USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Middleborough > Town annual report of Middleborough, Massachusetts 1938 > Part 7
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Car traffic at the play spaces was restricted by placing posts across the field in back of the Fire Station, and at the main road leading toward the courts. Practically no complaints were heard and the safety of the grounds and cleanliness of the courts was greatly advanced. Naturally, as the pro- gram of activities increase, improved facilities for the conduct of the pro- gram are more clearly defined, and the need for service to players and spec- tators demands our attention.
Here are a few suggestions for a survey of the whole plan of activities on the playground, by the Park Board, for the purpose of making improve- ments and increasing service.
1. Town appoint a Supervisor of Recreation, to have charge of all recreation in schools and at playground.
2. Town employ a Field Manager, to care for grounds, act as special officer in prevention of property damage.
To get best results he should live near or at the grounds, keep- ing control of areas at all times.
3. The question of heating the fieldhouse in order to lengthen the seasonal use of its facilities.
4. Changing the location of the football field and the development of a track and regulation field for Softball. The field for football is now located in the center of the area for Summer sports. The new location has many excellent advantages.
5. Removal of gravel road at tennis courts and the addition of more courts.
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6. Space available for the field manager to keep tools and supplies for maintenance. The machine for grass cutting to be at field at all times, or other arrangements made so that fields may be cut faster. Here is one of the co-operative needs of the playground, much needed by players and public.
7. The Selectmen to appoint the Park Board members at the earliest possible opportunity, so that they may give consideration to thought- ful planning for the coming season.
8. The Town purchase the property of the Twilight League and assume responsibility for maintenance. No club should own any property on a playground that prevents its use by organizations having per- mission to use sport areas.
9. A project for the WPA be drawn up including all changes and im- provements desired for the coming season, for the pool, baseball fields and other needs. It would be a real pleasure to work with the engineer on this planning, and any member of the Board as- signed to such a survey.
With due appreciation of your many problems, and knowing your de- sire to give generously of your service, let me assure you of my continued co-operation in giving to Middleboro an outstanding program of recreation, that will reach the greatest number.
Cordially yours, FRANK CROZIER
Gentlemen:
This report covers the ten weeks of the Summer activities. The weather man was very kind to us again this year and the play areas have been ex- tensively used. To grasp a clear picture of the depth of Middleboro's recre- ational program, one should study the report of the Supervisor of Swimming, then recall the many games of baseball played at the Senior diamond, as well as the sports in this report. It's the many activities that give us the real picture of our Summer enjoyment.
Attendance for Playground during July 3905
August 5671
Total 9576
The daily program consisted of baseball, tennis, music, horseshoes, softball, volleyball and free play.
Baseball again took the lead in interest, and among the boys this sport will always hold first place anywhere. A new league blossomed forth this season composed of players graduating from the past season's Inter- mediate league. This four team league was very successful and some high class ball games were played. A picked team in this league played outside teams and placed second in the WPA District Championships. Three teams were left for the league of Intermediates and four teams were organized among the Juniors, made up largely of beginners but full of enthusiasm and always in there to learn the game. Prizes to the winners were made by the Works Progress Administration.
Tennis enjoyed a fine year, courts being constantly busy and the Tennis Club team playing several matches with nearby towns and cities. Mr. Rock- wood, coach for the team, kept the players on their toes and was a big factor in putting this sport across. We need those other three courts badly.
Horseshoe pitching with three new courts located at the Craft Shop, gave a start to what next season will be one of the best patronized of the
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activities. Here is a chance for a fellow and his friend to enjoy a real fling, and enjoy themselves. Next year will be a tournament year and classier courts.
Softball, a sport the West went wild about, breezed in on us and it was no time at all until four teams were at it for the champ race in a Club League. Shortly after this start, four more teams asked to play and that started the Commercial League. Very soon the bleachers at the small dia- mond were being filled on many evenings and at the play off between the winners of the two leagues, there was no space left. It took the Y team three snappy contests to show Bobs Lunch, who was who. This sport is here to stay and becomes a permanent part of the season's star events.
Volleyball, the fascinating indoor game that fills the Y.M.C.A. and other clubs during the Winter season, was brought out into the open and introduced to the men. The game proved a winner from the first night and before the season was half over, twelve teams were being matched in play. Damp, foggy evenings had no terrors for those fans, every night was just one more time for some fun. Again we welcome a new sport to our Summer list and may it again bring us the enjoyment it has in the past.
Special events were planned for each week, some events for the field and some in the pool. The July Fourth program gives a fine start for the season, offering a chance for everyone to enjoy a varied program of events from morning till night. Prizes for the winners bring bundles of happiness to many, and always are those who have their fun in just participating. The co-operation of the grown ups on this occasion, in their desire to make the day worth while, is also a vital part of the day's success.
The girls enjoy Weinies roasts and hikes at various times and the boys make a trip to Fenway Park for a Red Sox game. The Bird Club make their annual trip to Barnstable for study. It is hoped that most folks can now realize that all sorts of recreational activities must be a part of a broad program in order to reach the individual needs.
The Craft Shop at the playground was started this year, and next season will see plenty of action in all forms of craftsmanship. There is no limit to this form of recreation.
The coming year needs greater co-operation of all organizations using any part of the playgrounds, and a consistent effort made to plan a program to avoid friction wherever possible. Commendations on many features of the season serve to convince us that most folks feel that our efforts are worth while. The WPA staff have played a large part in putting the ac- tivities across and to them much credit is due. The time to start preparing for Summer is in the Winter, so let's get together and be ready.
Respectfully submitted,
FRANK CROZIER, Supervisor of Playground.
REPORT OF THE SUPERVISOR OF THE SWIMMING POOL
To the Members of the Park Board,
Gentlemen:
The pool closed another year of successful operation both from a finan- cial as well as a public social affair. Middleboro had well be proud to own such an institution and with a few minor improvements the pool could be made into one of the best in New England.
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With the pool running on an 8 week schedule and a week out due to rain the attendance shows a marked improvement over last year.
ATTENDANCE RECORDS
Passes
Boys
Girls 353
Mixed
Total attendance
Cash Total
49
226
2986
3614
$202.25
The Pool was host to Camp Yomecas and Camp Nourse one afternoon for a swimming meet and Middleboro emerged the victor 25-21 over Yome- cas.
A new feature this year was an intensive morning instruction period in which 95 odd children came down for the "Learn to Swim Campaign." 10 passed their Beginners Button and 8 their Swimmers button. All were suit- ably awarded by the Red Cross. The life saving classes attracted 25 of the older group and 16 passed the American Red Cross Tests.
The guards, James Keegan, Weldon Thomas and Douglas MacAulay did a remarkable job and I would recommend they be hired another year. Mason Ryder on the Counter also proved very satisfactory and would make a good man for the pool another year.
Recommendations
I would suggest that a lady be hired to come in mornings and clean the bathhouses and Field House. This would tend to do away with any ad- verse criticisms that might come up.
Also I would suggest that the Town buy a filter system for the pool as I feel this would pay for itself in a short time. With this system in opera- tion we would find visitors passing through our town would stop to refresh themselves and also nearby towns without pools would visit Middleboro and both would spend money with the merchants.
Along the same lines that the past Supervisors have suggested I would say that a pipe line should be laid so that additional water for filling and cleaning could be made a lot easier and with less expense to the town. The well does not give enough water to replenish the pool as was thought for when it was built.
In closing, I would like to thank all those who helped our season be a success and also thank the Park Board for doing a sincere piece of work throughout the season.
Respectfully submitted,
L. RICHARD TILDEN,
Supervisor of Swimming Pool.
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REPORT OF COUNTY AID TO AGRICULTURE PLYMOUTH COUNTY EXTENSION SERVICE Town of Middleboro
H. ARTHUR STANDISH, Town Director
This service is available to every community and family in each of the towns of the county. It brings to each of our towns the resources not only of the local organization, but of Massachusetts State College, especially of its state extension service with its corps of specialists in phases of agriculture and home making.
The Extension Service looks to the towns for assistance in planning and carrying out the local program. In 1938, there were 560 men and women in the county giving this type of help. With their assistance, 5000 Plymouth County homes participated directly in the program, and inany others in- directly. Sixteen hundred boys and girls from 10 to 21 years old enrolled in 4-H clubs, 1300 farms were definitely influenced by the agricultural ex- tension work, 1094 were enrolled in home demonstration groups, and many others received help through home and farm visits, letters, telephone and office calls, and other means.
Farmers and others interested in farm products have participated chiefly in the following programs: dairy, poultry, fruit, market garden, farm man- agement, cranberry culture.
Homemakers have participated in various programs in nutrition, cloth- ing, food preservation, home grounds improvement, furniture renovation, kitchen improvement, child development, and recreation.
4-H clubs include poultry, dairy, garden, conservation, handicraft, food, canning, clothing, home furnishing, and other agricultural or homemaking subjects.
Middleboro's chief agricultural interest has been in the poultry, dairy, and cranberry programs, with many farmers also participating in fruit and vegetable projects. The homemakers have participated extensively in cloth- ing and nutrition programs, home grounds improvement, kitchen improve- ment, and furniture renovation projects.
Boys and girls have been enrolled in the 4-H garden, poultry, handi- craft, clothing, home furnishing, and canning projects.
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INSPECTOR OF WIRES' REPORT
January 13, 1939
Board of Selectmen, Middleboro, Mass.
Gentlemen :
I hereby submit to you my report as Inspector of Wires from January 1 to March 2, 1938.
Total number of electrician report cards received 66
Number of jobs passed 54
Number of uncompleted inspections 12
Number of miles traveled on making inspections 256
Respectfully submitted,
RALPH SAMPSON.
January 19, 1939
Board of Selectmen Town of Middleboro
Middleboro, Mass.
Gentlemen:
I hereby submit my report as Inspector of Wires for the Town of Mid- dleboro for the period of March 17, 1938 to December 31, 1938.
I have made 336 inspections and have covered 1186 miles in nine and a half months of duty.
The above report covers the work of six local electricians and 22 from neighboring cities and towns.
Most of the outside electricians' work consists of the wiring of signs, oil burners and electrical refrigeration and requires more time and atten- tion (than local contractors' work) as they are not acquainted with our requirements.
By being a member in the International Association of Electrical In- spectors, bulletins are received six times a year on the revision of the Na- tional Electrical Code.
In conclusion, I wish to thank the Electric Light Department in gen- eral for their co-operation in assisting me in the performance of my duties during my term of office.
Respectfully submitted,
AMEDEO J. GIBERTI,
Inspector of wires.
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ANNUAL REPORT MIDDLEBORO PUBLIC LIBRARY
January 12, 1939
To the President and Board of Trustees,
Middleborough Public Library :
I herewith submit the annual report for the year ending December 31, 1938.
We are most happy to be able to report for the first time in several years an increase in circulation. There seemed to be no accounting for the decrease that has taken place for the past four or five years, a condition prevailing the country over, but it is most gratifying to know that once again library circulation is on the up-grade. Records for 1938 show a cir- culation of 91,565 volumes, a gain over 1937 of 3,689.
The circulation desk is a busy place, especially during the winter months. Around three hundred books are given out every day and sometimes the number reaches seven hundred. Here at the desk are answered the many reference questions that come in, brought by the questioner in person or received over the telephone. Notices for reserve books are made out, cir- culation figures tabulated and fines balanced each day. Overdue notices and new borrowers cards are issued here. There are no dull moments at the circulation desk, and much activity goes on behind scenes as well. Too many people think that all there is to library work is the pleasant duty of passing out love stories over the counter. Every book that is purchased and put into library use has to go through an elaborate routine of preparation. This proc- ess of accessioning, plating, pocketing and marking each book, the making and filing of catalog cards occupies a good part of the time of one assistant. Because of the almost constant wear and tear to which library books are subjected, it takes another assistant almost all her time to keep the books in usable condition and in the proper place on the shelves, for if a book is misplaced among its forty thousand companions, it is as good as lost when it is needed for immediate use. These are but a part of a librarian's varied but pleasant duties. The aim of the librarian and the staff is to make the library ever more useful and of greater service to the community. The great- est need at the present time to accomplish this aim is to once more have the library open during morning hours, about which more is said under the heading "Recommendations."
Book Collection
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 li- brary as in the human body. Vitalizing material is supplied year by year in the way of the very best books obtainable. During 1938, 1149 volumes of fiction and non-fiction have been added for the edification and entertain- ment of our readers, as well as sets of encyclopedias and reference books to supply information. Four hundred and forty-seven books have been dis- carded, some of them lost by borrowers, some rejected because of contagious disease and many worn out from long use and discarded to make room for newer and more useful material. The library now contains 36,848 volumes.
Groups of books in Armenian, Polish, Italian and Spanish have been borrowed from the Massachusetts State Library Commission for use of our foreign readers. A collection of books is still maintained at the Montgomery Home, and a branch library conducted at the home of Mrs. Thomas Pollitt in East Middleboro.
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The rental collection continues to be much used, supplying new books when there are not many to be found on the shelves. With only about one thousand new books added in a year, and a circulation of ninety-one thou- sand, the entire output of new books is absorbed so quickly that it is diffi- cult to find many recent ones available on the shelves. There were 69 rental books added to the collection this year, these being transferred to the regu- lar collection as soon as they had paid for themselves by the two-cent-a-day fine, these fines amounting during 1938 to $120.39.
It is surprising how much the fines received on over due books amount to in a year. The fine is two cents a day for each overdue book and $401.48 was collected during the past year. This is turned over to the Town Treas- urer according to the laws of Massachusetts, as is also the money paid by out-of-town borrowers who pay one dollar a year for the privilege of using the library, some paying fifty-cent installments for a six months period. Out- of-town borrowers paid $29.50 for this privilege during 1938.
Work with Schools
Deposits of books are kept in seven schools, 2,638 books being taken home by pupils of these schools and many more read in the "library corner" at the school.
Classes from Bates Junior High School came to the library in the Fall for five lessons on how to make use of the facilities of the library. This means that 150 pupils will all their lives better enjoy using a library because they understand how to use it-how it is operated, how to use the catalog and reference books and understand the arrangement of books on the shelves so that they can locate a book after it has been found listed in the catalog.
Re-Registration
Because there had been no re-registration for ten years and the files were clogged with cards of borrowers who had moved away or for other reasons ceased to be patrons of the library, the Trustees voted to have a re-registration beginning in July. Each card is now stamped with a five- year expiration date, and will automatically be withdrawn or renewed at the end of five years from date of issue. Since July twentieth, 1,916 bor- rowers have re-registered and 299 new cards have been issued, making a total of 2,215 borrowers.
Activities
Among exhibits at the library have been books and posters on gar- dening, the Sesqui-centennial of the Constitution, New England and Lenten reading. The Garden Club conducted an iris show throughout April and May, keeping a collection of various species on view in their season. The miniature stage so popular with the children has contained at various times a scene from Snow White, Alice in Wonderland and at Christmastime dis- played a Christmas scene with tiny fireplace and stockings, Christmas tree and Santa with his pack.
Book Week was celebrated with exhibits of new books, adult and juvenile, a collection of unique posters made from paper plates decorated with book jackets, the work of Miss Veazie of the staff, and the interior of the library made festive with greens and autumn decorations.
The newspaper column in the Gazette, "What's New at the Public Li- brary," continues to give the library and new books publicity. This has also been accomplished through book talks given by the librarian before groups in South Middleboro, North Middleboro, Lakeville and before many or- ganizations in town.
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During the summer Miss Theresa Kelley served as an assistant, wishing experience in library work before continuing her studies at college.
The librarian attended the Conference of New England Library Asso- ciations held at Manchester, Vermont in June, at which time she terminated her three-year term as executive secretary of the Massachusetts Library Association. With members of the staff she has attended conferences in New Bedford, Brockton, Milton, Kingston and Boston. At the Institute for Small Libraries conducted by the State Library Commission at the Hyannis State Teachers College in May, the librarian spoke on "What's New in Non- Fiction."
Recommendations
The first and most important consideration is that of resuming hours which will include opening in the morning. Five years ago when the whole country was feeling effects of the depression, at the Selectmen's request to economize, the Board of Trustees voted to close the library during the morning hours. There have been constant requests throughout the five years to reopen in the morning. It seems that conditions now warrant this step and that the public is entitled to this service. For the past two years the Finance Committee has been petitioned to allow the small sum needed for this purpose, but has not seen fit to grant the request. Those of us who realize how much it would benefit many people to again have the library available during morning hours sincerely hope that 1939 will see the re- sumption of a schedule which will allow the library to be open in the morn- ing as well as afternoon and evening.
Railings are very much needed on either side of the marble steps lead- ยท ing from the outer door to the main hall. Several accidents have occurred because of the lack of a rail. Many elderly patrons of the library would be much aided by a railing here, and the possibility of accident reduced.
Much is needed in the way of painting and repairs. The library build- ing is now nearly forty years old and nothing has been done in the way of repairs during this time except fixing an occasional leak in the roof, de- fects in the furnace and once the interior has been painted through the generosity of the Peirce Trustees. A building as old as this needs more repairs every year, but instead of allowing for this contingency the main- tenance fund has been decreased. To maintain the building so it will con- tinue to be a credit to the town, enough money should be appropriated that some bit of repairing can be done each year, thus keeping the building from deteriorating into an unsightly and dilapidated structure which it will so soon become if neglected.
In Appreciation
Sincere thanks are due to the many citizens and organizations who have presented books and periodicals to the library, among them Mr. Carl Ken- dall for a year's subscription to Zion's Herald, Mr. Benjamin Holmes for a valuable genealogy of the Hall family, Rev. Adolph Rossbach, Mrs. Mary Cleveland and Miss Harriet Johnson for gifts of books and magazines; to the Daisy Troop of Girl Scouts, the Art and Literature Departments of the Cabot Club and the Middleboro Garden Club. Several volumes were added by the Cabot Club to their Memorial Shelf in commemoration of members who have passed away.
The librarian wishes to express grateful appreciation to the many friends who contributed in numerous ways to make the year's work pleasant
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and successful, to the staff for their earnest efforts to make the library an indispensable factor in the community and to the Trustees for their kindly co-operation and interest given at all times.
Respectfully submitted, MERTIE E. WITBECK,
Librarian.
Statistics
Circulation of books
Central library
Adults
Fiction
48,117
Philosophy
501
Religion
408
Sociology
959
Languages
90
Science
822
Useful Arts
1,678
Fine Arts
1,682
Literature
1,593
History
1,073
Travel
1,528
Biography
1,519
Magazines
8,089
Foreign books
92
Rental books
1,961
70,112
Juvenile circulation
Fiction
10,991
Non-fiction
7,506
18,497
Branches and deposits
Bates School
162
Rock School
81
Union Street School
128
Thompsonville School
103
Waterville School
117
West Side School
1,956
Soule School
91
East Middleboro Branch
318
Total circulation for 1938
91,565
Circulation for 1937
87,876
Increase in circulation, 1938
3,689
Number of volumes owned January 1, 1938
36,146
Number of volumes added by purchase
1,008
Number of volumes added by gift
63
Number of volumes added by binding magazines
9
Number of volumes transferred from rental collection
69
Total number of volumes added during 1938
1,149
Number of volumes lost and discarded, 1938
37,295
447
Number of volumes owned December 31, 1938 Number of magazines subscribed
36,848
110
2,956
93
Number of newspapers
12
Re-registration began July 20, 1938
Borrowers re-registered July 20-Dec. 31, 1938
1,916
New cards issued since July 20 Juvenile Adult
106
193
299
Total number of borrowers December 31, 1938 2.215
REPORT OF TREASURER FOR THE YEAR 1938 Peirce Fund Receipts
Balance, January 1, 1938
$1,034.98
Peirce Trustees
2,017.06
$3,052.04
Peirce Fund Payments
Books
$2,267.68
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