Worcester, MA, Public Library
The present Worcester Public Library is rather more web savvy than a couple of other libraries in Massachusetts which shall remain nameless.
Worcester PL was founded in 1859 by one Dr. John Green, and later had the distinguished inventor of reference service, Samuel Swett Green, as director. Given the influence of various members of the Green family (see the Princeton page) on libraryland perhaps someone needs to figure out if all these folks are related.
The editors of the Report apparently included the illustration below because it happened to be lying around the office. There is no textual material explaining Worcester PL. The statistical section reports holdings of 34,609, and circulation of 123,125, yielding a turnover rate of 3.5. I'm uncertain what to make of the turnover rate reported here or for Concord. On the one hand it is a respectable figure. On the other hand a quick glance at the Statistical Report of the Public Library Data Service (the latest I have is 1993) reports a turnover rate of 1.18 for Worcester PL. I'd like to think we'd made some progress in the last 120 odd years, although this may be a function of much larger collections rather than anything else. Turnover rate is a tricky little variable to interpret. But I digress.
Nancy E. Gaudette, librarian of the Worcester Collection at WPL send along the following information about the building you see:
The Worcester Free Public Library opened in rented space in
1860 while this building was being constructed. It was designed
by a Boston architect, Charles K. Kirby, and built on a lot on
Elm Street purchased by the city in 1859 for $5044.50. The contractor
was H. & A.
Putnam. The total cost was given as $27,500 in one source, and
$30,500 in another, including land, building, shelving and furniture
and extras. The building opened in 1861, with the circulating
library opening in September and the Green Reference Library later in
the year.
The building became too small quickly and a large addition
was opened in 1891, designed by Stephen Earle. The two buildings served
as Worcester's main library until 1964 when the "new" library was
opened at Salem Square. Once the old buildings were emptied,
they were torn down and a parking garage constructed on the site.
A little echo of Joni Mitchell in that last sentence....
The view here dates from 1905-1910. The building on the right is the same as the one below, and the building on the left must be the 1891 addition. Clearly architectural integration was not one of Mr. Earle's goals.
Ms. Gaudette also sent along some pictures of the building from the Worcester Collection. The building is made of brick, rather than what looks like stone (granite?) blocks in the picture below.
Worcester Public Library, 1861- 1891/1964
