After a failed vote to override the previous election, officials in the town of Worcester, MA, are preparing to downsize services including closing the Jonas Clark Library. Worcester is a town of approximately 172,600 people located about an hour southeast of Boston on the Blackstone River. It is home to 11 colleges and universities.
So how does it happen that a city like this, which is the third largest in New England, and obviously a haven for Boston commuters (there’s a picture of a commuter train on the city website) give up its library? Well, times are tough, In times of economic downturn library use increases, and the funds to pay for staff and collection development decrease sometimes resulting in library closing.
In the movie The Hollywood Librarian, they spoke at length of the closing of the John Steinbeck Library in Salinas, CA. That library locked its doors and simply stopped circulating books. The books remained inside untouched until the money was finally raised to re-open.
This brings to mind a much more practical question– how much work, time, and money does it take to really close a library? In the case of the Steinbeck Library, the building was still used for other purposes while it was full of books, but in the case of the library in Worcester, the building is not owned by the city, but donated by the Jonas Clark estate for use as a library. If it stops being a library, the property reverts back to his heirs to do with whatever they want. This library also has town offices in the space below the library, which need to be moved too.
So how do you even undertake a project like this, and who, since the librarians are presumably no longer on the payroll, executes it? Do you just have booksales every day until you get rid of everything? Do you donate or sell books to other libraries? What happens to all of the computers?
I was involved in a library moving project once, and that was an endeavor which took a year to plan, two months (and a professional moving company) to execute– in short, not an easy task. The Jonas Clark doesn’t have that luxury of time and has already stopped inter-library loan, and is planning to close its doors Saturday, June 28 at noon.
“Eve-Marie Ceryanek, a Hubbardston resident, said, “It’s so disappointing. The library is the cultural heart of any community. This is the only place we have in the community where people meet and come together.
“A community without a library is not a community that enlightened, forward-thinking people want to live in. There are a group of us coming together to look at what we can do now. We will be attending the selectmen’s meeting Monday night,” she said. “
From where I’m standing, I have to say, yes, times are tough, but there has to be a better way.
Filed under: By: The Librarienne, News | Leave a Comment
Tags: failed votes, Jonas Clark Library, Worcester MA
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