Harrison struggles with moving 95-year-old library
Time spent in the library has been part of growing up in this town.
HARRISON – Caswell Public Library’s move is a bittersweet event for people here.
There’s a sadness in the center of the village because the round-stone, turreted building used to house the library for 95 years will soon no longer do so.
There’s also happiness, though, because the new building offers so much more than the old.
Within the library’s stone walls are cozy rooms marked by elegant ash woodwork, maple floors and high ceilings.
Memories have been created there since Daniel Caswell, whose portrait looks down over the main lobby, gave the town $1,700 for its construction in 1908.
It has been a place where kids sat in the reading room on chairs, the floor and beanbags for story time.
During the annual Christmas in Harrison, it was always a place for a warm fire, hot chocolate and homemade cookies.
Time spent in the library has been part of growing up in this town beside two lakes.
Now, its time has past and soon there will be a new library ready to generate new memories for today’s youth.
The new library will be in the former town office building with more parking, floor space and better accessibility.
Peter Whitchurch, member of the library move steering committee, was sad to see the old library go. “Everybody hates to lose that building.”
He said there’s sentiment for the town to purchase it, with the stipulations that it is called the Caswell Building and is used for community service.
“There had been some opposition to the move because of the building,” Whitchurch said. “Practicality wise, it just cost too much to renovate.”
Whitchurch said building an addition and installing an elevator, as required by the American Disability Act, would have cost $1.2 million.
Town Manager Michael Thorne said the town once offered to buy the building for $1 to relieve trustees of the responsibility of upkeep.
“The whole point of the town owning it is that it would never become a commercial building,” Thorne said. “But nothing has been decided.”
Librarian Dianne Jackson said the move to the newer building would increase the existing 1,500 square feet of usable floor space to 3,000 square feet.
“It’s going to be more open, more free form,” Jackson said. “There will be special children areas, a computer area, a research room and an adult reading area.”
As excited as Jackson is about the move, she too will miss what has been her workplace for four years.
“There’s just so much history in the building,” Jackson said. “In the 1900s there were different book clubs that serviced the area. This was the first permanent home for the library.
“Aesthetically, it would have been lovely to build an addition and renovate,” she said. “But, you still would have walked out the door and there would be only three parking spaces.”
The Library Steering Committee has been working on the move for about a year.
Last April it learned that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Agency awarded the library a $525,000 grant to purchase the former town office and do renovations.
Armed with the guarantee of the RDA money, the board secured a loan of equal value from Northeast Bank, to be paid off with the RDA funds when received.
Whitchurch said, however, that it is the board’s intention to raise enough money so that the loan will not have to be taken.
“We want this thing to be free and clear,” Whitchurch said. “We do not want to face long-term debt.”
He said nearly $300,000 has been raised in pledges and gifts as of Monday.
Grants have been received from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, the Maine Community Foundation and The Betterment Fund. Residents have made contributions, too, and a fund for ongoing operating expenses has been established from a gift from the Whittemore Family Trust.
Soon construction bids will be sought.
“We’re well on the way,” Whitchurch said.
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