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| Friends of Tiverton Libraries |
| Newsletter Contents:
Friendly Links American Library Assn: Friends of Libraries USA: Office of State Library Services Check for more links at www.tivertonlibrary.org |
|
TIVERTON LIBRARY SERVICE: A HISTORY |
| The story of library
service in Tiverton dates from 1820, with the Union Library [which
continues today] as the second oldest in Newport County. The Library
web site lists four locations. The Rev. Charles Gordelier, founded
for residents of East Tiverton, and the North Tiverton Public Library,
are no longer in operation. Essex Public
Library:
On a rainy Monday in May of 1939, the
cornerstone of the present Lydia Smith Baker Essex Public Library
was set in place. Newspaper stories of the time tell us that, among
other things, the stone contained picture accounts of a disaster
still fresh in the minds of the citizens of seafaring Tiverton-
the hurricane of 1938. The weather was to play still another part
in the erection of the building. The chairman of the board of trustees,
Mr. George Delano, stated at the laying of the stone that construction
should be completed in four months; the formal dedication did not
take place for more than a year due to adverse weather conditions.
Today a visitor to the library,
situated on Highland Road in the Stone Bridge section of Tiverton,
can observe the famous Tiverton sunsets reflecting off the fieldstones
of its walls, the same Tiverton fieldstone that the donor of the
library, Miss Lydia B. Essex, admired so much that she expressly
stipulated its use in the construction of her legacy. Miss Essex,
a former schoolteacher, had been a long- time summer resident of
the town. Upon her death, she left to the town of Tiverton a two-acre
lot of land and approximately forty-two thousand dollars to be used
for the construction and maintenance of a free public library in
memory of her mother, Lydia Smith Baker Essex. The gift was accepted at a Town
meeting in 1937. Construction began in October of 1938 and the cornerstone
laid in May 1939. The library is governed by a board of five trustees
who are appointed by the Town Council for a period of three years.
The heart of any library, no matter
how fine its construction, is its collection of books. Miss Essex
did not forget this. Even today, income from her bequest is used
in the purchase of books, although in recent years it is a small
sum in comparison to income from town, state and federal sources.
The foundation of the present collection came from Whitridge Hall
Library which gave its books to the new library. According to the
Fall River Herald News of June 19, 1940, there were "books to suit
all walks of life and covering a wide variety of interests; books
that are out of print and others autographed by famous people and,
last but not least, a very fine collection of reading material for
children and young people". During
the years there have been three long-term librarians among the directors:
Margaret (Waring) Anthony; Mrs. Lilias (Sheffield) Leonard; and
Mrs. Elizabeth (Davis) Reed.” Source: A Patchwork History of Tiverton, R.I. : 1976. Bicentennial Edition. Tiverton, R.I. : Tiverton Historical Society. www.tivertonlibrary.org The current
librarian is Cheryl Aboudola. To her falls the challenge
of paving the way for a new building to meet the needs of a growing
community. To us falls the opportunity to be part of the solution. |
| FALL
2004 |