USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Reading > Town of Reading Massachusetts annual report 1918 > Part 13
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The work of reconstruction has progressed but not rapidly or even satisfactorily. Labor has been extremely scare and materials have been almost unobtainable. As a result, the work has dragged along at an aggravating pace and my own part has been no exception to the general rule. I have had four draftsmen on the job and all of them have left me, one after the other, either to do war work or to enter the army or the navy. Furthermore, my other clients have pressed me hard and I have continually been in hot water. The one redeeming feature of the situation has been the patience shown by you and your Manager.
However, as the time has passed, the work has gradu- ally neared completion. The extension of the boiler room has been completed, the boiler has been delivered and set and is now ready for use. The turbine and condenser have arrived and have been erected. The cooling pond has been completed although the cost of the same has much exceeded my original estimate. The switchboard is partly erected and the piping is nearly completed. The expenditures to January 27, 1919, are shown on the accompanying table.
SUMMARY OF EXPENDITURES
PART
Engineering .
ESTIMATED $5,000 00
ACTUAL $4,750 00
PAID
TO BE PAID $600 00*
Boiler
3,000 00
3,395 00
3,395 00
0*
Boiler Setting
1,000 00
1,150 00
1,150 00
0*
Boiler Setter (extra)
445 00
445 00
0
Boiler Room Extension
2,500 00
4,175 00
3,878 25
296 75*
Boiler Room Extension (extra)
119 00
119 00
0
Roof Trusses .
500 00
566 00
566 00
0*
Roof Trusses (extra )
.
.
202 39
202 39
0
Generator and Exciter
15,000 00
15,831 00
15,831 00
0*
Condenser
5,000 00
6,350 00
6,350 00
0*
Cooling Pond, Grading, Sewer, etc.
2,750 00
10,355 46
10,355 46
0
Spray System
750 00
687 20
687 20
0*
Piping
4,000 00
(6,012 30)
6,012 30
0
Wiring
3,000 00
(3,000 00)
13 20
(2,986 80)
Switchboard .
4,000 00
4,662 00
4,662 00
0*
Switchboard (extra)
16 50
16 50
0
Changing System
2,500 00
(3,036 54)
3,036 54
0
Sundries
6,000 00
Sundries, Old Engine
500 00
Sundries, Old Engine
·
.
850 00
Sundries, Old Generators
400 00
Sundries, Freight refund
25 02
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(723 31)
(723 31)
$4,150 00
.
.
Sundries, Flue
1,100 00
1,100 00
0*
Sundries, Soot Blower
73 00
73 00
0
Sundries, Exhaust Pipe
71 60
71 60
0
Sundries, Air Washer
738 00
588 00
150 00
Sundries, Unloading Boiler
35 00
35 00
0
Sundries, Surveyor
20 95
20 95
0
Sundries, Freight .
126 00
126 00
0
Sundries, Plates for Air Duct
119 68
119 68
0
Sundries, Turbine Foundation
1,157 61
1,157 61
Sundries, Erecting
208 50
208 50
Sundries, Flooring
909 00
909 00
0
Sundries, Grates
·
.
206 00
206 00
0
Sundries, Miscellaneous
65 85
65 85
$56,775 02
$70,307 89
$65,551 03
$4,756 86
Additional appropriation
12,000 00
.
.
.
.
.
$68,775 02
Amounts in parentheses are estimated amounts
* These items are contracted for $70,307 89 Cost to Jan. 27, 1919 68,775 02 Funds available $1,532 87 Deficit
264
Two sewers were built and the cost of these two sewers, together with the cost of regrading about the station, is in- 'cluded in the cost of the cooling pond. That is why the latter is so high. I estimate that an additional appropriation of $10,000 will be required to complete the reconstruction. That estimate is made up as follows :
For spray system
$50 00
For piping
1,000 00
For station wiring
4,000 00
For switchboard extras
300 00
For changing two generators
600 00
For changing the lines
1,000 00
For air ducts
250 00
For steel work for flooring
450 00
For concrete for flooring
750 00.
For removing foundations and remaking floor, south end
2,500 00
For sundries
500 00
For deficit to date
1,532 87
Total requirements $12,932 87
Less balance of original estimate for sundries 723 31
$12,209 56
Less credit for transformers that have been re-
leased for future construction 2,470 60
$9,738 96
Or say
10,000 00
Yours very truly
O. W. WHITING.
1
1
NEW PUBLIC LIBRARY BUILDING, 1918
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REPORT OF PUBLIC LIBRARY
The Trustees of the Public Library submit the following report :
ORGANIZATION OF THE BOARD
The Trustees organized at the beginning of the year by the choice of Mr. Wadlin as Chairman and of Mr. Mansfield as Secretary.
EXPENSES OF THE LIBRARY
Following is a condensed financial statement. The receipts for the year were :
Appropriation, direct tax, present year $2,860.00
Balance from 1917
77 06
Bequest of Climena Wakefield with accumulated interest
325 12
Sale of old material
25 00
Refund of overpaid account
10 00
$3,297 18
EXPENDED
Salaries, librarian, janitor and assist- ants
$967 21
Books, periodicals, pictures and other li-
575 34
brary material, including rebinding Library cards, stationery and printing
162 32
Fuel
541 93
Lighting
27 92
Rent, old premises
300 00
Repairs, replacements and supplies in- cident to removal
544 12
Express, teaming and minor miscella- neous supplies
175 68
.
$3,294 52
Balance unexpended
$2 66
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The expenditure for fuel shown in this statement includes $77.06 drawn against the appropriation for 1917 but unpaid in that year. The amount is credited in receipts of this year and charged out as expended to balance the account. The fuel expense also includes entire expense of fuel at the old premises for the winter of 1917-18, the bill, as usual, not being audited until close of the season.
The sum of $25, entered as received from sale of old material, was received for material sold at time of removal. This, in accordance with the vote of the Town, was added to our appropriation, and, in effect, expended for library purposes. The Trustees were able to repair and re-finish considerable movable material, and thereby save it for use.
The bequest of Climena Wakefield, added to the receipts as above, and expended for pictures and otherwise for the benefit of the library upon removal, represents a gift of $200, received by the Trustees sometime ago but held in anticipation of such a need as this. The accumulation of interest upon it in the interim amounted to $125.12. The pictures bought from it for permanent decoration of the new building have been marked with the name of the giver, and selected volumes representing the balance of the amount will also be properly marked.
ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY
Volumes in Library, close of 1917 9,434
Volumes purchased, including replacements
248
Received by gift 239
9,921
Worn out and not yet replaced
185
Total number of volumes, Dec. 31, 1918
9,736
USE OF THE LIBRARY
Volumes borrowed for home use
28,723
Increase over previous year .
1,448
Largest monthly circulation, March
3,174
Smallest, July
1,795
Number of new borrowers registered
499
1
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THE NEW BUILDING
An important event of the year was the occupancy of the new building, which was opened to public use on Satur- day, July 13, having previously been open informally for public inspection. A full description of the building has appeared in the Reading Chronicle, and we repeat briefly only such facts as it seems well to record permanently in an official report.
The cost including the provision of such necessary per- manent fittings as were required to complete the building for occupancy for the purpose intended was $20,000, the limit set by the Carnegie Corporation, which provided $15,000 by gift; the sum of $5,000 being provided by the Town, which also provided the site, cleared and prepared for the structure, with the lawning and pathing.
The architectural treatment conforms to that of the Municipal building on the same lot. It is, in character, of the English Georgian period, similar to the buildings of that period in the development of our New England towns. The building appropriately fits the site, opposite the Common. It is built of red brick laid in Flemish bond with white cor- nices, entrance motives, and external window finish. In plan, the building is rectangular, 30 feet by 72 feet inside. There are no internal partitions in the principal story (except those enclosing the entrance vestibule,) the necessary divisions of space into reading rooms, etc., being made by built-in bookcases and counters, leaving the entire public space plainly visible from the central delivery desk, so as to facilitate administration by one attendant.
The space for delivery of books for home use is in the centre, with reading spaces -one for children, at the north end, and one for adults, at the south- each 29 feet by 30 feet in area. Back of the delivery desk is the Librarian's office, 12 feet by 12 feet 6 inches, with a separate entrance from the rear, which, in emergency, may also be used as an exit.
The basement has a "lecture room," so called, 30 feet by 39 feet in size, provided with folding chairs, and having
268
an entrance directly from Woburn street. This room is adapted for use by study-classes, for story-telling, and for other work with children; or for any purpose not out of keeping with the operation of the Library. The basement also contains the heating apparatus, fuel rooms, a store- room, and toilet rooms.
The finish in the principal story is in white and ma- hogany, and the walls are tinted a soft gray, with ceilings of lighter tone. The furnishings, including reading tables, chairs, and curtains, have been carefully selected to har- monize with the style of the building, and to produce an agreeable effect without being cold or formal.
Especial attention has been given to the arrangements for lighting, both natural and by electricity, and for proper heating and ventilation. In every way the arrangement of plan and fittings is in conformity with the practical require- ments of library operation. Nothing has been wasted, either in uneconomic planning or in construction. The pre- liminary sketches, involving the layout of the building and arrangement up to the point of approval by the Carnegie Corporation, were made by Mr. Wadlin, his professional services being given without expense to the Town. The development of the building from that point to completion is due to Adden & Parker, Architects, including modification of the external design as detailed for erection, the prepara- tion of the contract drawings and specifications, and the supervision of the work of construction. Mr. Wadlin acted as the representative of the Trustees in cooperation with the Architects throughout.
The original contractor for the structure was George T. O'Brien, who under financial stress was obliged to relin- quish the contract in 1917; the work being completed (with the assent of Mr. O'Brien's sureties) by James Miles & Sons Company, under a new contract, within the original contract sum. T. A. Ridder & Co. were contractors for the heating system.
As is well known various delays were encountered at the start, in connection with the location of the building;
269
others were due to the failure of the original contractor, and still others, not least important, to the war, which retarded the delivery of material and diminished the supply of labor. These delays, however, did not prevent the satis- factory completion of the building as originally contem- plated. The Trustees who acted for the Town when the original contract was made were Messrs. Wadlin, Mansfield, Doughty, Carter, Keneely and Bosson. Mr. Bosson died in 1917, Miss Fannie O. Whittemore being elected to fill the vacancy. The other members still continue. The Town at last has a building adequate to its requirements and suit- able for the operation of its Public Library. Such a building was suggested at least twenty years ago, and the need emphasized in nearly every annual report of the Trustees subsequently.
THE LIBRARIAN'S REPORT
The Librarian reports in part as follows :
"The increase in circulation over 1917 would have been larger but for the fact of the loss of six weeks' circulation during the year : three on account of removal to the new building; and three by reason of the epidemic of influenza.
The rebinding of periodicals has been abandoned, and back numbers of all magazines are put in circulation for home use as soon as new copies are received for the reading- tables. Files of magazines likely to be required for reference are retained unbound.
On account of the coal shortage in the winter of 1917-18 the story-hour for children was given up. It will be resumed in the new building.
The Woman's Peace Society lent the library, for three months in the spring, a collection of books on peace and similar topics, and in August a set of pictures relating to æroplanes was lent, for exhibition, by the Woman's Educa- tional Association.
A library conference of the Librarians in the district including Reading, was held in the new building in July, and the Librarian attended a similar meeting in North Reading in November. These conferences are planned by
270
the Massachusetts Library Club, for the benefit of the smaller public libraries, and are found helpful, as are the regular conferences of the Club which the Librarian usually attends.
The new building has attracted many visitors and has been admired by all. The circulation for the months dur- ing which it has been occupied has shown an increase over the corresponding months of the previous year, and, as stated above, would have been still larger but for the prevailing epidemic. The lecture room has been used by the Current Events Class of the Reading Woman's Club and by the local council of Girl Scouts of Reading."
GIFTS
Notable among the gifts of the year are those which form part of the decoration of the new building. These in- clude : four large framed photographs on the walls of the reading rooms, the subjects and givers being noted on tab- lets attached to the frames, as follows: Mont Blanc and Chamouni, gift of the Reading Woman's Club ; Pike's Peak, Colorado, gift of H. G. W .; Lake of Geneva and Castle of Chillon, Finhaut in the Alps, both from the bequest of Climena Wakefield. This collection has not only great decorative, but educational value.
In the children's reading room has been hung a Della Robbia cast. "The Trumpeters," given by Mrs. A. L. Saf- ford, and a portrait of Lincoln from a special negative taken just before his assassination, given by Mr. Wadlin.
Upon the opening of the building the library also re- ceived a mounted specimen of an owl (for the children's room) from Mr. George W. Jewett, various potted plants from anonymous donors, and a pair of andirons for one of the fireplaces from Mrs. W. K. Badger.
During the year books have been given by numerous friends of the library, including an important collection of 113 volumes from Mr. Jacob Mitchell, and an interesting framed copy of a newspaper issued during the Civil War at Vicksburg, (printed upon wall paper), given by Mrs. Jacob H. Carfrey.
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EXTENSION OF LIBRARY HOURS
Late in the year the hours of library service were re- vised and extended. The present schedule is as follows: Mondays, 10 to 12 A. M., 2 to 5 p. M .; Tuesdays, 2 to 5; 7 to 9 P. M .; Wednesdays, 2 to 5 p. M. : Thursdays, 2 to 5; 7 to 9 p. M. ; Saturdays, 2 to 5; 7 to 9 p. M. As previously, the library is not open on Fridays. This arrangement is subject to fur- ther revision. We were delayed in removal to the new building until July, and it did not seem wise to make any change until after the summer vacation. It is our intention to promote the use of the library and of the reading rooms as much as possible within the limits of whatever appro- priations may be made by the Town, and during such hours as experience shall show best serves the convenience of the public,
SALARIES
The janitor of the Library Building is also the janitor of the Municipal Building, and such part of his service as is required by the library is to be paid for out of the Library Appropriation. The amount to be charged against each building has therefore been adjusted by agreement between the Selectmen and the Trustees, in proportion to the service required by each. This sum, upon our part, is now fixed at $9 per week.
The Trustees have increased the salary of the Librarian by an amount slightly less than the proportionate increase in the library hours under the new schedule.
The services of the Assistants are paid for by the hour for time required.
BUDGET FOR THE COMING YEAR
We have now had six months' occupancy of the new building and except as to fuel, may arrive at an estimate of maintenance, based upon experience. The item of fuel is perhaps not to be determined accurately by the expendi- tures of the present winter, still incomplete and unusually mild. Nevertheless, we have estimated the sum which we believe will be required. Any change in the price of coal,
S
272
we should suppose, would be downward rather than an increase over the high rates now prevailing.
The unusual conditions of the winter of 1917-18, pro- tracted until late in the spring, drew far more heavily upon our appropriation for the year than we anticipated. And in order to avoid an overdraft or an additional appropriation late in the year we have exercised the greatest possible economy in other directions. We have left no bills unpaid at the end of the year, except a bill for coal delivered, but not to be used until after the beginning of the year, and therefore properly payable out of the appropriation for 1919.
Our estimates for the coming year are as follows :
Salaries . . $1,200 00
Heat and light 500 00
Books, periodicals and other library equipment, including rebinding 1,000 00
Stationery and other small supplies 150 00
Minor miscellaneous expenses
150 00
*3,000 00
ENLARGEMENT OF SERVICE
Increased service, consequent upon the operation of the new building, has required somewhat more expense for assistants to the Librarian. Our appropriation for the year has not permitted other extension of service, nor was it con- templated when our last appropriation was made, especially under the abnormal conditions due to the war.
There should, however, be an enlarged expenditure for books, and for that we hope our next appropriation may be sufficient. It should not be forgotten that we have, during the past two years, restricted book expense, in anticipation of removal to a new building. And we may again remind the Town that a considerable part of the money received from insurance on books burned in the fire sometime ago was diverted from the library to other uses.
During the coming year, we propose to discard such out- worn volumes as are no longer in active demand. If this plan is continued, of eliminating books which from time to
273
time become obsolete, adequate space will long remain upon our shelves for valuable and usable new material. There are certain books that may be called "classics," which every public library should contain, and there are others intimately connected with local affairs, valuable as his- torical data, which every town library should collect and preserve; but it is no longer necessary to retain, perma- nently, every book that is bought. Some books have value to collectors, on account of their rarity, their art interest, or for sentimental reasons. A library like ours is not likely to have many of these. From the point of view of the aver- age reader, a book has little worth which has become un- readable by reason of its subject, its style, or its antiquity. It must have relation to life in its larger aspects or touch some present human need. There are some hundreds of volumes in our collection which have outlived their useful- ness, as the lapse of time has completely changed the con- ditions under which they were written, or so expanded our store of knowledge that what they contain is obsolete. This is clearly seen as to books upon nearly every scientific sub- ject written many years ago. But such books are by no. means confined to the domain of science. Some of them were acquired when the library was first opened, and many of them have long slept peacefully upon our shelves, undis- turbed except by occasional dusting, or by removal from one location to another. Since copies of such books may always be found in great libraries, which maintain archives freely accessible to the few students who, for purposes of research, occasionally wish to examine them, it is no longer necessary for ordinary town libraries to preserve them, and thus sac- rifice valuable shelf space that may be much better filled.
Besides removing what may be called "dead wood," we wish to engraft upon the living tree other material required to fill gaps which exist by reason of the restricted pur- chases in recent years. We wish also to use the enlarged opportunities for service to all our people which the library in its new quarters possesses. With facilities for doing broader work in cooperation with our schools, and with a
274
larger number of books on technical and commercial sub- jects, which have educational value, and with such desir- able new books as are desired by readers in general we may utilize our new building to the fullest extent in the public interest. Not to operate it in this way will permit an economic waste. The library should not merely mark time, it should move forward from year to year. We believe our citizens expect improvement as we go on, and if we are given the financial support upon which improvement must rest we will endeavor to secure it. We require far more books for juvenile readers, books of interest upon the topics of the day,-books upon various educational subjects-than we have ever been able to buy. We do not expect a very great increase in our appropriation at once, and what we ask for this year is, after all, but a slight amount when consid- ered relatively to other expenses of the town. The increase over the appropriation of last year, only $140, is almost negligible in comparison with the total town expenditures. But by making slight increases for several successive years we may finally adjust the support of the library propor- tionately to the service it ought to render, without any great sacrifice or undue burden upon the tax levy.
The record of the Trustees for economical management, may at least assure the Town that no part of the money ap- propriated for the library, will be wasted.
We invite suggestions for the purchase of books desired by readers, which may not be included in our current pur- chases. It will not always be possible to buy outright books that may be asked for, because of lack of money or because they may be books of a special kind required by a limited number of readers only. A small library like ours, with only a few hundred dollars to spend annually, must confine its purchases chiefly to books in general literature, in lar- gest request. But suggestions for purchase will be care- fully considered, and if the books are not always bought they may often be obtained for the reader in some other way. For example, there is an arrangement under which a book of a kind in limited request for general reading, but needed
275
in research, or of a special class which our library within its small financial resources cannot well buy, may be borrowed from the Boston Public Library through the Reading Li- brary, for temporary use here. This arrangement was devised in part for the purpose of conserving the expendi- tures of the libraries participating, and for preventing unnec- essary duplications in purchases by libraries not far re- moved from one another. There are other ways of supply- ing books to special students, which need not be detailed here. In all matters relating to the supply of reading material, or in directing readers to the best sources of infor- mation, the library hopes to be of assistance, and offers such assistance, if its need is made known, whether it con- tains the books required or not.
CONCLUSION
We record our appreciation of the faithful services of the Librarian, Miss Brown. With Miss Abbott, her assist- ant, and with Mr. Stinchfield, our janitor, who has given constant and efficient attention to duty, the removal of the library from its old location and its subsequent operation in the new quarters proceeded without friction, and without serious interruption of the public service. To all of them our thanks are due.
The fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the library occurs early in the coming year. The delivery of books to the public began February 17, 1869, the library having been established by votes of the Town passed March 2, 1868, and November 3, 1868. The first Trustees were Ephraim Hunt, Edward Appleton, Chauncey P. Judd, Francis H. Knight. Hiram Barrus and William Proctor. Of these Mr. Hunt survives, and also the first Librarian, then Miss Mattie H. Appleton, now Mrs. Brown. The first appropriation was $500; and the whole number of volumes procured the first year was 823. Of these, 199 volumes were presented by school districts Nos. 5, 8 and 9; 186 by the Appleton family ; 18 by F. H. Knight; 210 acquired by purchase; and the remainder received by gift from various sources. The
1
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library was then located in the school building facing the Common, then occupied also by the High School, for which it had recently ·been erected.
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