Our History
"One cannot help but to draw parallels between how the residents of Yarmouth Port worked together to create this beautiful institution nearly 150 years ago and how they continue to rally together to ensure its preservation." Anne Cifelli
Anne Cifelli presented the following history of the Yarmouth Port Library at the
"History Along 6A" Program in June, 2010.
Good afternoon. My name is Anne Cifelli and I am the Librarian here at the Yarmouth Port Library. Amazingly enough, I am one of fewer than ten people to have held this position during the last 144 years.
Nineteenth century social reformer Henry Ward Beecher is quoted as saying, “A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.”
The men who founded this library would doubtlessly have agreed with that statement. According to an article published in the New Bedford Standard Times, “The beginnings of the Yarmouth Library [can be traced back] to a windy evening in March of 1866. Answering an appeal to consider forming a library, twenty men trudged up the path of Charles F. Swift, now known as the Old Homestead …Mr. Swift, Dr. Shove, a well-loved physician…and the Rev. Joseph B. Clark, the Congregational minister, were named as a committee to sell $10 shares for a subscription library.” Swift wrote that, “the price of shares in the society has been set at so low a sum as to render the Library easily accessible to all…”
The First Steps
By June 22 1866 the Yarmouth Library association had, “unanimously voted to organize a corporation” adopted a constitution and chosen directors. “Subcommittees, to arrange other details of the organization were appointed and steps taken to put the Library in operation with as little delay as possible.”
Indeed, the next week’s paper brings with it news that the Reverend Nathanial Cogswell “has offered to present to the Library Association the building owned by him, formerly occupied as a law office, to be removed wherever the society may decide.” The office is described as being “fitted up with shelves, just adapted to the purposes of the society. By July 13, 1866, Rev. Cogswell’s law office had a destination. According to the Register, “Mr. Henry C. Thacher of this place has offered a lot of land on which to place the library building. The lot is situated between the houses of Mr. Bartlett Bray and Capt. Thomas Ryder, a very central and pleasant location.” [See Map]
By the end of August, “the lot for the library building [had been] graded.” And it is said that “many public spirited citizens gave of their time and energy to grade the land” [1]and that the ‘entire community’ turned out to haul that 12 x 18 law office “up Hallett St. to its new location nearly a mile east and up onto its new commanding site.” Standard Times
Book Orders and Donations Begin
As a committee of the Yarmouth Library Association readied their first book order, donations were welcomed. An article in the Register on November 2nd 1866 reported that more than 50 volumes had been received including, “Harris on Insects Injurious to Vegetation” and “a set of US and Mass. Agricultural reports.” The article concludes with the notes, “donations still desired.” No kidding!
Later that month, the Register conveyed that “The first lot of books for the Library has been purchased, and donations continue to be received. We are requested to again remind those who are intending to make donations of books that their gifts may now be handed in. It is desirable that the list should be complete before the first catalog is made out. An extra $500 or $1000 would be just the thing to put the institution in good running order. Who will send it? Don’t all speak at once.”
That sounds familiar!
Role of the Librarian
The Library’s need for funding may not have changed, but the role of Librarian certainly has. In a report to the newly-formed Association, Amos Otis details the duties of the Librarian. These included sweeping out the rooms, dusting the books, shelves and furniture at least once a week and kindling fires in the furnace (at his own expense, I might add) as well as keeping “lawns, trees, and the roadways …and the fences…in order to the satisfaction of the Trustees.” Of course, there were Privileges too. The Librarian had use of “the dwelling house adjoining the library including…the cellar and cistern” as well as use of “the garden on the rear of the lot.”[2] It is a romantic idea, living in or adjacent to the library, but makes it hard to take a day off!
Catalogue of Books & Collection Expands
A Catalogue of Books in the Library’s collection was published annually. The Catalog included a list of officers of the Association and was variously indexed from year to year, sometimes by category (reference, juvenile, biography, travel & adventure) or by title/author. The collection at that time was composed predominantly of non-fiction titles; not surprising in light of prevailing social mores/ideas of the time. Matthew Battles author of Library: An Unquiet History writes that, “In the nineteenth century both the professional literature and the popular press presented images of librarians toiling to shape the tastes of their patrons, to conduct them through the pitfalls of the cheap, the tawdry, and the “highly seasoned” reading found in novels and newspapers toward a redeeming vision of high literary culture.”[3]
Whether it was Shakespeare or Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein over the next 25 years the Library’s collection expanded by leaps and bounds—from the original 600 in 1866 to “nearly 4000” in 1890 according to the Gazetteer of the Stat of Massachusetts published that year. The book goes on to describe Yarmouthport as, “one of the most beautiful villages of the county. The handsomely shaded street, with its rows of modern and antique residences, solid and comfortable in aspect, has a very pleasing appearance.”[4]
Twenty years after that account, the collection had doubled in size and contained approximately 8000 volumes. According to the Association’s 1911report to the Free Public Library Commission, 147 books had been added in the previous year, 39 of which were gifts. The Library then subscribed to 8 magazines and readers were allowed an unlimited number of non-fiction volumes, but only one fiction title at a time. These items were checked out for 2 weeks, and patrons were charged 2 cents per day on overdue items. [Books still check-out for 2 weeks, but overdue fines have increased markedly—now a dime a day for books and a dollar a day for videos.]
By 1911, the Library’s hours had also expanded. In 1866, the Librarian was responsible for keeping the library open “every Wednesday from three o’clock till five o’clock in the afternoon and on Saturday from three till eight o’clock in the afternoon. By the end of the first decade of the 20th century, the library was open each afternoon except Sunday from 3-5 and also Saturday evenings.
The Librarians
Librarian Lydia Matthews, who had been the librarian since 1889, was paid was $225 in 1911. She had no assistants. By 1915, the Association reported 9000+ volumes. Poor Lydia , was still only making $225 with “no regular vacations.” The collection reached the 10,000 volume mark in 1919. [For those of you who are curious, the Library today contains around 25,000 volumes]
When Martha White became the Librarian in 1936/1937, she earned $375 per year in addition to . Overdue fines were still 2 cents a day. “You would be amazed at the number of people who did not want to pay that two cents.” Martha said in a 1996 interview. She told people “I wish you would see the size of the book bills that come in here and you’re getting the books for nothing.”
Interestingly enough, it wasn’t until Martha White’s tenure during the mid 20th century that the Librarian at the library actually selected books for purchase. Martha White recalls that the books were bought in Boston by one Trustee and sent down. She had no choice in the purchase and the books just weren’t books that people would read for pleasure: novels or mysteries. Eventually she obtained permission to select books herself so to make the library “more accessible and meaningful to the public at large.”
The roles and responsibilities of the Librarian weren’t the only things that changed during Martha’s time here. The building underwent significant renovations, additions, and subtractions.
The Library Building
“The original structure included Gothic features and architectural details, many of which no longer survive. The tower was removed in 1945, having been declared unsafe, and the front dormer was removed as part of a renovation project in the 1950s.”[5]
In April 1951, the John Simpkins Wing opened. It was built with funds donated by Mrs. George Agassiz (founder of the Cape Cod Library Club) to house the books bought through the John Simpkins Fund, which was established in October of 1898. A letter to then Librarian William Davis from Ruth Simpkins Thayer reads, “I beg to enclose my sister’s and my checks for the amount of five thousand, our gift to the Yarmouth library in my bother’s memory to be called the John Simpkins Fund, the income to be used each year for the purchase of histories, biographies and memoirs for the library. It gives us great pleasure to make this give to an institution in which he was very deeply interested.” Register October 15, 1898
In 1958 Mary Thacher Wing opened. Miss Thacher donated the funds during her lifetime for the addition of a children’s room to the library. While this renovation was going on, the living room of the Librarian’s apartment was converted into an office/workroom and the former office was made into a kitchenette for the use of Friends and Trustees.
The Mary Rousmaniere Room was added in 1966 to house the library’s growing fiction collection. Mary had agreed to build a room in the same location as the Simpkins Room, but sadly passed way before the project was begun. Her estate was left to her husband’s niece, who honored Mary’s wishes and saw that the addition was completed.
In 1983, after 47 years of living there, Martha White moved out of the Library. The Librarian’s quarters were converted to provide additional shelf space, where non-fiction, mysteries, and large print books are housed today. Genealogical and historical books are shelved in two rooms upstairs and there’s also a work room for Trustees.
Joining CLAMS
In the mid-1990s, Yarmouth Port joined the Cape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing system (better known as CLAMS, an organization that will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year). This consortium of Cape and Island libraries gives card holders access to over 1.5 million items including books, magazines, and non-print resources.
Becoming An Indpendent Public Library
In 2008, due to serious cuts in the Town Library budget, the Yarmouth Port Library was facing closure. Working with the Town Library Director, the Trustees negotiated to keep the library open on a reduced basis until the end of FY09. And on July 1, 2009, the Library once again became an independent, privately-funded public library.
One cannot help but to draw parallels between how the residents of Yarmouth Port worked together to create this beautiful institution nearly 150 years ago and how they continue to rally together to ensure its preservation. My co-worker and co-pilot Lynn is fond of saying that we have come full circle. Indeed….”
Librarians
William J Davis: 1866--18--
Mrs. Mary M. Bray: 18--1889
Mrs. Stearns: 1889 (April-July)
Mrs. Lydia C. Matthews: 1889--1936
Mrs. Martha White: 1936--1990
Patricia Philbrook: 1990--1995
Virginia Gifford: 1995--2008
Anne Cifelli: 2009—2012
Leslie Altman: 2013—2015
Margaret Kistlinger: 2015—2016
Lynn Lesperance: 2016--2019 (Co-Librarian)
Leslie Altman: 2016-- (Co-Librarian)
Carrie Bearse:
[1] Yarmouth : Old Homes and Gathering Places p. 34
[2]Report from Committee of Trustees of the Yarmouth Library Association; 1866 Amos Otis Collection
[3] p. 120
[4] p. 723-724
[5] Images in Time p. 114
"One cannot help but to draw parallels between how the residents of Yarmouth Port worked together to create this beautiful institution nearly 150 years ago and how they continue to rally together to ensure its preservation." Anne Cifelli
Anne Cifelli presented the following history of the Yarmouth Port Library at the
"History Along 6A" Program in June, 2010.
Good afternoon. My name is Anne Cifelli and I am the Librarian here at the Yarmouth Port Library. Amazingly enough, I am one of fewer than ten people to have held this position during the last 144 years.
Nineteenth century social reformer Henry Ward Beecher is quoted as saying, “A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.”
The men who founded this library would doubtlessly have agreed with that statement. According to an article published in the New Bedford Standard Times, “The beginnings of the Yarmouth Library [can be traced back] to a windy evening in March of 1866. Answering an appeal to consider forming a library, twenty men trudged up the path of Charles F. Swift, now known as the Old Homestead …Mr. Swift, Dr. Shove, a well-loved physician…and the Rev. Joseph B. Clark, the Congregational minister, were named as a committee to sell $10 shares for a subscription library.” Swift wrote that, “the price of shares in the society has been set at so low a sum as to render the Library easily accessible to all…”
The First Steps
By June 22 1866 the Yarmouth Library association had, “unanimously voted to organize a corporation” adopted a constitution and chosen directors. “Subcommittees, to arrange other details of the organization were appointed and steps taken to put the Library in operation with as little delay as possible.”
Indeed, the next week’s paper brings with it news that the Reverend Nathanial Cogswell “has offered to present to the Library Association the building owned by him, formerly occupied as a law office, to be removed wherever the society may decide.” The office is described as being “fitted up with shelves, just adapted to the purposes of the society. By July 13, 1866, Rev. Cogswell’s law office had a destination. According to the Register, “Mr. Henry C. Thacher of this place has offered a lot of land on which to place the library building. The lot is situated between the houses of Mr. Bartlett Bray and Capt. Thomas Ryder, a very central and pleasant location.” [See Map]
By the end of August, “the lot for the library building [had been] graded.” And it is said that “many public spirited citizens gave of their time and energy to grade the land” [1]and that the ‘entire community’ turned out to haul that 12 x 18 law office “up Hallett St. to its new location nearly a mile east and up onto its new commanding site.” Standard Times
Book Orders and Donations Begin
As a committee of the Yarmouth Library Association readied their first book order, donations were welcomed. An article in the Register on November 2nd 1866 reported that more than 50 volumes had been received including, “Harris on Insects Injurious to Vegetation” and “a set of US and Mass. Agricultural reports.” The article concludes with the notes, “donations still desired.” No kidding!
Later that month, the Register conveyed that “The first lot of books for the Library has been purchased, and donations continue to be received. We are requested to again remind those who are intending to make donations of books that their gifts may now be handed in. It is desirable that the list should be complete before the first catalog is made out. An extra $500 or $1000 would be just the thing to put the institution in good running order. Who will send it? Don’t all speak at once.”
That sounds familiar!
Role of the Librarian
The Library’s need for funding may not have changed, but the role of Librarian certainly has. In a report to the newly-formed Association, Amos Otis details the duties of the Librarian. These included sweeping out the rooms, dusting the books, shelves and furniture at least once a week and kindling fires in the furnace (at his own expense, I might add) as well as keeping “lawns, trees, and the roadways …and the fences…in order to the satisfaction of the Trustees.” Of course, there were Privileges too. The Librarian had use of “the dwelling house adjoining the library including…the cellar and cistern” as well as use of “the garden on the rear of the lot.”[2] It is a romantic idea, living in or adjacent to the library, but makes it hard to take a day off!
Catalogue of Books & Collection Expands
A Catalogue of Books in the Library’s collection was published annually. The Catalog included a list of officers of the Association and was variously indexed from year to year, sometimes by category (reference, juvenile, biography, travel & adventure) or by title/author. The collection at that time was composed predominantly of non-fiction titles; not surprising in light of prevailing social mores/ideas of the time. Matthew Battles author of Library: An Unquiet History writes that, “In the nineteenth century both the professional literature and the popular press presented images of librarians toiling to shape the tastes of their patrons, to conduct them through the pitfalls of the cheap, the tawdry, and the “highly seasoned” reading found in novels and newspapers toward a redeeming vision of high literary culture.”[3]
Whether it was Shakespeare or Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein over the next 25 years the Library’s collection expanded by leaps and bounds—from the original 600 in 1866 to “nearly 4000” in 1890 according to the Gazetteer of the Stat of Massachusetts published that year. The book goes on to describe Yarmouthport as, “one of the most beautiful villages of the county. The handsomely shaded street, with its rows of modern and antique residences, solid and comfortable in aspect, has a very pleasing appearance.”[4]
Twenty years after that account, the collection had doubled in size and contained approximately 8000 volumes. According to the Association’s 1911report to the Free Public Library Commission, 147 books had been added in the previous year, 39 of which were gifts. The Library then subscribed to 8 magazines and readers were allowed an unlimited number of non-fiction volumes, but only one fiction title at a time. These items were checked out for 2 weeks, and patrons were charged 2 cents per day on overdue items. [Books still check-out for 2 weeks, but overdue fines have increased markedly—now a dime a day for books and a dollar a day for videos.]
By 1911, the Library’s hours had also expanded. In 1866, the Librarian was responsible for keeping the library open “every Wednesday from three o’clock till five o’clock in the afternoon and on Saturday from three till eight o’clock in the afternoon. By the end of the first decade of the 20th century, the library was open each afternoon except Sunday from 3-5 and also Saturday evenings.
The Librarians
Librarian Lydia Matthews, who had been the librarian since 1889, was paid was $225 in 1911. She had no assistants. By 1915, the Association reported 9000+ volumes. Poor Lydia , was still only making $225 with “no regular vacations.” The collection reached the 10,000 volume mark in 1919. [For those of you who are curious, the Library today contains around 25,000 volumes]
When Martha White became the Librarian in 1936/1937, she earned $375 per year in addition to . Overdue fines were still 2 cents a day. “You would be amazed at the number of people who did not want to pay that two cents.” Martha said in a 1996 interview. She told people “I wish you would see the size of the book bills that come in here and you’re getting the books for nothing.”
Interestingly enough, it wasn’t until Martha White’s tenure during the mid 20th century that the Librarian at the library actually selected books for purchase. Martha White recalls that the books were bought in Boston by one Trustee and sent down. She had no choice in the purchase and the books just weren’t books that people would read for pleasure: novels or mysteries. Eventually she obtained permission to select books herself so to make the library “more accessible and meaningful to the public at large.”
The roles and responsibilities of the Librarian weren’t the only things that changed during Martha’s time here. The building underwent significant renovations, additions, and subtractions.
The Library Building
“The original structure included Gothic features and architectural details, many of which no longer survive. The tower was removed in 1945, having been declared unsafe, and the front dormer was removed as part of a renovation project in the 1950s.”[5]
In April 1951, the John Simpkins Wing opened. It was built with funds donated by Mrs. George Agassiz (founder of the Cape Cod Library Club) to house the books bought through the John Simpkins Fund, which was established in October of 1898. A letter to then Librarian William Davis from Ruth Simpkins Thayer reads, “I beg to enclose my sister’s and my checks for the amount of five thousand, our gift to the Yarmouth library in my bother’s memory to be called the John Simpkins Fund, the income to be used each year for the purchase of histories, biographies and memoirs for the library. It gives us great pleasure to make this give to an institution in which he was very deeply interested.” Register October 15, 1898
In 1958 Mary Thacher Wing opened. Miss Thacher donated the funds during her lifetime for the addition of a children’s room to the library. While this renovation was going on, the living room of the Librarian’s apartment was converted into an office/workroom and the former office was made into a kitchenette for the use of Friends and Trustees.
The Mary Rousmaniere Room was added in 1966 to house the library’s growing fiction collection. Mary had agreed to build a room in the same location as the Simpkins Room, but sadly passed way before the project was begun. Her estate was left to her husband’s niece, who honored Mary’s wishes and saw that the addition was completed.
In 1983, after 47 years of living there, Martha White moved out of the Library. The Librarian’s quarters were converted to provide additional shelf space, where non-fiction, mysteries, and large print books are housed today. Genealogical and historical books are shelved in two rooms upstairs and there’s also a work room for Trustees.
Joining CLAMS
In the mid-1990s, Yarmouth Port joined the Cape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing system (better known as CLAMS, an organization that will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year). This consortium of Cape and Island libraries gives card holders access to over 1.5 million items including books, magazines, and non-print resources.
Becoming An Indpendent Public Library
In 2008, due to serious cuts in the Town Library budget, the Yarmouth Port Library was facing closure. Working with the Town Library Director, the Trustees negotiated to keep the library open on a reduced basis until the end of FY09. And on July 1, 2009, the Library once again became an independent, privately-funded public library.
One cannot help but to draw parallels between how the residents of Yarmouth Port worked together to create this beautiful institution nearly 150 years ago and how they continue to rally together to ensure its preservation. My co-worker and co-pilot Lynn is fond of saying that we have come full circle. Indeed….”
Librarians
William J Davis: 1866--18--
Mrs. Mary M. Bray: 18--1889
Mrs. Stearns: 1889 (April-July)
Mrs. Lydia C. Matthews: 1889--1936
Mrs. Martha White: 1936--1990
Patricia Philbrook: 1990--1995
Virginia Gifford: 1995--2008
Anne Cifelli: 2009—2012
Leslie Altman: 2013—2015
Margaret Kistlinger: 2015—2016
Lynn Lesperance: 2016--2019 (Co-Librarian)
Leslie Altman: 2016-- (Co-Librarian)
Carrie Bearse:
[1] Yarmouth : Old Homes and Gathering Places p. 34
[2]Report from Committee of Trustees of the Yarmouth Library Association; 1866 Amos Otis Collection
[3] p. 120
[4] p. 723-724
[5] Images in Time p. 114