USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Attleboro > Reports of town officers of the town of Attleborough 1920 > Part 6
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This work has developed slowly but satisfactorily to both school and library. The teachers have a growing appreciation of what can be done in a School Library by a trained librarian.
Deposits of books are sent from the Public Library to the High School Library to supplement the very inadequate High School collec- tion. To continue this work efficiently, a specific book fund for the High School Library is necessary.
Miss Brewer reports in part:
Having come to the High School Library the middle of May, 1920, there was little time left in the school year to more than learn the
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ANNUAL REPORT
ways of the school and get a vague idea of much that should be accom- plished in the future.
A vacation reading list was made with the help of the English Department,-printed in the shape of a small folder, and distributed to the pupils at the close of the school year. These lists were avail- able at the Public Library all summer, and the books were placed on a special shelf.
The class of 1920 proved its loyalty to the High School, and saw the need of growth in the High School Library, when it gave $400.00 to be used for books. Without an appropriation or any means of buying books, we are quite dependent upon gifts to increase our library.
Before the school closed, a list of books which would be helpful in their work, was obtained from the head of each department. Dur- ing the summer many of these books were purchased, catalogued at the Public Library, and were ready for use when school opened. There have been, up to date, 376 books purchased from this fund.
Many of the departments which have not previously used the School Library to any great extent are finding it very useful.
The Drawing Department has cooperated with the Library this year and made some very attractive posters for use in the Library.
The Library receives eleven magazines, including a French maga- zine, the Spanish edition of the Pan-American Bulletin, and a Spanish newspaper. This newspaper has been constantly used by the Spanish classes.
With the help of the English Department, a course of instruction in "How to use the Library" has been started for the Freshman class. This course consists of (1.) The book in general. (2.) Reference books. (3.) Magazines and magazine indexes. (4.) The catalog and the classification of books. The freshmen are taking kindly to these lessons and respond with much interest.
The lessons are given in the English periods, once every two weeks, the teacher taking charge of the Library, while the Librarian teaches the class.
In the first issue of the School paper of this year, a page was de- voted to "Library Notes." A senior is in charge of these notes and we hope to make a permanent place for the A. H. S. Library in the "Blue Owl."
The total circulation for the year has dropped below last year, but there are quite obvious reasons for this. During the month of February 1920, school was closed for several days because of bad weather, from January to May, there was no regular librarian, and the library was closed more or less during that time.
On the other hand, there has been a decided increase in attend- ance at the Library. In fact, it has been necessary to send pupils back to their study rooms because there was not room for them in the Library at that particular period.
Whereas, there is much to be accomplished, it seems that this year shows a decided advance in the growth of our High School Library.
Publicity and Special Service
Within the last ten or fifteen years, it has come to be recognized that it is just as important for a Public Library to advertise its service as for a merchant to advertise his goods. The methods may be dif- ferent, but the purposes are the same.
We are dealing in a commodity-books-which we wish to have used more and more, by a greater number of people. Some of the people know nothing and most of the people know little, of what we offer them. Without constant publicity we have as little opportunity
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ANNUAL REPORT
as the merchant would have of increasing our sales-which in our case means our loans.
The Library is much indebted to the Attleboro Sun for the publi- city of lists and editorials. The following lists have been place l be- fore the public: "A short list of recent books on the Pilgrims," "Sea stories," and "A suggested list of reading for factory executives," pre- pared for the Superintendents' and Foremen's association.
During our effort for funds for the American Library Association, articles and advertising matter were run in the local paper. During "Good book week" local people wrote of the books that they had en- joyed as children, for the paper. The local book store cooperated in this effort for better books for children by conferences with the Libra- rian regarding standard children's books, and by having on exhibition a shelf of books recommended by the Public Library.
An exhibition of Children's books was held in the reading room for three weeks beginning the second week in November. This was enjoyed by adults who were interested to see their old favorites, West- ward Ho!, Lorna Doone, The three musketeers, and Kenilworth, in their new and attractive edition, as well as the recent books.Many children came, accompanied by parents to select books and enjoy theil beauty.
In an effort to win new readers, a new book column has been started in the local paper. People who read the most worthwhile books are asked to write comments on them. A quotation taken from an editorial shows the splendid spirit of the 'Sun." "The Sun" has of- fered to publish these reviews, and, if they lead to a wider use of the Library that is everybody's, that institution will be satisfied, and the "Sun" will feel amply repaid.
In January the Library Hall was used four consecutive weeks for lectures on Citizenship which were given under the direction of the Attleboro Equal Suffrage League. The lectures included, "American- ization," "Present social and political status of women," "Principles of political parties," and "Some causes of unrest."
Under the auspices of the Daughters of the American Revolution prize essays were given by the children of the Bank Street School on "Why I am glad I am an American" and "The making of an American." The Hospital Aid, Attleboro Women's Club, Red Cross and the Attle- boro Community Fellowship have availed themselves of the privileges of the hall.
After suffrage was an assured thing the Women's League of Women Voters conducted a series of five lectures on the following subjects: "Registration, primaries and election," "Electing the Presi- dent of the United States," "Political parties and political candidates in the coming election," "Political issues and the presidential plat- forms," "State ticket in 1920."
By laws for the government of the Trustees have been formulated.
Gifts Not Otherwise Mentioned
Through the will of the late Mrs. Emily H. Horton, the Library received the gift of $1,000.
Large and spacious supply closets were placed in the basement, the gift of Mr. Joseph L. Sweet.
In memory of her father and mother, Mr. Charles E. and Sarah Bliss, Miss Cordelia Bliss presented the painting "In the forest of Fontainebleau" by W. H. Hilliard.
Staff
The year 1920 saw much sickness among the members of the staff and part time workers.
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ANNUAL REPORT
A'l through the busiest months of the winter the work of the Li- brary was carried on by a very much depleted staff.
In June Miss Marie Rowe who had worked at the Library for nearly three years, as part time assistant, completed her work.
In September Miss Gertrude Fears who had been connected with the Library since its earliest beginning as a member of the staff and for the past four years as part time worker severed her connection with the Library.
Miss Margaret Brewer joined the staff as High School Librarian in May, and Miss Ruth Fales for ten years connected with the Somer- ville Public Library came to us as Children's worker in September. However it was not until October that the staff was entirely organized.
The following meetings have been attended by the Librarian or assistants: Massachusetts Library Club, at Isle of Shoals, one mem- ber; Massachusetts Library Club at Worcester, two members of. the staff; New England Association of School Libraries, two members; Round Table of Children's Librarians, two meetings, Children's worker.
The Librarian has served on various committees in organizations which are working for a better Attleboro. She has spoken in the in- terest of her work before the following clubs and meetings: New England Association of School Libraries, Round Table, North Pur- chase Club, Farmers' School Neighborhood night.
Miss Monnier and Miss Wetherell took the examination given by the Massachusetts Free Library Commission in November to establish "a registry of librarians which shall give due credit for experience and successful accomplishment."
I desire to take this occasion to commend the industrious and effi- cient work of the staff and to render most sincere thanks for their ready and loyal support.
Very respectfully,
Lucinda Field Spofford.
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ANNUAL REPORT
American Library Association Form for Uniform Statistics
Name of Library-Attleboro Public Library.
City or town-Attleboro, Mass.
Population served-19,371
Terms for use-Free for lending. Free for reference.
Total number of agencies-13. Consisting of-Central library, three
branches in two school buildings, one Community house, nine school branches.
Number of days open during year-(Central library) 301 for lending 363 for reading
Hours open each week for lending (Central library) 66
Hours open each week for reading (Central library) 71
Number on staff (library service, adding part time employees to make whole units, Dec. 31, 1920. 9
Number of volumes at beginning of year. 22,028
Number of volumes added during year by purchase. 1,135
Number of volumes added by gift or exchange. 533
Number of volumes added during year by binding material not otherwise counted. 93
Number of volumes withdrawn during year 822
Total number at end of year. 22,967
Adult
Juvenile
Total
Number of volumes of fiction lent for
home use 43,473
18,724
62,197
Number of volumes lent for
home use 57,126 31,146
88,272
Number of borrowers registered during,year 1,101
Number of newspapers and periodicals currently received- 150 titles
154 copies
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ANNUAL REPORT
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS
To His Honor, the Mayor, and the Municipal Council:
I have the honor to submit, herewith, the sixth annual report of the Public Works Department of the City of Attleboro, for the year ending Dec. 31, 1920.
This department has the general care of all public highways, con- struction of new streets and sidewalks, street lighting, street sprinkling and oiling, street signs and house numbering, street cleaning, and all work connected with surface drainage; sewers and sewage disposal; water system, including maintenance, meter department, pumping station, filter beds, storage reservoir, and standpipe; the maintenance and operation of the A. B. C. Street Railway; and the oversight of the general and detail designs and work of the engineering department. All water bills and other charges of the various departments are pre- sented to the City Collector for collection, and detail costs are kept of all work performed by the various departments.
The large amount of work which your Superintendent has to do in connection with the various departments which come under his charge was further increased this year by the $100,000 appropriation for street construction and the $15,000 appropriation for the South Main Street drain.
The preparing of the contract plans, the writing of the contract and specications, the general oversight of the construction together with the many details which had to be taken care of required him to put in a great deal of extra time and also required no small amount of knowledge.
This extra work was successfully carried out, the specifications ad- hered to and the work completed within the specified time all to the satisfaction of your superintendent, the contractors, and to the public.
We can justly say that the roads and drains are the best that have ever been built in this city and compare very favorably with the same class of work done in any other city.
While the rate of pay of the city employees was a great deal lower than that paid other laborers in the city, still we managed to get a sufficient number of fairly good men to do our work and while the efficiency was not as high as we would have liked to have it, still it compared very favorably with that obtained by other employers.
The results obtained in the Water Department have been very satisfactory and the general conditions are good, but in the very near future it will be necessary to increase the ground water supply by ad- ditional filteration area and later an increase of raw water by the construction of another storage reservoir.
The general conditions in all the departments have improved during the year.
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ANNUAL REPORT
PUBLIC WORKS OFFICE
Specifications have been written and contracts let for the special street constructions, tar and cement sidewalks, and West Street bridge, and bids received on road oils, asphalts, tools, meters, and the many other things which are purchased by this office; it being the intention of the office to purchase all materials, tools and equipment at the low- est price possible consistent with good quality.
Minimum rates and excess water bills, service connections, repairs and other charges of the Water Department as well as charges from all other departments have been billed and delivered to the City Col- lector, and detailed accounts of expenditures of all the departments have been recorded.
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
On July 7, J. R. Delahanty, who had been our engineer since May 7, 1919, left our employ to take a position elsewhere at a much higher salary, and on August 12, 1920 we were fortunate in obtaining the ser- vices of R. W. Mawney, an engineer of long experience in Municipal Engineering.
This department has had a very busy year due to the large amount of construction work in the Highway Department and studies made for future improvements.
Surveys and contract plans were made for the road construction on Pleasant St., South Main St., and County St .; surveys and plans were made for the acceptance of Oak St., Thirteenth St., Highland Ave., and Cliff St .; contract plans for the construction of West Street bridge at Farmers; survey and design of South Main Street drain, and the sur- vey and preliminary estimate for Orange Street drain. The survey plan for the A .. B. C. Street Railway assessments has been finished and tracing for the Assessors' Department completed.
In addition to the work mentioned, lines and grades were given for all the construction work and also work has been done for various other departments of the city, and the Chamber of Commerce.
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT
The year 1920 has shown greater progress in the improvement of our streets than any previous year in the history of the city. The answer to this is increased appropriations.
A total of 3.73 miles of hard surface pavement of the Topeka type has been completed this year, divided as follows: North Main Street, 0.63 miles; Commonwealth Avenue, 0 42 miles, constructed by John A. Gaffey, Contractor; County Street, 1.10 miles; South Main Street 0.72 miles; Pleasant Street, 0.86 miles, constructed by R. H. Newell Com- pany, Contractors. The cost of the 3" top rolled to 2" was $1.22 per square yard, and the total cost of the various jobs varied from $2.35 per square yard on County Street to $4.63 per square yard on Pleasant Street. The difference of cost on the various streets is due to drainage and extra expense of preparing the sub-base.
Nature having supplied this city with several good gravel banks, it was decided to use the Topeka type of construction for this year's work. All the material required for work came out of the bank, that passing through a three-quarter inch screen being used for the two inch (2") top and all the stone not passing the three-quarter inch (3/4") screen but passing a three inch (3") screen was used for the base course.
The streets rebuilt this year, all except the North Main Street- Commonwealth Avenue contract, were old water bound macadam roads which were well built in their day and had considerable thickness of
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ANNUAL REPORT
stone on them. In order to save this foundation the general depth of excavation was four inches (4") to allow for two inches (2") of fresh stone and the two inch (2") top.
The exception to this rule was on Pleasant Street where the macadam was not as thick and in the lower section the sub-base was very poor. The first two thousand (2000) feet, from Starkey Avenue to a point about four hundred (400) feet easterly of Lindsey Street, was constructed with a four inch (4") water bound macadam base and two inch (2") top. From Station 20 to Station 44-or the end of the job, the sub-base was very poor causing the surfacing to break through every spring. To overcome this condition we decided to con- struct the sub-base by excavating to a maximum depth of four and one- half (41/2) feet and build a gravel V drain sixteen (16) inches in depth at the center and six (6) inches in depth at the sides and fourteen (14) feet in width. In the center of the V section was built a drain two and one-half (21/2) feet deep and two (2) feet in width with a six (6) inch open joint vitrified pipe drain in the bottom and the trench filled with crushed stone. Connections were made from this drain at three points with natural water courses. Upon this sub-base was laid a four (4) inch water-bound macadam and the two (2) inch top.
North Main Street and Commonwealth Avenue was a gravel road which had been maintained in the past with an oil sand surfacing, but this method proved unsatisfactory and expensive.
This road was constructed in the following manner: The first fourteen hundred (1400) feet beginning at the Sheffield estate was built with a four (4) inch macadam base, from there to near the North Attleboro line with a two (2) inch macadam base, and the last two hundred fifty (250) feet with a stone V drain and a two (2) inch ma- cadam base. On the base as thus built was placed a two (2) inch to- peka top.
In order not to have a large amount of good material wasted from R. H. Newell Company's contract, a clause was inserted in his con- tract which required him to deliver all the material from his jobs which was suitable for resurfacing side streets onto such streets and in this way we were enabled to resurface about two (2) miles of streets at a very small cost. This did not increase the cost of his work as the average haul to these side streets was no longer than it would have been had he wasted the material.
Improvements were thus made on the following streets: Lindsey St, Dennis St., Summer St., Eldridge St., Olive St., East St., Parker St., Maple St., and Orange St.
Union St., between Mill St. and Capron St. was resurfaced with a tar penetrated surfacing sealed with asphalt.
Improvements were also made on twenty-three (23) other streets.
Construction of Newly Accepted Streets
Lexington Avenue which had been a subject of much discussion for several years past was accepted in 1919 and work begun on its improvement, but it was not finished until this year. This street was certainly in a deplorable condition. The land company in developing this property simply scraped off the loam and left the sub-soil and rocks so that teams and autos which were compelled to use this street had worn it so that it was almost impassable. We have now improved this street with concrete curbs and gutters, a heavy coat of gravel with oil sand surfacing, and good gravel sidewalks.
East Street between George and Solomon Street, accepted late last year, has been graded and the roadway and sidewalks graveled.
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ANNUAL REPORT
Oak Street, Pleasant Street to Foley Street, accepted this year, has been improved by placing a cement curb and gutter on each side and the roadway and sidewalks graveled.
Thirteenth Street, County Street to Mary Street, accepted this year, has been graded, roadway and sidewalks graveled, and retaining walls built adjoining two properties where the lowering of the side- walks made this work necessary. This street is not completed but will be finished early next year.
Cliff Street, Second Street to Hayward Street, accepted this year, has been partly completed. A new wooden bridge has been constructed replacing the old one, the grading completed and a part of the surface drain constructed. This work will be completed next year.
BRIDGES
One new bridge has been rebuilt and one railroad bridge, Thurber Avenue, has been replanked. The new bridge built was on West Street over the Ten Mile River. This bridge was constructed of stone flags in two spans with a pier in the center of the river. The heavy traffic to which this bridge had been subjected had cracked three of the stone flags and when the steam roller bumped the projecting end of one of the cracked flags it loosened the stone and dropped it into the river pulling the roller with it. As this was the third time a roller had brok- en the bridge, it was decided to rebuild the bridge with a reinforced concrete slab of sufficient strength to withstand any load. Bids were called for and E. O. Dexter being the lowest the contract was awarded to him. At the same time it was decided to widen the bridge sufficient to allow for a sidewalk. This work was satisfactorily done and the city has now one more permanently constructed bridge.
But little other work has been necessary on the bridges except to repair the fences approaching them. During the past five years all of the railroad bridges have been rebuilt and during the next few years all of the fences approaching these bridges will have to be re- built as the posts and railing are all badly rotted.
DRAINS
There has been but little trouble with our drains this year except South Main Street between East Street and Olive Street. The pipe in this street had become so badly rotted that a piece had broken out at the junction of East and South Main Street and the sand surround- ing the pipe was washed into the drain leaving a cavity under the hard surface of the road. When the steam roller passed over the hole, it found the weak spot in the road and in this manner discovered the break. As this was the third break of this kind which has occurred to this drain the past few years, and as this portion of South Main Street was being resurfaced with a hard surface pavement, an appropriation was made to rebuild this portion of the drain. This work has been completed and four new catch basins added.
There is every reason to believe that the remaining portion of this drain on Union Street, East Street, and Olive Street is in the same condition as South Main Street and that it will all have to be rebuilt in the very near future.
COMMON
The usual care has been given the common this year and under the supervision of the Park Commissioners a number of the trees have been cut greatly improving its appearance.
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ANNUAL REPORT
MACHINERY AND TOOLS
In addition to the usual number of small tools purchased this year, there has been added to our equipment four gutter plows, one belt wagon loader and sand bin, one concrete mixer and two sidewalk plows.
STREET CLEANING
Three street sweerers have been employed this year on the streets in the center of the city.
SIDEWALKS AND CURBING
The work done and charged to this account was setting new curb- ing at the corner of Pine and Park Street and at the corner of Bank and Park Street thus widening the approaches to these streets and the construction of a cement walk on Bank Street, from Park Street to Dean Street, and on Park Street in front of the Smith and Dexter Block.
OILING
The usual amount of street oiling has been done this year. A total of thirty-five miles of streets and nine miles of car track have been oiled.
WIDENING STREET APPROACHES
Much needed improvements have been made this year in the approaches to a number of the side streets leading from our main streets by replacing the sharp curb corners with new corners having a much larger radius. Three that particularly benefited traffic are Pine Street and Bank Street at their junctions with Park Street, and Wall Street at its junction with South Main Street and County Street.
ITEMIZED EXPENDITURES
ROADS
Balance carried over from 1919 Construction
Lexington Ave.
Labor
$1,068.32
Material
31.35
$1,099.67
Curb and Gutter
3,202.10
$4 301.77
Solomon St.
338.48
East St.
1,258.54
George St.
308.12
North Main St.
and Common-
wealth Ave. 13,774 22
$19,981.13
1920 Construction
Pleasant Street
Newell Contract $29,057.63
Drain material 2,024.27
Resetting curbs, manhole, etc. 811.19
Asphalt
3,087.00
$44,980.09
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ANNUAL REPORT
South Main Street
Newell Contract
$24,270.41
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