| Library History |
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Library HistoryThe Newcomerstown Public Library was officially organized as a school district public library in February of 1935. Support for a library had been growing in the community for several years with the Heller Brothers Tool Company and The Women's Club leading the effort. The Heller Brothers Foremen's Club arranged for a rotating collection of 300 books from the New Philadelphia Public Library to loan to factory workers in 1934. On June 7, 1934, the Newcomerstown School Board passed a resolution asking for the funds to establish a public library in Newcomerstown. Tuscarawas County commissioners approved the plan and allocated $800.00 from the county's intangible taxes for the new Newcomerstown Public Library. The school board appointed the first library board in February 1935, and the Board began the serious work of finding the first home for the library. Area residents were enthusiastic about having their own library and responded generously in spite of post depression hardships. Contributions came from individuals, local industry, merchants, lodges, civic groups and social organizations. Two tag days and a movie sponsored at the Ritz theatre also contributed to the library fund. Even the $5.00 prize from the liars' contest at Heller Brothers' company picnic was donated with the honest desire to help establishing a public library. On June 1, 1935, the Newcomerstown Public Library opened its doors in a donated room on the second floor of the J. M. Kaden Building at 119 1/2 Main Street. Furniture and shelving were built by local carpenter and founding trustee, Warren Prosser, with help from the members of Heller's Foremen's club who volunteered their time. Two thousand books graced the new shelves by opening day. Most of the books were donated by area residents and the public libraries in Dover and New Philadelphia. Three hundred books were on loan from the State Library of Ohio. By October 1938 the Library had out grown it's first home, and moved to the second floor of the Ortt building at 1431/2 Main Street, over the A&P grocery store. The collection continued to grow and by 1960 annual circulation was nearly 33,000. The Library was outgrowing it's second home. In 1961 The Reeves Banking and Trust Company offered the Newcomerstown Public Library Board the building now known as the Library Annex at 123 N. Bridge Street as a permanent location for the ever growing Library. Although the building was appraised at $22,000.00, The Reeves Banking and Trust Company agreed to sell the Board the building for only $10,000.00 and consider the remaining $12,000.000 a "gift" to the Library. The building was ideal. It offered the collection a permanent (Board owned) home and offered patrons the convenience of street-level access for the first time. Once again, the community responded with hard work and generosity to realize the dream of a better library. Donations poured in to the tune of more than $9,000.00 to supplement the building fund established by bequests from the estates of Mrs. Manuel Yingling, Mrs. C.B. Vogenitz, and Mrs. Florence Yeagley. Local ingenuity accomplished the seemingly ardent task of moving thousands of books from the second floor of the Ortt building to the new building. Hackenbracht Apple Orchards loaned baskets used during the harvest and Walter Fenton rigged his hay elevator up to serve as a reversible book conveyor. Volunteers included Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the Junior Chamber of Commerce, Jaycee Wives and the High school Library Club members and countless others who reported for duty. One crew loaded books into the baskets which were passed through a window onto Fenton's conveyor for transport to the ground. Volunteers on the ground delivered the baskets of books to the new building by truck and on foot. Empty baskets were sent back up for re-filling by reversing the conveyor. Today, an apple basket displayed atop the stacks of our history collection reminds us of the power of working together. In 1961 the Newcomerstown Public Library occupied 1,500 square feet on one level. The upstairs and basement were used for storage. However, declining funding under the intangible tax resulted in a period of little growth for the Library. Although the change to income tax based library funding in 1985 improved funding, the library was unable to cover operating costs and complete vital capital improvements such as replacing the worn-out furnace. A group of concerned citizens formed the Friends of the Newcomerstown Library under the leadership of Gordon DeMarco. With the help of the Friends of the Library, the library passed a 1 mil operating levy in 1986 that now generates approximately $40,000 annually. The levy is used for materials and other patron services. The levy has been renewed 4 times and continues to pass with a stronger margin each time because area residents can literally hold the results from their support in their hands when they take home a book, DVD, magazine and other library materials that are purchased with levy funds. By 1989 the Library Board had saved a little over $100,000 and arranged a loan to complete a renovation project that would make all three floors available for library use, including an elevator for handicapped access. The total cost of the project was estimated at $187,000. Renovation began in March of 1990 and continued through August. The Friends of the Library raised $70,000 to furnish the renovated building. Area residents chipped in an additional $6,000 for an elevator to supplement a $15,000 grant from The Reeves Foundation and a $22,000 block grant. By the time the construction dust settled in September the library had collected enough donations to finish paying for the entire project without the need for a loan. Continued interest in the Library and expanding services soon filled the 4,500 square feet created by the renovation. Less than 10 years after completing the renovation that tripled the size of the library, the Newcomerstown Library was faced with meeting the growing needs of the community for free high speed internet access, computers for public use, database access, meeting room space and materials in half a dozen new non-print formats. The Newcomerstown Library Board had purchased abandoned buildings and vacant lots adjacent to the building on Bridge as a future building site. The Board was committed to keeping the library in the downtown area in the heart of the village. The Board hired Beck and Tabeling Architects to begin the design process in 1998 as part of a long-range plan to build a new library building with a Main Street address. In 1999 the State Library of Ohio announced that the final round of Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) Funding would be awarded and the Newcomerstown Library Board decided to act on their building plan if LSCA funding could be obtained. In order to match the half million dollar grant, the Library Board acquired the first USDA Rural Development Loan for a library in Ohio. Once again Newcomerstown residents rallied around their Library to do what seemed to be impossible for a library located in the Appalachian region in one of the poorest areas of Tuscarawas County. The Library was not only awarded $535,300 in LSCA funds, it broke all the rules of professional fundraising by conducting a very public fundraising campaign called “The Little Library That Could Campaign” that fostered a sense of ownership and pride in the community that was evident when over 200 volunteers showed up on March 12 to move the entire collection on 2 beautiful spring days. The final cost of the building was 1,752,000 and the community contributed over $500,000 of the funds supplementing a USDA loan and grant package and $235,000 in private grants. On April 21, 2004 the Newcomerstown Public Library Board dedicated the newly renovated annex which completed the second phase of the building plan that began with in 1999 when they began planning the construction of new main library at 123 East Main Street. The Annex is the former "old" library had been restored to reflect it's Victorian era construction. The entire main floor of the former library building at 123 North Bridge Street is now a spacious meeting room is as useful as it is beautiful. Using very old pictures from the turn of the 20th century, the library tried to match the pattern of the tile from 1899. Bill Bambeck, a Newcomerstown woodcrafter, recreated the cherry woodwork lost in remodeling during the 1960’s. The art glass pendant light fixtures in the community room look like their beaux art ancestors with a modern twist that allows the lighting to be adjusted 6 different ways in the meeting room. Neatly concealed floor boxes provide computer and electrical wiring for a multitude of applications. Carpeting in the community room reminiscent of rug patterns in the early 1900s is also a practical component of the room's acoustic design. The basement includes the office of the Fiscal Officer as well as the Friends of the Library’s “Book Nook” book sale room. The second floor contains a computer lab and small meeting room and office for the IT staff. The Newcomerstown Library is proof of the power of a community when the people unite to realize a common dream. It really is your library. |
