- Charles M. Bailey Public Library
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Charles M. Bailey Public Library 
Established 1916 Location Winthrop, ME The Charles M. Bailey Public Library is the public library serving Winthrop, Maine. It was officially established by the town on November 4, 1916, and opened to the public on December 2, 1916. The library became a free library in 1970,[1] and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.[2] The library was designed by prominent Maine architect John Calvin Stevens.[3]
Contents
Founding
In November of 1916, Charles M. Bailey of Winthrop, Maine entered into an agreement with the Town of Winthrop to give a building to be used for library and reading room purposes. Charles M. Bailey was the best known member of the Society of Friends in Winthrop, and was known for his "Bailey's Praying Band", who conducted evangelistic services. Bailey also owned one of the largest oilcloth manufacturers in America at the time, and employed two hundred individuals in Winthrop in the early 1900s.[3] The original structure of rock faced and chiseled granite is still in use today.
Charles Irving Bailey (the elder son of Charles M. Bailey) was the first person to serve as chair of the Board of Trustees.[4] Lula A. Clifford was the first head librarian elected by the Board of Trustees in 1916, and served to the time of her death in 1940. Clifford's starting salary was $1 for each afternoon and evening the library was open to the public, and in 1920 was set at $25 per month.[4] Trustee minutes dating back to 1917 make mention of a Mr. John Stanley serving as Town Librarian for twenty-five years before Charles M. Bailey donated the Bowdoin St. building. Stanley continued serving on the Board of Trustees and Book Committee after 1916. Lula A. Clifford was noted as being Stanley's assistant librarian prior to the 1916 opening. In 1918 the Board of Trustees requested an annual appropriation of $800 from the Town of Winthrop.[4] $800 in 1918 has the same buying power as $11,552.64 in 2010.[5]
The first book replacement notice was sent out to C.S. Fowle on January 17th, 1920.[4]
Expansion
The library Building Committee first encouraged the Board of Trustees to start thinking in terms of future expansion and acquisition of adjacent land in 1966,[4] and in 1972 the Board of Trustees hired architect George Royal to establish a plan for library expansion.[4] The Winthrop Masonic Hall (occupying the adjacent land necessary for expansion) was put on the market in 1973, and the library Building Committee requested right of first refusal of the property. Further, a 1973 Maine State Evaluation of the library reported that "additional space is much needed and...the library shows a definite need for expansion...".[4] In 1974 the library began renovating the basement to be used as a Children's Room.[4] In 2005, the Town of Winthrop purchased the adjacent land necessary for library expansion, and the Board of Trustees began planning and fundraising.[6]
2009 Fire
The library closed on March 6, 2009 when a 16-year-old boy pushed a flaming roll of paper towels into the building's boiler room through a basement window, causing extensive damage. The library operated out of the Town Office on Highland Avenue until its reopening in August of 2010.[7]
See also
References
External links
Categories:- 1916 architecture
- Public libraries in Maine
- Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
- Libraries in Kennebec County, Maine
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