History of the Newport Public Library

Emily Thibeault

Ms. Lind & Mr. Viles

Honors English & History

12/18/07

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Outline

I. Introduction

A. The Newport Public Library assists people and fulfills its mission statement.

II. Sub-topic One

A. Mission Statement

1. Living up to

III. Sub-topic Two

A. Newport Public Library Association

1. Founded

2. Becoming a member

3. Dissolved

IV. Sub-topic Three

A. Locations

1. Town Hall

2. Present Building

B. Donations

1. Land

2. Money

V. Sub-topic Five

A. Historical Society

1. Library and Historical Society together

VI. Sub-topic Six

A. Friends of the Library

1. Support and Fundraising

2. End

VII. Sub-topic Seven

A. Current Librarians

1. Who

2. Positions

Sub-topic Eight

A. What is in the library

1. Books

2. Computers

IX. Sub-topic Nine

A. Technological increase

1. People coming

2. Inter Library Loan

X. Conclusion

A. Mission Statement and Community

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Emily Thibeault

Ms. Lind & Mr. Viles

Honors English & History

12/18/07

History of the Newport Public Library

The Newport Public Library has been around for over one hundred years. Over this time it has changed in many ways, keeping up with the time and technology. From its beginnings to its present state now, the Library has been growing and expanding; and will continue to do so. The Library has been an important part of the Newport community and has assisted the people in many ways; and still does.

The Newport public Library’s mission statement is separated into three parts and reads as follows:

1. To select, organize, preserve, and make freely available to the people of the community printed and other materials within the limitations of space and budget, which will aid them in the pursuit of information, education, culture and recreation.

2. To keep up to date in the field of information technology focusing on practical applications related to Library Science.

3. To preserve and develop an environment in the library that is “user friendly” and safe for the patrons and staff (Archives).

Since the library was founded in the late 1800’s it has been following closely the words of the mission statement and always working to improve.

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The Newport Library Association started on April 22, 1899 (Archives). This association was made up of a small group of members who paid and kept the library going. In order to be a part of the Newport Library Association you had to be recommended, and then your admission was put to a vote which would then decide if you would be included. After some years all adults in the town of Newport were technically considered members of the Newport Library Association, and all were invited to help vote library trustees until 2000 (Archives). On May 10th, 2000 the Library Association dissolved (Archives) and the Town of Newport took over the duties of the Association. The Town of Newport now takes care of the library’s needs. All of the library’s funding comes from The Town of Newport, and the staff is also hired by it.

The Newport Library was not always in its present building. It was first opened in the Newport Town Hall; next to the Police Department. At this time the library was quite small, only a few hundred books were in the collection and people who used the library paid dues. The building that now houses the Newport Library was built in 1954 (Archives). The library could not have been built had it not been for the Newport Women’s Club who bought the property on Main Street that it stands on in 1937 from Dr. L. H. White, and donated it (Archives).

Another huge benefactor towards the building of the library on Main Street was Mrs. George Payne. Mrs. Payne donated seven thousand dollars in memory of her husband; George Payne. This donation was enough money to complete the library construction, and a room inside was dedicated “The George J. Payne Reading Room” in the Payne’s honor (Archives).

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The Newport Historical Society and The Newport Public Library were not always in two separate buildings as they are now. When the building on Main Street was constructed both the Historical Society and the library were in it. The library with all its books held the top ground floor room, while the Historical Society kept its history in the bottom floor of the building.

Tillie Burke formed a Newport addition of the nation wide Friends of the Library group (Leigh) in 1988 (Archives). The Friends of the Library sponsored many fundraising and just fun not money related events for the library, such as art shows, Children’s book Week, teas, candidate nights, writing contests, reading groups, and book sales. The Friends of the Library ended between 2000 and 2001 when the Town of Newport began taking over from the Library Association and the situation involving money and funding became confusing. It is expected to start up again in time (Leigh).

The current librarians are Mrs. Leigh, a “Full time part time librarian” in her own words; meaning she is at the library ever hour it is open, but because of the number of hours she works she is considered part time by the state. The other librarian is Mrs. Brenda, and actual part time librarian, who among other things is always in charge of the Friday Craft after Mrs. Leigh’s Story Time.

The library is now planning another move to expand and create a safer environment for its users and also to converge once again with the Newport Historical Society. The new building will be built across the street from the current building, and is planned to get started in the fall of 2008 but still need 200 thousand more dollars (Leigh), and as Mrs. Leigh said “they plan on it, that doesn’t mean it is going to happen.”

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The library has a 6,000 dollar budget a year. Usually Mrs. Leigh spends 300 dollars on adult books and 200 on children’s books a month (Leigh). She tries to get one or two non fiction books each month but as she says “I consider this more of a fiction library. That’s what people around here want. I do try to keep up the non fiction section though.” The library has been keeping up with the times with five computers along the wall for easy access to the internet, or just for writing papers.

Many technological advances have been made in the past years such as the ease of being able to research and read online. It has been speculated that this would cause a drop in the number of people who come to the library, but Mrs. Leigh says “Not at all. Not here. Not everyone has a computer. So people come to use them. And people still like books.” One of the many technological advances made by the Library is the removal of the card catalogue, which has been replaced by the Solar Maine Catalogue (Leigh), which allows then to take part in Inter Library Loan.

The Newport Library is a very important part of the community. It provides a resource for information and friendly assistance and by keeping up with technology it helps the community stay updated. The Newport Public Library has grown and changed buildings, those in charge of it and its librarians are constantly working to better the library experience for the residents of Newport. By keeping up with technology and the continual work toward perfection the library is living up to its mission statement, and creating a positive affect on the town of Newport.

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Works Cited

Benouski, Genie. Internal Library Archives

Leigh. Personal interview. 12/15/07

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Works Consulted

Brenda. Personal Interview. 12/15/07