USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Andover > Town annual report of Andover 1926-1929 > Part 12
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3000.00
Board of Health
4000.00
Brush Fires
1000.00
Claims for Damages to Persons and Property
2500.00
Elections
1000.00
Essex Hospital
5135.23
This sum is assessed the Town of Andover for
the maintenance of the County Tuberculosis Hospital.
Fire Department
29000.00
G. A. R.
200.00
Hay Scales
125.00
Highways
78000.00
This sum is $2000. less than the amount appro-
priated last year, $36,000. of which is for new construction.
Interest
34500.00
Insurance
6000.00
Library
5000.00
Memorial Day
600.00
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Parks Police
Pomp's Pond
3000.00 24350.00 2500.00
The increase of $1000. is for an additional
bath house.
Printing
1500.00
Public Dump
400.00
Reserve Fund
3000.00
Retirement of Bonds
69000.00
Retirement of Veterans
300.00
Schools
139724.00
See paragraph above re salaries.
Sewers
5000.00
Snow and Equipment
15000.00
Soldiers' Relief
1500.00
Sealer of Weights and Measures
400.00
Spring Grove Cemetery
6500.00
The increase of $1000. is for tool house and
equipment.
State Aid
500.00
Street Lighting
17250.00
Town House
4250.00
Town Officers
14750.00
Tree Warden
10000.00
It is recommended that this appropriation be
$5000. for moth work and $5000. for tree work.
Water Maintenance
30000.00
Water Construction
10000.00
Wire Inspector
350.00
The Finance Committee recommends the following action regarding the special articles in the Warrant:
Article 4 .- To see if the Town will appropriate the sum of $15,000. for the purpose of making improvements at the play- stead, said improvements to be carried out in accordance with plans drawn and recommendations of Morse & Dickinson, land- scape engineers, on petition of the Board of Public Works.
(Approved).
96
Article 5 .- To see if the Town will appropriate the sum of $15,000. to make the following alterations and extensions to the Water System: Laying a new main on Lowell Street 2200 feet of 8-inch and 2400 feet of 6-inch pipe; laying 650 feet of 6-inch main on Florence Street to take the place of the 4-inch main; also laying 1400 feet of 6-inch main on Washington Avenue to take the place of 4-inch main, on petition of the Board of Public Works.
(Approved.)
Article 6 .- To see if the Town will appropriate the sum of $5000. to extend the water main from the North School House down the River Road to the Lawrence line, on petition of Albert A. Hardy and others.
(Not approved.)
Article 7 .- To see if the Town will appropriate the sum of $12,500. to pay its share of the cost of rebuilding Haverhill Street Bridge and rebuilding 650 feet of roadway east and west of said bridge, it being understood that the balance of the cost will be borne by the State, County, and Boston and Maine Railroad, on petition of the Board of Public Works.
(Approved.)
Article 8 .- To see if the Town will accept as a Town Way the private street known as Brechin Terrace, as laid out by the Selectmen. This street leads from Shawsheen Road about 175 feet west of Cuba Street, extending about 400 feet in a north- easterly direction. The road as laid out is 60 feet in width between outside of sidewalk lines, on petition of Smith & Dove Mfg. Company and others.
(Articles 8, 9, and 10 do not require action by Finance Committee.)
Article 9 .- To see if the Town will accept as a public way, as laid out by the Selectmen, and shown on plan filed with the Town Clerk, a way known as Juliette Street starting at the, easterly line of Corbett Street thence northerly about 1296 feet to a point near the property of one Nelson, on petition of Edward Topping and others.
97
Article 10 .- To see if the town will accept as a public way, as laid out by the Selectmen, and shown on plan filed with the Town Clerk, a way known as Dufton Road, extending from Burnham Road to Enmore Street, a distance of 857 feet more or less, on petition of George Dufton and others.
Article 11 .- To see if the Town will vote to appropriate the sum of $2000. together with the unexpended balance, to wit, $1711.65, now remaining as the Corbett Road balance of un- expended appropriation for water service in 1926, for the purpose of installing water service in Juliette Street, provided the article for the acceptance of said street is adopted, on petition of residents of said street.
(Approved.)
Article 12 .- To see if the Town will vote to appropriate the sum of $1200. for the purpose of installing water service in Dufton Road, provided the article for the acceptance of said road is adopted, on petition of George Dufton and others.
(Approved.)
Article 13 .- To see if the Town will appropriate $3000. to lay out, grade and repair Magnolia Avenue, in Shawsheen Village, on petition of James Mulligan and others.
(Referred to Board of Public Works. Not approved.)
Article 14 .- To see if the Town will vote to accept from the American Woolen Company a conveyance of certain land, with the buildings thereon, in Shawsheen Village, bounded and described as follows:
Beginning at the intersection of the easterly line of Main Street and the northerly line of Balmoral Street; thence northerly by said Main Street 258 feet, more or less, to Haverhill Street, thence easterly by said Haverhill Street 46 feet, more or less, to a fence and land retained by the grantor; thence southerly as said fence now stands, by land retained by the grantor 253 feet, more or less, to Balmoral Street; thence westerly by said Balmoral Street 50 feet, more or less, to the point of beginning. This parcel of land is commonly known as The Mall.
98
All as described and set forth in the deed of the American Woolen Company to the Inhabitants of the Town of Andover, which deed, with a plan of the land described therein, is on file in the office of the Town Clerk for examination and inspection.
(Does not require action by the Finance Committee.)
Article 15 .- To see if the Town will appropriate the sum of $12,500. to purchase one 750-gallon pump for use in the Fire Department, on petition of Charles F. Emerson and others.
(Approved.)
Article 16 .- To see if the Town will vote to adopt the recom- mendations of the War Memorial Committee and to construct a memorial to commemorate the services and sacrifices of the soldiers, sailors and marines, men of Andover, in the service of the United States in war, substantially in accordance with the plans, specifications, model and recommendations of said Com- mittee, and appropriate therefor the sum of sixty-two thousand, five hundred ($62,500.) dollars; determine how the same shall be raised and by whom expended, or in any way act thereon, on petition of the War Memorial Committee.
(Not approved.)
Article 17 .- To see if the Town will appropriate the sum of $3500. to purchase two certain parcels of land situated in the Town of Andover on the northerly shore of Haggett's Pond, containing in all about twenty-four acres, on petition of Frederic S. Boutwell and others.
(Approved.)
Article 18 .- To see if the Town will authorize the appointment by the Moderator of a committee of five to petition the legis- lature on behalf of the Town for authority to establish a limited or representative form of Town Meeting, on petition of Alfred L. Ripley and others.
(Articles 18 and 19 do not require action by the Finance Committee.)
Article 19 .- To see if the Town will vote to accept Section 48, Chapter 31, of the General Laws, relating to its regular police
99
and fire forces, in order that the regular members of the Police Department and the regular and call members of the Fire Depart- ment shall be subject to said Chapter 31, and the rules made thereunder, known as the "Civil Service"; on petition of Ralph T. Berry and others.
Article 20 .- To see if the Town will vote to raise and appro- priate the sum of $500.(five hundred dollars) for the purpose of reserving certain streets of the Town for coasting, on petition of Ralph T. Berry and others.
(Not approved.)
Article 21 .- To see if the Town will authorize the Board of Public Works to pay part of the cost, not to exceed $500., of the retaining wall along the south side of Roger's Brook adjoining the land of John Stewart and connecting with the Town's culvert on Bartlet Street, on petition of John Stewart and others.
(Not approved.) ,
Article 22 .- To see if the Town will authorize the Planning Board to prepare a definite plan for a Zoning System of the Town, to be presented for action at the next annual Town Meeting; and if the Town will appropriate a sum of money, not to exceed $1200. for the necessary expenses of such preparation; also to see if the Town will enact an Interim Ordinance estab- lishing certain residential districts and empowering the Select- men to enforce certain restrictions therein, on petition of the Planning Board.
(Approved.)
SUMMARY
Departmental expenditures recommended .
$551,334.23
Special expenditures recommended 62,900.00
$614,234.23
State and County Tax (estimated)
85,000.00
Total
$699,234.23
Receipts (estimated)
200,000.00
Net
$499,234.23
100
-
VALUATION
1926 $17,539,773.00
1927 (estimated) $17,500,000.00
Computation of tax rate for 1927 using the above figures 499234.23
= $28.52 +
17500000
Tax rate for 1926, $28.80
Tax rate for 1925, $24.20
Respectfully submitted,
ARCHIE N. FROST, Chairman CHARLES J. BAILEY, Sec.
FREDERICK N. CHANDLER WALTER M. LAMONT
JOSEPH H. HIGGINSON H. BRADFORD LEWIS
GEORGE H. WINSLOW
Finance Committee
101
TRUSTEES OF MEMORIAL HALL LIBRARY
NATHAN C. HAMBLIN
BURTON S. FLAGG
FREDERIC S. BOUTWELL
FREDERICK A. WILSON
*ALFRED E. STEARNS PHILIP F. RIPLEY
CLAUDE M. FUESS
Chairman NATHAN C. HAMBLIN
Secretary and Treasurer FREDERIC S. BOUTWELL
Librarian EDNA A. BROWN
Assistants
JULIA E. TWICHELL EDITH DONALD
In Charge of Room for Boys and Girls AGATHA R. WADE
Assistant MARGARET D. MANNING
In Charge of Ballardvale Branch MARTHA D. BYINGTON
Janitor ARCHIBALD MACLAREN *Resigned. John C. Angus appointed to fill vacancy.
102
REPORT OF TRUSTEES OF MEMORIAL HALL LIBRARY
Believing, as they do, that the Memorial Hall Library is about to enter upon a period of increased usefulness, the Trustees close the year in a mood of hopeful expectation and confident op- timism. The remodeling of the old Memorial Hall, voted by the citizens of the town in March, 1926, has been carried on during the past few months, with results which to date are entirely satisfactory. Andover will shortly enjoy more attractive, com- modious, and comfortable library facilities than it has ever had before, and the consequent beneficial influence on the com- munity is bound to be great. While the contractors have been busy transforming the exterior and the interior of the familiar brick structure, the Librarian and her assistants have been functioning in rooms in the Town Hall, sometimes under diffi- culties but always with eagerness to serve. It is significant that, even under these conditions, the number of those who habitually avail themselves of the resources of the library has not decreased in any marked degree.
With the opening of the new Memorial Hall next autumn, the responsibilities of the Trustees and of the Librarian will un- questionably be augmented. More will be expected, and more will doubtless be given. It will be the aim of the Trustees to maintain the library in the position which it should occupy in a progressive community like Andover as a center of intellectual life, where both entertainment and instruction are provided for readers who care to seek them. To this end they hope to receive the helpful suggestions and, - as long as they deserve it, - the loyal support of the men and women of the town.
NATHAN C. HAMBLIN, Chairman FREDERICK A. WILSON
FREDERIC S. BOUTWELL PHILIP F. RIPLEY
BURTON S. FLAGG CLAUDE M. FUESS
103
1
TRUSTEES OF MEMORIAL HALL LIBRARY In Account with the Town of Andover, Mass.
RECEIPTS
Town Appropriation
$5000.00
Dog Tax
843.16
Income from Investments
3710.77
Fines
307.48
Lost Books Repaid
6.35
$9867.76
EXPENDITURES
Salaries
$6005.22
Lighting and Heating
384.35
Periodicals
272.55
Bookbinding
455.11
Books
1268.46
Office Expense
148.49
Insurance
87.90
J. W. Barnard Est., Rent
240.00
Rent, Lower Town Hall
90.00
Labor, Repairs and Supplies
798.68
$9750.76
Balance
117.00
The above statement represents the amounts received and paid out by the Town Treasurer.
104
Classification of Income and Expenditures for the Year 1926
INCOME
Maint.
Books
Cornell
Total
Town Appropriation
$5000.00
$5000.00
Income from Investments
2163.38
$912.56
$360.50
3336.44
Dog Tax
843.16
843.16
Fines
307.48
307.48
Automobile damage to fence
103.00
103.00
Sale of Harpers Weekly
40.00
40.00
Lost books repaid
6.35
6.35
Totals
$8457.02
$918.91
$360.50
$9736.43
EXPENDITURES
Salaries
$5957.79
$47.43
$6005.22
Lighting and Heating
380.39
3.96
384.35
Periodicals
272.55
272.55
Bookbinding
455.11
455.11
Books
1268.46
1268.46
Office Expenses
148.49
148.49
Insurance
87.90
87.90
Rent, J. W. Barnard Est.
240.00
240.00
Rent, Lower Town Hall
90.00
90.00
Labor, repairs and supplies
744.68
54.00
798.68
$8376.91
$1268.46
$105.39
$9750.76
Unexpended Income 1926
80.11
255.11
Deficit in book fund, Income 1926
349.55
Deficit in Total income
$14.33
105 .
SECURITIES OWNED BY LIBRARY
Bangor & Aroostook R. R. Co., 4s, July 1, 1951 $11000.00
Boston Elevated Ry. Co., 4s, May 1, 1935 10000.00
Boston Elevated Ry. Co., 412s, October 1, 1937 1000.00 Chicago Railways Co., 5s, February 1, 1927 9962.50
Montreal Tramways Co., 5s, July 1, 1941 9962.50 Southern California Edison, 512s, February 1, 1944 5000.00
Indiana & Michigan Elec. Co., 5s, March 1, 1955 2939.85
2000.00
Boston & Maine R. R., 5s, September 1, 1941 Pacific Tel. & Tel. Co., 5s, January 2, 1937 New England Tel. & Tel. Co., 5s, June 1, 1952 Jersey Central Power & Light Co., 512s, February 1,1945 915.00
1000.00
989.00
Dayton Power & Light Co., 5s, June 1, 1941
940.00
Utah Power & Light Co., 6s, February 1, 1944 American Tel. & Tel. Co., Stock 4 shares Savings Banks
1030.00
571.50
17490.30
Principal Cash
289.65
$75090.30
FREDERIC S. BOUTWELL
Treasurer
January 31, 1927
This certifies that we have examined and found correct the securities above listed and the income accruing therefrom.
All bills in the Library Department are audited by the Town Auditors.
BURTON S. FLAGG PHILIP F. RIPLEY Finance Committee
106
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MEMORIAL HALL LIBRARIAN
To the Trustees of the Memorial Hall Library: 1
GENTLEMEN :
I herewith present the report of the library for the twelve months ending December 31, 1926.
This has been an eventful year in the history of the library. When, at the March meeting, the town voted to remodel the Memorial Hall, it became necessary to find temporary quarters.
The selectmen, with some apologies for a place which at first sight seemed dismal and unattractive, offered us the lower town hall. Thanks are indeed due for this hospitality, for our books and the taking of a little thought, at once transformed the room into a pleasant and comfortable home for the library. We con- sider ourselves most fortunate to have had so convenient and accessible a place in which to spend the months of exile. The public has really been more inconvenienced than the staff.
To move a library from a building which it had occupied for over fifty years and with the accumulations of half a century was no small undertaking. Plans and preliminary work began at once and the staff put in many extremely busy weeks. It was due to careful planning as well as to the whole-hearted coopera- tion of everyone concerned that the actual moving on the first of July went smoothly, quickly, and with little confusion.
About half the books were stored in a room built in the library basement. To choose those that could best be spared required consideration, and we have needed some which were left. But our borrowers have been uncritical when we could not supply their needs and have accepted cheerfully our temporary limita- tions. Though the library moved early in July, the actual clearance of the Memorial Hall was not completed until the
107
middle of August, only shortly before the work of construction started. This delay, trying from some points of view, was none too long for the emptying of the attics, the storing of the framed photographs from the third floor, and for the general disposal of the building's contents.
A vacant store on Barnard street was utilized as a temporary room for the boys and girls. Rough shelving, the old cork carpet and several large pictures quite transformed the old fish-market. Interested friends contributed two big ferns, the draperies for the back windows and the yellow curtains for the front ones. From the opening of the room the young people took complete posses- sion with satisfaction and delighted proprietorship. Miss Agatha R. Wade, an Andover girl and a former assistant in the library, who was graduated from Simmons College Library School in June, came to take charge of the work with the boys and girls, and is already in close touch with the schools and with the parents.
During November there was great interest in the State reading lists. Miss Wade visited the grade and parochial schools and the result was a gratifying cooperation of teachers and pupils. At times after school the young people's room has been so crowded that newcomers had to await a chance to enter.
With a separate room for the boys and girls the age limit has been abolished. Any child who can write his name may have a card, and books have been bought for those just beginning to read. Miss Wade has made a duplicate catalogue for the juvenile books and is teaching the younger children to use it. Special help is given them with their school topics.
At Christmas, greens and a tree which had served as decora- tions at the Punchard School were brought down to this room and some of the younger children were invited to help trim it. Other friends gave apples, popcorn, cranberries and various decorations so that the entire Christmas celebration was a gift to the town children. The satisfaction which the boys and girls take in this room is only equalled by that of the staff, who for years have wanted them to have a place absolutely their own, with their rightful share of attention. Their joy and pride in these merely temporary quarters augurs well for the future of their room in the remodeled building.
108
The Ballardvale branch shared in the changes of the year When the old wooden shelving was torn out of the library read ing-room, the best of it was taken to Ballardvale. Two tables were added to the equipment, as well as several bentwood chairs from the main library. Some re-arrangements were made and the result is a room in which Ballardvale may well take pride, for many communities of larger size have not so pleasant and ade- quate a library. A visit to this branch, which is open on Tues- days and Saturdays, from 2-5, and 7-8 p.m. will repay any of our townspeople who perhaps have not realized how large and how flourishing is this offshoot of the Memorial Hall Library.
The circulation of books for the year, very much to our surprise, is but slightly less than for 1925, and that was the banner year in the history of the library. We expected a large decrease in use, due to six months in temporary quarters, and to our curtailed resources. But people have borrowed 52,937 books, which is only 1026 less than for 1925. Of these 29% were borrowed from the room for boys and girls. The Ballardvale branch issued a total of 7196 books. This sustained use under trying conditions certainly indicates how necessary the town finds its public library. Our present habitation is too small for people to sit and read as they used to do, but they, as well as the staff, are looking forward to the remodeled building with its ample space for readers, and its well-lighted book stacks.
We have, this winter, been doing intensive work on the card catalogue; certain improvements which will make the resources of the library more easily available to all who consult it. We are also having a complete re-registration of borrowers and putting into effect a modification of the loan system. The present method was installed when Andover had about 6000 inhabitants, and has become cumbersome with the increased population and greatly increased use of the library. The new registration is a necessary corollary of this change.
Whatever the future may hold for the Memorial Hall Library, it is certain that two dates in its history will always remain important; those of 1870 and 1926. During that earlier year, there came to a little group of men, headed by a patriotic and generous citizen, the conception of what a public library would mean to the town of Andover. In 1926, another and larger group
108
of far-sighted citizens made it possible for the library, then cramped and crowded for room both for books and readers, to expand under conditions which, for years to come, will enable it to serve "all the children and all the people."
The beautiful dignified building which is emerging from the chrysalis of the old mansard-roofed structure still embodies the ideals and hopes of its founders. They built it as a memorial to their heroes who fell in the Civil War. More than ever, will the remodeled building be a worthy tribute to all Andover's war heroes.
Respectfully submitted,
EDNA A. BROWN, Librarian
January 11, 1927.
110
STATISTICS OF THE LIBRARY
Number of books issued at the Memorial Hall Library 45741
Number of books issued at Ballardvale 7196
Total number issued for home use
52937
Number of borrowers' cards in use
4535
Books added by purchase
811
Books added by gift
116
Total additions
927
Total number of books in the library
25564
Volumes rebound
408
Volumes bound, periodicals, etc.
104
BALLARDVALE BRANCH
Number of books issued for home use
7196
Books added by purchase
57
Books added by gift
48
Total additions
105
Books now belonging to branch
2161
GIFTS
Gifts of books and pamphlets are acknowledged from state and government departments, from other libraries, from the A. V. I. S. and from the following individuals:
C. K. Bancroft; Miss Mary Bell; Mrs. H. R. Bloombergh; H. A. Bodwell; Mrs. F. R. Carpenter; Mrs. Blanche Cranshaw; Albert Curtis; Miss Molly Donovan; Mrs. Valentine Fitzhugh; Mrs. A. E. Foote; Dr. C. M. Fuess; Mrs. E. R. Green; A. S. Haynes; Rev. C. W. Henry; G. E. Hussey; Mrs. H. E. Kendall; Miss A. W. Kuhn; Mrs. A. E. Lowe; Miss Florance Prevost; A. L. Ripley; G. B. Ripley; Mrs. G. L. Selden; and Mrs. J. H. Smith.
111
HOW TO USE THE LIBRARY
The Memorial Hall Library is open every day except Sundays and holidays, from 9 to 12.30 in the morning, and from 3 to 9 in the afternoon and evening. The room for Boys and Girls is open from 3 to 8 p.m.
Any resident of Andover may have a library card upon filling out an application blank. Any child who can write his name may have a card, but children in grades below the Punchard School are required to have their applications endorsed by both parent and teacher.
Children may borrow one book at a time. All grown people are allowed to take any reasonable number of books, provided that only one is a current magazine, and only one is a seven-day book.
Books are issued for fourteen days, the date upon which the book is due being stamped plainly on the "date due" slip at the time of issue. A book kept overtime incurs a fine of two cents for every day overdue. A few of the books most in demand are issued for seven days only. All these are labeled upon the book pocket, "Seven-day book." Books lost or damaged must be paid for.
Seven-day books are not renewed nor reserved for anyone, nor may they be transferred from one card to another. They must be definitely returned to the library by each borrower. Other books may be renewed if no one else has asked for them, and if a work not fiction is especially desired for any serious purpose, notice of its return to the library will be sent on request.
The shelves of the library are open to all grown people. The books are arranged according to subjects, and it is often much more satisfactory to go to the shelves and examine the books than to depend upon the catalogue.
The new books are listed at intervals in the weekly paper, and cumulated in the yearly library report, but the only complete record is the card catalogue. This catalogue is arranged alpha- betically like a dictionary.
112
The new books purchased each month are placed for some weeks in a special case, so that the most recent additions to the library may be found there. The library buys only a limited amount of new fiction but it tries to fill the wants of the com- munity in regard to other books desired. People are invited to suggest for purchase the titles of books they wish.
The library staff is always glad to answer questions or in any way to help visitors find what they want.
LIST OF PERIODICALS AND NEWSPAPERS TAKEN FOR THE READING ROOM
American city
American Legion monthly (gift)
American Mercury
American monthly Review of Reviews
Atlantic monthly
Blackwood's magazine
Bookman
Book review digest
Catholic world
Century
Christian Endeavor world (gift)
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