Those who’ve been to the Guernsey Memorial Library in Norwich lately have noticed a lot of renovations in progress.
This time around and once all the dust has settled, you’ll see a new drop ceiling, electrical upgrades, flooring, painting and a better parking lot, among other things.
It’s a 55-year-old building, and like others of its kind, needs improvements now and then.
It’s certainly not the first round of improvements in the building’s lifetime, and it won’t be the last.
The building itself was a big improvement, having replaced an older structure on the same site, and dedicated on March 8, 1969.
In fact, the Guernsey Library had just completed a major renovation project 100 years ago this winter.
As reported in the Norwich Sun of Feb. 23, 1924, “Guernsey Memorial Library closes to the public on Monday of next week and so no books will go into circulation that day. This is an exception to the policy of the library, for it is seldom closed to the public, except on legal holidays.
“However, the necessity is a vital one and on Monday several important changes will occur. When it is reopened on Tuesday morning at 9 o’clock the public will be given the privilege of using a library that is as near modern as is permitted. It will rival the new annex of the high school and will be a gem in the educational crown of the city.” Norwich High School was found across the street on West Main Street, now home to senior housing and the Chenango Arts Council.
“The library proper will be on the ground floor. There will be no trying to climb up a creaky stairway to obtain the novel or literary works of some favorite writer or author. Known to the state library authorities as the ‘backstair library,’ Norwich comes to the front from now on and the main entrance will be at the door off Court street. These features alone, the results of a semi-reconstructive period under the direction of Miss N. Louise Ruckteshler, librarian, are enough to assure double the circulation of Guernsey Memorial Library.”
This major project came 22 years after the library opened on this site. The doors were opened on Sept. 11, 1902 as the Guernsey Homestead Memorial Library. It was housed in the original house built by Elisha Smith around 1799. Peter B. Garnsey purchased the home from Smith in 1804, moving his family to Norwich from Oxford. The family’s last name was changed to Guernsey at some point.
The family gave land to Chenango County for what is today’s West Park and the courthouse. The family then made plans and moved their house, then found on Broad Street, to where the current library stands.
The home stayed in the Guernsey family until the death of Jane Maydole Guernsey in 1901. In her will she left the homestead to the town of Norwich Board of Education Union Free School District No. 1 to be used only for a public library and public park.
When opening in 1902 the library housed the high school library collection of over 4,000 volumes. It served Norwich and vicinity for 65 years.
In 1967 the Guernsey homestead was razed for safety reasons. It had been decided that it had reached a point of being unsafe, despite the previous improvements of having floors re-enforced, additions added and roofs raised higher to keep up with the steady growth of the library. A new library was in store.
Upon the dedication and opening in 1969, the building cost $544,000 and was paid in full by donations, fund raising and grants. It was built for a capacity of 50,000 books, and at the time had 17,000 in its collection. By the early 2010s the library had exceeded that capacity by an additional 50,000 volumes.
The park in back of the library has been there all along, and also received some major improvements in the early 1980s and dedicated in August 1982.
On Wednesday, a look at Oneonta’s life and times in March 1874.
Oneonta City Historian Mark Simonson’s column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area before 1950. His Wednesday columns address local history 1950 and later. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or email him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is oneontanyhistorian.com. His columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/opinion/columns/.