USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1952 > Part 20
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TOWN CLERK:
The clerk, in addition to his regular duties, issues dog licenses for the county; he issues conservation licenses for the state, and is also clerk of the board of registrars; in 1950 he received credits of $516.00, $340.00 and $400.00; a total of these items credited to a salary of $4,420.00 leaves an amount of $3,164.00 the Town is obliged to pay him for his services.
The committee 'saw no cause for any change in the office of the town clerk.
(Signed) WARREN F. ROULSTON JOHN M. PITCHER ROY H. ROSEWELL RALPH A. AMABILE, JR. FREDERICK V. NOLAN, Chairman
247
IN MEMORIAM
JOSEPH A. FERN
18 YEARS SELECTMAN
3 YEARS, CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN
3 YEARS, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF SELECTMEN
Died May 30, 1952
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IN MEMORIAM
THERON L. TIRRELL
1912-1921 SCHOOL COMMITTEE 1921-1927 BOARD OF SELECTMEN 1924-1925 CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF SELECTMEN
Died October 23, 1952
249
Seventy-Fourth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Tufts Library Weymouth, Massachusetts 1952
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SEVENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE TUFTS LIBRARY WEYMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS
TRUSTEES
Wallace H. Drake, M.D Alice E. Fulton Francis N. Drown Walter C. Gutterson
Philip T. Jones Franklin N. Pratt Richard Reidy Leighton S. Voorhees
H. Forrest Wilson
SELECTMEN EX-OFFICIO
Ralph J. Amabile, Jr. Everett Callahan Wm. Connell, Jr.
Joseph Crehan * Joseph A. Fern Raymond Morgan
OFFICERS
Franklin N. Pratt, President
Alice E. Fulton, Secretary
LIBRARIAN
Christine E. Evarts
ASSISTANTS
Eleanor T. Cooney
Mildred W. Olson
Edith L. Payson
Florence G. Truax
Dorothy E. Trussell
Alice T. Mulready Edith T. Sanborn tJean L. Nash
Senior Desk Assistant
Grace Baldwin
Ruth C. Richardson
Kathy Mahoney
Ruth K. Philbrick
Catherine C. Osborn Filomena A. LaRocco
Edith T. Sanborn
Lena B. Pratt
Florence G. Truax Kathy Mahoney
Weymouth Heights Station Nash's Corner Station
CUSTODIANS
John A. Johnson John Carter Benjamin N. Ells
Main Library North Weymouth Branch East Weymouth Branch
*Deceased.
tResigned.
Assistant Librarian and Reference Librarian Circulation and Records Librarian Cataloger
Extension Librarian Children's Librarian Assistant Reference Librarian
Desk Assistant Desk Assistant Assistant Cataloger Assistant Children's Librarian Secretarial Assistant
BRANCH LIBRARIANS
North Weymouth Branch East Weymouth Branch Lovell's Corner Station Pond Plain Station
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LIBRARY HOURS
The Tufts Library, Washington Square, Weymouth Landing Open 9 A.M. to 8 P.M. daily.
The Children's Room, Commercial Street, Weymouth Landing Open 2:30 to 5 P.M. daily. Saturdays, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.
North Weymouth Branch, 68-70 Sea Street, North Weymouth Open 2 to 6 and 7 to 8 P.M. except Saturday.
East Weymouth Branch, Jackson Square, East Weymouth Open 2 to 8 P.M. daily except Saturday.
Lovell's Corner Station, Pratt School, East Weymouth Open 2:30 to 6 and 7 to 8 P. M. Tuesday.
Nash's Corner Station, Shaw School, South Weymouth Open 2:30 to 6 and 7 to 8 P.M. Tuesday.
Pond Plain Station, 308 Pond Street, South Weymouth Open 2:30 to 6 and 7 to 8 P.M. Friday.
Weymouth Heights Station, Adams School, Weymouth Heights Open 2:30 to 6 and 7 to 8 P.M. Thursday.
The Library and its Branches are open for circulation of books, refer- ence services and reading as noted above, except on Sundays and legal holidays.
LIBRARY SERVICES
The Library is for the use of all residents of Weymouth. Temporary residents are entitled to the same privileges as permanent residents.
A library card entitles the holder to borrow books, magazines, pamph- lets and pictures for home use. Phonograph records may be borrowed at the Main Library only. The library card must be presented when books and records are borrowed.
The Children's Room at the Main Library and Children's Departments at the Branch Libraries provide books and reading guidance for the boys and girls. Children under Senior High School age are entitled to a card if the application is signed by a parent or guardian. Story hours for the younger children are held throughout the winter months on Friday after- noons at the Main Library and on Thursday afternoons at the East Wey- mouth Branch.
Reference service is available at the library or by telephone.
For the convenience of residents in the various parts of the Town, there is a weekly exchange of books from all Branch Libraries. A library card is valid at any Branch or at the Main Library.
Telephone:
The Tufts Library-Weymouth 9-1402 North Weymouth Branch-WEymouth 9-1571-J East Weymouth Branch-WEymouth 9-1677-W
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SEVENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE TUFTS LIBRARY
To the Citizens of the Town of Weymouth:
There is great need in Weymouth of a new library building to replace the present Main Library. Built sixty-two years ago, the building has become too small to house the large number of books now owned and circulated by the library. The building has reached the age when it is constantly needing emergency repairs. It is in the most congested part of the town and poor parking facilities make it inconvenient for patrons coming from a distance.
The trustees are investigating possible sites for a new main library. They are moving slowly, for they do not wish to burden the town with additional major construction while the school expansion program is in- complete. Moreover, they sense a feeling in the town that when a new building is erected, it should be more centrally located than the present library building. The trustees hope to have something definite to report by 1954.
Meanwhile the trustees give priority to the need for a new branch library building at North Weymouth. The branch is now located in a rented building, much out of repair, and so small that it is impossible to give good service, either to the townspeople or to the children who come to it from three schools. The Special Town Meeting of June 23, 1952, recommended that the Trustees of the Tufts Library investigate the possibility of the purchase of land of Roy F. and Gertrude F. Vining and of Clara M. Taylor on North Street for the purpose of erecting thereon a branch library building. The trustees have interviewed the owners of this property and report that the two lots may be purchased by the town for $5,000.00. They therefor have inserted an article in the warrant of the coming annual town meeting asking for an appropriation of $5,000.00 for the purchase of this land for library purposes; and a second article asking for an additional $5,000.00 for architect's fees so that plans may be drawn up and costs estimated for a modern, up-to-date branch library building that will serve the needs of North Weymouth for a long time to come. The trustees hope that both of these articles will be acted on favorably at the annual town meeting.
The Tufts Library plans to open a new deposit station in the Home- stead School on February first of this year. This station has been requested by the citizens of that locality and will serve a rapidly growing area. It will also serve as a school library. Negotiations are under way to trans- fer the deposit station at Pond Plain to the Pond School when that building is enlarged.
The Trustees of the Tufts .Library wish to compliment the librarian and her staff. They believe they are giving as good library service as the present crowded and obsolete building will permit. The trustees recommend a careful reading of the librarian's report as it shows that the library is keeping pace with the rapid growth of the town. They also recommend that one adlitional person be added to the library staff to care for the increased service and to keep the Tufts Library up to the standards of the American Library Association.
Franklin N. Pratt, President of the Board of Trustees of the Tufts Library.
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THE REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN
To the Trustees of the Tufts Library
I have the honor to submit a report for the year 1952-the seventy-fourth annual report of the Tufts Library,
As we look around our town and realize the change that these years have brought, we do not marvel that the use of our library has multiplied many times. Rather do we marvel that the services of a modern public library can in any reasonable measure function through a building erected more than sixty years ago and adequate only for the Weymouth of that time. A book collection that has grown from 2,400 to more than 70,000 volumes must be housed, cared for and kept available for use. Were it not for the several centers of distribution through branch libraries and deposit stations, each with book-lined walls, relieving in some measure the shelves of the Main Library, our problem of space limitation would be insuperable. But each of these centers is crowded to the point of hamper- ing the service of the library. This condition is especially acute in the branch library at North Weymouth where the books are wedged tight on the shelves and the young people crowd two on a chair to work at their school assignments. A Branch Library for North Weymouth is an urgent need.
1952 has seen greater use of the library than any previous year. 237,344 volumes have been borrowed for home use. . This includes books for both adults and children, periodicals and recorded music. It is spread over the entire town; 128,953 books were borrowed from the Main Library, 80,787 from our busy branches in North and East Weymouth, 27,594 through the four deposit stations open only one day each week and 45,819 through the classroom libraries sent to the schools. More than ten thousand persons in Weymouth used these books in 1952. Full statisical details are appended to this report.
One aspect of running a library is not unlike running a business. We must anticipate the demands of the public and be ready to supply the goods and services that they need. Were we selling these books, they would have cost our ten thousand patrons $474,688.00, even at the bargain price of $2.00 a volume. Instead we loan the books and so must keep records not required in any sales business; we must receive the books again, clean and mend them and return them to stock ready for re-issue. As with any other business overhead charges and property upkeep must be met. But a public library is not primarily a business organization; its essential function is one of community service and it should be measured in terms of service. The mechanical processes of issuing books on loan are subordinate to the problems of the individual seeking information or inspiration or recreation through books and music. Guiding the High School student to find through the card catalog or in the encyclopedias the material required for his school assignment; searching out the identi- fication of an unusual and treasured coin or stamp; looking up for a perplexed consumer the ratings of various types and makes of washing machines; assembling for a college student source material from old peri- odicals for the paper he must write; finding for the small boy a book on model airplane construction; for his parents pictures and plans of small homes; selecting entertaining reading for a convalescent, or books with large print for tired or aging eyes; carrying small children into worlds of wonder and imagination through story hours-these are some of the functions of the library.
In 1952, under the leadership of our Reference Librarian, Mrs. Eleanor T. Cooney, the Young People's Department moved into its own corner by
256
the fireplace near the circulation desk in the Adult Department. Mrs. Cooney reports: "Additional shelving has made it possible to expand this collection of books, and they are arranged by reader interest, rather than strict library classification. There are now 2,314 volumes in this collec- tion, including duplicates in the branches and stations. This group of books has been selected to serve as a bridge from the Children's Room to the Adult Department; it includes some titles found also in the Children's Room, a selection from the current books published for teen-agers, and attractive, good print editions of old favorites and the classics. In other words the Young Adults' Corner tries to bring together for borrowers of High School age those books which they will need and enjoy most out of the whole library collection. The corner has already proved popular with its patrons. Parents and teen-agers often come there together to choose books for recreational reading, to seek career information, or to follow up hobby interests."
Mrs. Cooney has also established a Community Calendar, on which are already listed the activities of twenty-five local organizations. All Weymouth groups are invited to list their meetings here and to consult the Calendar for open dates when plannng a special meeting. Lists of the organizations and their officers are on file at the library.
Our library of recorded music now totals 152 albums. These have been borrowed 1,391 times in 1952. The collection is still small but it has been slowly growing and it is appreciated. At Easter and at Christmas we have music in the Reading Room, playing some of the great music of these fesivals. Records are also used in the library in connection with the story hours for children. The record player in the Reading Room of the Main Library is equipped with earphones and library patrons may listen to records of their own choosing without disturbing others who may be reading or studying in the room.
Our Children's Library has had an active year. Miss Dorothy Trussell, the Children's Librarian, reports that the distribution of books through the classroom libraries in the schools shows a large increase. Twenty- seven more teachers asked for school collections this year, making a total of 101 classrooms supplied by the library. 8,763 books were sent during the year to these classrooms and these books were read 45,819 times . This is a circulation increase of 14,214 over the classroom book circulation of a year ago. Again this year the Children's Library awarded Honor Certi- ficates to the boys and girls in the elementary schools who made book reports on twenty books read from their graded lists. 564 Honor Certi- ficates were issued in 1952, 184 more than last year.
1,337 children came to the Main Library to listen to stories in the weekly story hour, an average of 55 boys and girls each week.
In Book Week in November, fifteen classes from neighboring schools visited the Children's Library with their teachers. New books were on display, book reviews were given, there was music and simple instruction in using the library. 453 children visited the library in one day in Book Week.
Mrs. Kathy Mahoney, our Assistant Children's Librarian, spoke at both the Shaw and Jefferson Schools, telling the boys and girls about France, her native country.
Because Weymouth is not one compact community, but is spread out over a large area with a number of population centers, much of our library service must be rendered through our branch libraries, and these must be equipped to handle the reference work for the boys and girls who live too
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far from the Main Library to use its resources. The Branch at North Weymouth is near three large schools and is used to capacity. Indeed, it is inadequate to meet this need and its adult services suffer in consequence. Mrs. Osborn and her assistant are doing a tremendous job under very difficult conditions. The East Weymouth Branch is less crowded but it too carries a heavy load of work with the young people. During Book Week this year a weekly story hour was started at the East Weymouth Branch. Anywhere from fifty to eighty boys and girls crowd into the little back room at the library for the thrill of a story hour. We have a shortage of chairs and shortage of space to put the chairs. The story hours are conducted by Miss Filomena LaRocco, the Branch Librarian and Miss Alice Mulready, who is also one of the story tellers at the Main Library.
Other sections of the town are given library service through the deposit stations at Weymouth Heights, Lovell's Corner, Nash's Corner and Pond Plain. These are open to the public one afternoon and evening each week and serve the residents of those sections who do not find it easy or convenient to go a distance to the Main Library or one of the larger branches. They are of especial value in bringing library books to the children who could not by themselves visit our Childrens' Library. As the population of Weymouth grows, and new housing developments are opened there will be an increasing need to extend library service to the more remote areas. Plans are now being made to open a fifth deposit station in the new Homestead School and we look forward to bringing books to many who have not before used the library and to the boys and girls who are too young to safely venture into Washington Square with its traffic hazards.
As Weymouth grows the work load in the Tufts Library also grows. A study made by the American Library Association tells us that a new assistant should be added to the library staff for each twenty thousand gain in book circulation. We have had a gain of 21,012 in 1952 and of 60,419 in the past five years, and are this year asking that the town allow us the salary for one additional assistant.
There has been only one change in library personnel during 1952. On December first Miss Jean Nash left this library to accept a position on the Staff of the Thomas Crane Public Library in Quincy. She has been re- placed by Mrs. Grace Baldwin, a resident of North Weymouth, who comes to us with fifteen years' experience in the Parlin Memorial Library in Everett, Mass. In March, 1952, the Trustees of the Tufts Library confirmed the appointment of Mrs. Eleanor T. Cooney as Assistant Librarian and Reference Librarian. She had previously been carrying that responsibility on a temporary basis.
The maintenance of the library property has involved numerous re- pairs during 1952. A new ceiling was put in the basement of the Main Library where the old one was broken and falling, and the basement walls have been cleaned and painted. Storm windows have cut down the draftiness of the catalog room, and additional fluorescent lights have in- creased the usefulness of our Reading Room. Electrical repairs have been made, both at the Main Library and at the North Weymouth Branch. Leaks have been repaired in the roof of the Main Library and around the large plate glass windows, and shelving and chairs were installed in the new Young Adults' corner. The signs for our stations at Weymouth Heights and Lovell's Corner had become weather worn and almost illegible, and these have been repainted.
Exhibits have been featured, both at the Main Library and the Branches. These have brought to the attention of the public special
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services of the library, new books or books on subjects of specialized inter- est. There have been hobby exhibits, including a unique collection of 110 salt and pepper shakers loaned by Claire Golthwaite from the sixth grade of the Hunt School. The playgrounds also used our large windows and last summer changed their exhibits each Monday for six consecutive weeks. Exhibits of wide and varied interests were borrowed from the Children's Museum. During Art Week, Miss Genevieve MacLean displayed some of her oil paintings of local landscape scenes in the window of the East Weymouth Branch Library, and early in the year, the new portable emergency incubator and oxygen tank purchased by the Town of Wey- mouth was on display there for a two week period. At the North Wey- mouth Branch, Cub Scouts had a handicraft exhibit, and at both the Main Library and the North Weymouth Branch was displayed a beautiful gift copy of the "Treasures of the Louvre." This book was presented by the Literature Committee of the Monday Club in memory of Mrs. Lillian Gladwin, and contains a specially designed book plate.
There have been other gifts of books to the library during the year. A list of these is appended to this report.
There are other items of interest listed in the pages following this report :- the figures telling how many new borrowers registered at the library in 1952; how many were adults and how many children; the num- ber of books that they had to choose from and how many of those were new books, and how many times they read them. Measured by these yard- sticks, 1952 set a new high record for the Tufts Library.
The accompanying chart shows the organization of the Tufts Library, and gives a picture of its activities and services and a glimpse of its goals for greater community service.
At the beginning of this report, we told you that had our 10,024 bor- rowers had to purchase all the books they read and the recorded music that they listened to in their own homes, it would have cost them $474,- 688.00, or an average of $47.36. Actually each one contributed in his taxes to the support of the Tufts Library $1.83, and this included not only the books and music borrowed, but the reference and reader guidance given in the library and the story hours and library service to children through all the schools in Weymouth. There have been growing pains in 1952. In places we are bursting our seams, but it is healthy growth and the oppor- tunity for service is growing, too. The Tufts Library wants to meet this opportunity.
Your librarian wishes to express her sincere thanks to an appreciative and patient public, to a loyal and co-operative staff, and to you, the Board of Trustees, for your support and guidance throughout the year.
Respectfully submitted, CHRISTINE E. EVARTS Town Librarian
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The Tufts Library, Weymouth, Masso Functional Organization.
Board of Trustees
Town Librarian Assistant Town Librarian
Main Library
North & East Branches
Extension Servico
-
-
7
Book processing
Registration of Borrowers
Circulation of Books
Reference Work
Weymouth Heights
Lovell º8 Corner
Order Dep't
Pond Plain
Catalog Dap't
Inter-Library Loan
Cla88 Instruction
Class Room Deposita
Possible future service such as
Maintenance Dept. Rebinding Repair Discarding Inventorying
Foreign Language Collections
School visits
Hospital library ærvice
Story hours
Readers' Adviser service
Bookmobila service -
Public Relations
Service to shut-ins
Exhibits
Book talks
Book Lists
Other publicity
News columns
T Forums
Audio-visual materials
260
Business procedures
Adults Young Adults
Children
Homestead Nash's Corner
1
1
GIFTS OF BOOKS TO THE TUFTS LIBRARY, 1952
The Trustees acknowledge gratefully gifts of books from the following persons:
Mrs. Rufus Bates, Mr. Harris G. Carey, Mr. Hubert Dean, Mr. Allan C. Emery, Rev. Charles H. Emmons, Mr. Louis Frederick, Miss Alice Fulton, Miss Elizabeth Hollis, Mr. Kenneth Lambert, Mr. F. J. Manhart, Mrs. Mildred W. Olson, Mr. Stanley C. Shaw, Mrs. Irving Tirrell, Miss Dorothy Trussell, Mrs. Roy Vining and Mrs. Clarence White.
The Trustees also wish to take this opportunity to thank other public libraries and the various government departments for their publications, and the following organizations and schools:
Bakelite Company
Childcraft
Devin-Adair Publishers
DuPont Company
Firestone Tire & Rubber Company
Fortnightly Publishing Company
Institute of Life Insurance
International Business Machines Corporation
Jason Luggage & Music Company
Judy Publishing Company
Literature Group of Weymouth Monday Club
Mahogany Association
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
National Broadcasting Company
Pond School
Pratt School, Grade VIII
Rit Products Corporation
Rockefeller Foundation
St. Vincent DePaul Society
Scribner Publishing Company
Sloane Publishers
Smithsonian Institute
Standard Oil Company
Stravon Publishing Company
U. S. Brewers' Foundation, Inc.
U. S. Steel Corporation
Public Library, Weymouth, England
Weymouth High School
Weymouth Historical Society
Yale University
STATISTICAL REPORT OF THE TUFTS LIBRARY - 1952
Date of founding
1879
Population served (Federal census, 1950)
32,695
Assessed valuation of the Town
$81,931,610.00
Total number of agencies consisting of: Main Library
1
261
Branches Deposit Stations Schools
2
4
15
Classroom collections
101
Number of days open during the year
291
Number of hours per week open for lending and reading
66
INCREASE
Adults
Juvenile
Total
Number of volumes at beginning of year
50,515
17,976
68,491
Number of volumes added in 1952
2,335
1,847
4,182
Number of volumes withdrawn
1,494
935
2,429
Total number of volumes December 31, 1952
51,356
18,888
70,244
Number of newspapers currently received
104 titles
122 copies
USE
Number of volumes of non-fiction loaned
for home use
37,409
46,216
83,625
Number of volumes of fiction loaned for home use
71,582
80,746
152,328
Number of records loaned for home use
1,391
1,391
Total number of loans
110,382
126,962
237,344
Number of volumes loaned through School Collections
45,819
REGISTRATION RECORDS FOR 1952
Number of borrowers to December 31, 1951
9,632
Number of new registrations in 1952
1,996
Total
Tufts Library (Main)
Adult
592
Juvenile
333
925
North Weymouth
Adult
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