Stonington Free Library
20 High Street
P.O. Box 232
Stonington, CT 06378

Phone - 860.535.0658
FAX - 860.535.3945
E-mail -
stonlib@stoningtonfreelibrary.org


The Stonington Free Library
By Taliaferro Boatwright

Adapted from the Stonington Historical Society's
 Historical Footnotes by Jack Hinshaw, 1996

One dime, given by a guest to an ardent proponent of literature, marked the beginning of the Stonington Free Library.

As Mrs. Martha Todd Hill recounts in her charming Story of the Stonington Free Library, published in 1891, the fortunes of the Ladies Book Club were at a low ebb in 1887. Over the years the club had acquired a small collection of books, which it made available to subscribers at a modest fee. The collection was housed in a dismantled store, and was open to the public only on Saturday afternoons and evenings. Perhaps fifty people availed themselves of its services, which were scarcely appealing: the books were tattered and dusty, and none was new.

"One Sunday evening in May, 1887," according to Mrs. Hill, "a lady spoke of a new plan just undertaken in New Haven [to raise money for a local charity]. Turning to another guest, she requested him to give her ten cents. That dime began the Free Library. The guest returned the compliment by asking her and the lady of the house to do the same. Each lady asked two others, and the dimes came in, though it was never obligatory to entice two other victims." In a sense, the Free Library sprang from a sort of Pyramid Club, a chain letter scheme.

Mrs. Hill continues: "As soon as five dollars were collected, they were expended on fresh, attractive books which were conspicuously displayed in a private parlor. Every visitor, attracted by the sight of Little Lord Fauntleroy in his first glory, would ask 'Are these new books for the Book Club?' 'No, for the Free Library, whenever there is one."'

In this way, 330 dimes, representing as many givers, were gathered, most from donors who did not live in Stonington. With the $33 thus collected, thirty-eight books were bought. (In those days new books could be obtained for less than a dollar each). More significantly, perhaps, a committee was formed "to see if a Free Library [was] practicable."

The new library committee discharged its duties conscientiously. It asked itself whether people would use a Free Library, even though loan of books would be "gratis;" whether the ordinary citizens of the Borough could be trusted to care for illustrated books on loan; and what the rights of the owners of the books that were then the stock of the Free Library (that is, the members of the book club) would be. All these questions were resolved satisfactorily and the process of raising money in earnest was begun. Among other means adopted was the sale of the new game, Halma, which was popular in the 1890s.

With all signs favorable, the first meeting of the Stonington Free Library Association, as it came to be called, was held early in September, 1887, and the decision was made to establish a Free Library. The "Aunt Mary Howe House," on the corner of Main and Church Streets, was rented for $100 a year as quarters. Stiles T. Stanton was elected President, but on his death five months later, was succeeded by the vice-president, Reverend Albert Gallatin Palmer. The other officers were Rev. Charles J. Hill, secretary and James H. Weeks, treasurer. Annie J. Wilkinson was named librarian. In July, 1888 they filed a formal certificate of organization stating that "The Name of this organization shall be 'The Stonington Free Library Association"' and its object "is to be the promotion of literary interests in the Town of Stonington by sustaining a Free Library Reading Room and Museum.

By 1891 the Stonington Free Library had 2,830 bound volumes and 520 paperbacks on its shelves. Almost a thousand library cards had been issued, and over 700 were in active use. The circulation was reported as 12,000 volumes a year, a very respectable figure for a community of 2,500 souls.

The Howe house was an adequate home for the Free Library at first, but it proved to be small for the needs that developed. Before many years had passed, the people of Stonington showed with their support of the library that a new and larger building was needed to house the books and provide an adequate public reading room.

Two public-spirited men with Stonington roots, Samuel D. Babcock of New York and Erskine M. Phelps of Chicago, each pledged $8,000 if the residents of the town would raise $4,000. Fund raising began anew; this time the principal means was the staging of operettas with local talent, among them "Robin Hood," "HMS Pinafore" and "Bobby Shaftoe." Before long the challenge was met.

It was proposed that the library be built in Wadawanuck Park, the site until 1893 of the famous Wadawanuck Hotel, which had been razed. On September 15,1898 a meeting was held in Borough Hall to accept the property as a gift from the heirs of Samuel Denison. A provision in the deed stipulated that a building be erected on the property to be used as a circulating public library and reading room, and that one room be used by the Stonington Historical and Genealogical Society.


(Postcard courtesy of the R. W. Woolworth Library)

Messrs. Clinton and Russell of New York were hired as architects and Norcross Brothers of Worcester as contractors to construct the building. The new library was formally opened on March 25th, 1900. This handsome structure served the needs of the Borough and the surrounding area for many years. But eventually it was recognized that more space was needed, both for books and for an additional reading room. Through the generosity of Dr. Frederic C. Paffard a new section, designed by John E. Dodge of Stonington, was added on the north side of the old building and opened March 15th, 1956.

Thirty years later it was again apparent that more space was needed, and that the original part of the building needed a face lift. Mr. and Mrs. Jacques Wimpfheimer, owners of the American Velvet Company, donated $350,000 toward a new wing in memory of their son, Jocko, who died in Africa in 1987. Another $400,000, raised through donations, paid for renovations to the existing structure and to establish an endowment fund. The Stonington Garden Club gave $4,000 for new plantings, and the Village Improvement Association replaced the park benches in the square. Ken Best of the firm of Galliher and Baier in Simsbury, CT designed the wing to compliment the 19th century architecture of the original building.

The Wimpfheimer Wing, which was dedicated on July 6, 1990, added 1,000 square feet of floor space and doubled the library's shelf space. Renovations to the existing building included air conditioning and humidity control, a new circulation desk, new lighting, computer access and a large unfinished basement (now occupied by the Stonington Historical Society Library until its new building on Palmer Street is completed).

By January of 1996 the library had expanded its computer services to include reQuest, giving patrons an inquiry system to all Connecticut libraries, and offered access to the internet. For the prior fiscal year ending July 30, l995 circulation was almost 43,000 books, videos, books on tape and other materials. The same year saw six adult lectures, two poetry series and numerous children's story hours.

But, in the words of Mrs. Rose York, past president, "What's really special about this library is its atmosphere. It's small and we really try to please the public."

 
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