February 19, 2021
South Windsor Libraries
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Usually in the month of February, we would celebrate “Take Your Child To The Library Day!” with a special craft or family program.
Since we will not be able to celebrate in person this year due to the pandemic, we thought we would take a look back at all of the South Windsor Libraries that have served the children and adults of our community over the years. We hope you enjoy this week's Musings from Main! |
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1898-1899 It all began October 3, 1898 when the South Windsor Public Library was established at an annual town meeting. The town matched a $200 grant from the state and appropriated $100 annually toward a library thereafter. An initial six person Library Board of Directors was elected.
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The South Windsor section was housed in the Baptist Church on Main Street, pictured above. |
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On January 24, 1899, the South Windsor Library opened with 496 books and 212 borrowers. There was no individual building designated to house the books so the collection was divided between two established parishes. The population of the town at this time was 1,736.
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| The Wapping section was housed in the Wapping Church, pictured above. |
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1906
Henry W. Sadd, local businessman, philanthropist, and one of the six members of the first South Windsor Library Board was also responsible for constructing the town’s first public library building, the Sadd Memorial Library. The library was a gift of Henry W. Sadd to the town as a memorial to the Sadd family. In January of 1906, Sadd Memorial Library opened (across from Wapping Church where it still stands today) and housed the Wapping section of books. The Town's library collection had grown to a total of 2,425 books.
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| The South Windsor section of books moved from the Baptist Church to a room in Union School on Main Street (pictured at left). Sadd Memorial Library is pictured in the postcard image to the right. |
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1911-1912
By 1911 the South Windsor Library owned 3,132 books and the population of the Town had grown to 2,014. It was decided that the exchange of books between the two sections would be discontinued because of the great size of the collection. In 1912, the South Windsor section was again moved, this time from Union School to a room in the town hall (pictured left), which at that time was located on Main Street. |
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| 1927-1928
In 1927, Wood Memorial Library (pictured at right) opened to house the South Windsor section of the South Windsor Public Library. William Wood, philanthropist, farmer, cattle dealer and lifelong bachelor, chose Hartford architect, William Marchant, to design a library as a memorial to his parents, Dr. William R. Wood and Mary Lyman Ellsworth Wood. Wood Memorial Library was never owned by the Town, but rather placed in Trust, managed by an organization named the Wood Memorial Library Association as Trustee.
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1968-1971
In late 1968, both the Sadd Memorial Library and Wood Memorial Library buildings were closed by the town and by July of 1970, the South Windsor Public Library collections were reunited and services consolidated into one facility at the more centrally located Sullivan Avenue Plaza (where Geissler’s is currently located).
The image below of the Sullivan Avenue Plaza is courtesy of the South Windsor Public Library:
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The Sadd Library Building was sold, with the funds to be used for a new library building and subsequently became commercial office space. Across town, a nonprofit organization was formed in 1971 by local residents of Main Street, named the Friends of Wood Memorial Library (that's us!), and with the Wood Memorial Library Trust’s permission, they reopened the Wood building and implemented a public lending library with regular operating hours.
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Both the Sadd Memorial Library building and The Wood Memorial Library building are still standing today.
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1975-1979
By October of 1975 the collection had swelled to 48,985 books and the town of South Windsor had grown to a population of 15,700. Groundbreaking for a South Windsor Public Library building took place on December 9, 1977. Almost 16 months later, the completed building at 1550 Sullivan Ave was dedicated on April 1, 1979.
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The image above of the current library building is courtesy of the South Windsor Public Library.
So many different buildings have housed the South Windsor Public Library Collection. Do you have special memories of taking your child to any of these varied locations? Do you have any stories you would like to share about your experiences at any of the South Windsor Library's locations? Share them with us and they will become part of the archives to be shared with future generations.
Thank You to Mary Etter, Director of the South Windsor Public Library, for the research she previously provided to the archives that was used as a guide for this Musings from Main. Also, Thank You to Joe Pava, Head of Reference and Collection Development at the South Windsor Public Library, for providing the picture of the Sullivan Avenue Plaza used in this Musing. |
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