The Woodstock Library. 101 Years Of Community Service.

Hooray!  It is the hundred and second birthday of the Woodstock Library.  This time, let’s see an exhibit of the History of Library Service rather than a bunch of pictures of the library building through the years.  The building alone does not make the library a community treasure.  It is probable that people either love or hate their library depending on the helpful and welcoming nature of the whole library environment. The value of the proposed annex might make more sense in light of the changing nature of library service.  Today’s library is a community destination and gathering point.  No other public building serves this need.  A new building or annex of either modern or traditional design will be equally treasured.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the 5 Library Lane location, and our building has been a brave girl.  However, there is very little of the original building left:  only the librarian’s office in the front.  Everything else has been torn down and re-built.  It is not as “historic” as some think.  The part from the ‘50’s is cement block.  The part from the 60’s is over a basement that managed to cut into an underground stream.  The part from the 80’s, that was built when I was Director, sports not just a flat roof, but a concave roof that is like a swimming pool after even a moderate rainfall.  These additions were built by local firms and designed by local architects.  The 80’s addition went through the whole town process.  With the best of intention, the designs were supposed to work for a library not a residence.  The earlier developments, I remember from my childhood and youth in Woodstock.  The later part, I experienced as a staff member and Director. 

When I was Director, a good deal of time was spent on maintaining the building.  In younger days, staff members have been on the roof to unstop gutters, in the basement wading through water to check the pumps, and called on at any time of the day to investigate alarms.  We have faced an infestation of raccoons, and at least two intruders. 

Before becoming very sentimental about the cute little library of the past, consider the way it really ran.  If you were a newcomer in the 70’s, you would have been greeted by a library with very restrictive policies.   It might interest you to know that prior to 1981; it was difficult to get a library card. Two local references and ID with your local address were demanded.  Even if you owned a house here, without the references and ID, only a temporary card with a fee would have been available.  You could not borrow the more expensive art books unless you had special permission from a trustee.  Forget getting a card at all if you lived at 5 Rock City Road.  That was considered a temporary place, so you could not borrow books.  No cards were given to children.  Fiction was considered frivolous, and unless you were some sort of Henry James scholar and could prove it, you could not interlibrary loan fiction.  All children’s programs were held outside of regular library hours so that the serious readers would not be disturbed. 

The biggest challenge for Library Directors is attempting to understand what is coming at you in the future.  Assistant Director, Judy Fischetti, and I were both professional librarians, and we appreciated and welcomed the changes that came our way during the three decades we worked at the library.

 In our case, it was automation and population change.  The population of Woodstock almost doubled, and most of the people were young and college educated.  They had expectations of their library.  Our Board was progressive, and ready to embrace new ideas and create new policies.  We were early to offer internet access and online access to our collection.  Also, we doubled our children’s services.  

The building was another story.  We struggled to make things work.  We did it with modest and even freebie furniture, extension cords and a very cordial and accommodating staff.  We had horrible shelving and many leaks in the roof (although none as bad as the one Amy faced a couple of years ago).  In spite of the shortcomings of the building, we added more children’s programs, as many computers as possible, Wi-Fi when it became available, and always a terrific selection of books.  In 1987, we added some space.  It was immediately put to good use as seating space for readers, program space, and meeting space for the community. We believed that “…the pursuit of happiness” as embodied in library service continued to be an important part of American life.

However, Woodstock voters absolutely crushed our excellent plans for a needed new library.  Then, to top it off, there was a campaign to vote down our budget.  It was a mean campaign filled with untruth and distortion.  It was Woodstock’s “mean with a high IQ” politics at its best.  It resulted in a yearlong gap in book purchases, and a residual horror of finger pointing and recriminations called “focus groups”.  I retired and have turned my attention to other things, but I am bothered by that familiar slithering chain of distortion and complaint I see in the Woodstock Times.  Remain calm, fellow citizens, and, above all, don’t harm your beautiful library service.