Dear members of the Marblehead Select Board and Finance Committee:
Please don’t let it happen on your watch. Don’t let the library doors close.
As many of you are aware, in 2018 we took a long, hard look at our library. We studied its history, which at that point was approaching 140 years. We decided at that time to both celebrate the history and to begin a capital campaign to raise funds to renovate our library. The building at that time was looking very tired and had critical infrastructure needs.
We began the campaign with a gala event at Abbot Hall featuring Keith Lockhart. The evening ended with the maestro leading us all in a stirring version of “Marblehead Forever.” You could feel the pride in the room. We do have a proud heritage, and our library is an important part of that.
Marblehead was among the earliest Massachusetts towns to fund a public library. It was done at Town Meeting in 1875. After receiving a generous bequest from Benjamin Abbot, James Gregory and others petitioned Town Meeting “to see if the town, having invested $75,000 of the Abbot Fund in our magnificent hall, will consecrate the $30,000 remaining to putting brains into it in the shape of a good library.”
Abbot Public Library officially opened in 1878, right there under “The Spirit of ’76,” and became a town center. The town added a children’s room and a reading room, and through the years, as needs changed and the space grew more and more crowded, Town Meeting voted in various improvements. Finally, in 1952 (again at town meeting), we were able to secure a new site and the present building was constructed.
Over the years, much has changed — the Dewey decimal system arrived; electric lights and telephones and copy machines made a difference; card catalogues came and went — and still the library continued to be the cultural and intellectual center of the town. And that’s what it still is.
With our recent renovation (paid for by both the town and individual citizens), we are continuing to stay updated with our fast-paced world. Abbot Public Library is still the heart of the town — the place to gather, to think, to learn, to celebrate, to get a book, attend a program and so much more.
Please lead the charge to do whatever we need to keep our library funded and open. We want to be able to celebrate our 150th anniversary proudly. We want to honor our proud history and continue to nurture the brains of the children and adults in our community in a place available to all.
Phyllis B. Smith
Hillside Avenue
Abbot Public Library trustee, 2009-21
