimated Receipts $2,998,012.16


NET AMOUNT TO BE RAISED BY TAXATION ON POLLS AND PROPERTY $5,949.976.21


G. No. of Polls-34,216 at $2.00 each $68,432.00


H. Total Valuation :


Personal Property 9,214,750. Tax Rate $43.90 404,527.53


Real Estate 124,761.200. 5,477,016.68


TOTAL TAXES LEVIED ON POLLS AND PROPERTY $5,949,976.21


The Board of Assessors wishes to thank the other depart- ments for the co-operation extended during the year, particu- larly the Legal Department.


Respectfully submitted,


CHARLES R. BRUNELLE, Chairman MAURICE F. AHEARN JOHN B. CARR G. FRANCIS MITCHELL THOMAS F. MACKEY


284


ANNUAL REPORTS


REPORT OF THE BOARD OF ELECTION COMMISSIONERS


January, 1948.


To the Honorable, the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen of the City of Somerville.


Gentlemen :


The Board of Election Commissioners respectfully submits the following report for the year 1947.


REGISTRATION


Before the Preliminary Election, October 7, 1947, registra- tion was held at City Hall daily from January 1 to September 17, 1947 from 8:30 A. M. to 4:30 P. M. except Saturdays when the Hall is closed, and on September 17, from 8:30 A. M. con- tinuously until 10:00 P. M.


There were also, evening sessions at City Hall from 7:00 P. M. to 9:00 P. M .; on Wednesday, September 3; Thursday, September 4; Monday, September 15, and Tuesday, September 16, 1947.


September 15, and Tuesday, September 16, 1947.


Outside sessions were as follows : 7:00 to 9:00 P. M.


Pope School house, Washington Street Friday, September 5. John A. Dickerman Schoolhouse, Cross Street, Friday, September 5 Morse Schoolhouse, Summer Street, Monday, September 8. Western Junior High Schoolhouse, Holland Street, Monday Sept. 8. Carr Schoolhouse, Atherton Street, Tuesday, Sptember 9. Perry Schoolhouse, Washington Street, Tuesday, September 9. Bingham Schoolhouse, Lowell Street, Wednesday, September 10. Glines Schoolhouse, Jaques Street, Wednesday, September 10. Knapp Schoolhouse, Adrian Street, Thursday, September 11. Southworth Schoolhouse, Myrtle Street, Thursday, September 11. Brown Schoolhouse, Willow Avenue, September 12.


Cutler Schoolhouse, Powder House Blvd., Friday, September 12.


285


ELECTION COMMISSIONERS


Five thousand one hundred seventy-eight (5178) names were added to the voting list and nineteen (19) names were restored to the list having failed to be listed with the original listing in January.


After the Preliminary Election, October 7, 1947, registration was held daily in the City Hall from 8:30 A. M. to 4:30 P. M. and evening sessions from 7:00 to 9:00 P. M .; Tuesday, October 14 and Wednesday, Octoer 15 from 8:30 A. M. continuously until 10:00 P. M.


Five hundred and eighty (580) names were added to the voting list making a total of fifty-one thousand, six hundred and thirty-three (51633) and twenty-three (23) names were re- stored, having satisfied the Board of their qualifications to be listed and to vote in Somerville.


NOMINATION PAPERS INITIATIVE AND REFRERENDUM PETITIONS


The Board of Election Commissioners received three hun- dred four (304) Nomination Papers on which eleven thousand five hundred twenty-eight (11528) names were certified.


Thirty-seven (37) Referendum Papers on which nine hun- dred eight (908) names were certified and one 313 Page Book of Plan E petitions on which Five thousand, one hundred ninety-six (5196) names were certified. This made a total of three hundred forty-one (341) papers and seventeen thousand, six hundred thirty-two (17,632) signatures certified.


JURORS


In accordance with Chapter 234 of the General Laws, as amended by Chapter 211 of the Acts of 1924, the Election Com- missioners prepared a list of the inhabitants of Someville to serve as Jurors.


Questionnaires were sent to eight hundred persons, whose names were on the voting list and said persons appeared before the Board. This gave the members of the Board an opportunity to meet each individual and judge of his qualifications to serve as a juror. As ever, many were eliminated owing to physical disability and other reasons.


286


ANNUAL REPORTS


The Jury List for 1947 contains the names of one thousand, two hundred twenty-five (1225) voters.


RECOUNT


A Recount was held on October 16 and 17 at City Hall in the Aldermanic Chamber for Candidates for Alderman-at-Large and for Ward Aldermen in Wards Three and Four.


Also a Recount was held, November 10 and 12 in the Al- dermanic Chamber in City Hall, for Candidates for Aldermen- at-Large and for Ward Aldermen, Wards One, Three and Five.


EXPENSES


The Expenses for the Election Department for 1947 were as follows :


Board of Election Commissioners $28,029.16


Pay of Election Officers 8,876.00


Total


$36,905.16


Respectfully submitted,


GEORGE J. MORAN, Chairman


WARREN C. DAGGETT DENNIS L. DOVOVAN WARREN S. JOHNSTON, Secretary


Board of Election Commissioncrs


287


ELECTION COMMISSIONERS


REGISTERED


Wd. Pct.


Men


Women


Men


Women


Men


Women 1947




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