The Story of the Library
Beginnings
On January 12, 1870, fifty Holyoke men met for the purpose of establishing a Public Library Association and voted to petition the Massachusetts Legislature for a special charter of incorporation. After their petition was approved on April 22, 1870, they began plans to acquire and house a book collection. Paper manufacturer William Whiting, aged 28, was the Association’s first president.
"The People's College"
In 1902, the Holyoke Public Library opened in its new home at 335 Maple Street. It was described in local news reports as one of the "finest examples of Greek architecture in the country."
The spacious building was made of Indiana limestone and white glazed brick, with a red tile roof. Soaring Ionic columns flanked the main entrance. In addition to providing space for 66,000 books, it contained reading rooms, meeting rooms, and exhibit spaces.
A new library brought many changes: a Children’s Room, an open stack wing, and a new book classification system. Within five years, book circulation had doubled. The new Librarian, Frank Willcox, also eliminated the practice of reserving use of certain books for privileged patrons.
MID-CENTURY EXPANSION
In 1926, Burlingham Schurr was hired as full-time curator of the Library’s Natural History Museum. He expanded the collection and actively promoted its use in education. Some current library patrons still remember being fascinated by the well-designed exhibits and the live snake. In 1959, Wistariahurst Museum opened and the natural history collections were moved there.
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Top: Children's summer program; Second row (left): Eleanor Attridge checking out a book to Gene O'Donnell; Third row (right): A scene from the new Elmwood Branch Library (Myrtle Ave.) in December, 1951, with (from left): Kenneth Lubold, O. Leonard Moquin (Branch Librarian), Harold Hurley, Charles Christopher, Joel Young, Beverly Zakrzewski, and Carol Dupius. Bottom: Main Library Children's Librarian, Gladys Crawford. Others pictured are not identified. (Click any image to enlarge.)
A Place for public art
Beginning in 1948, the Library used an art trust established by Joseph Allen Skinner to commission a series of murals from the young artist Sante Graziani. His allegorical history of Holyoke was based on research in the Library’s historical collections and incorporates the techniques of Italian Renaissance painting. The murals play with time, juxtaposing and layering references to numerous events in Holyoke's rich history.
The central mural includes likenesses of George Ewing (above center) and Joseph Parsons (on the right). The city's early growth owed much to Ewing's vision and investment; Parsons established the first paper mill in what would later become "Paper City."
In 2019, the Library became the site of a second mural installation, the product of an innovative collaboration between the Library, Holyoke teens, and the Puerto Rican artist collective, Morivivi.
The mural above consists of a set of portraits that incorporate both realistic depictions of the teens’ world (the bridge to Chicopee) and symbolic elements. For example, four of the young women hold a tropical flower, but the fifth holds a trillium, a fragile wildflower native to Massachusetts. The dense greenery is meant to suggest that all the flowers are connected by their roots, just as all people are connected.
A NEw Beginning
The plans by Finegold Alexander called for renovating much of the historic building.
This Preservation Magazine article includes more details on the renovation.