SHELBY — From teetotalers to a town-wide debate, the history of Shelby’s 125-year-old library is full of fascinating tidbits.
Library staff gave an overview of the Marvin Memorial Library’s evolution Tuesday as part of the institution’s yearlong quasquicentennial celebration.
The library got its start in 1897, when the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) of Shelby established a reading room in the Sutter-Higgins block on East Main Street. Rent for the space cost $14 a month and visitors had to pay a monthly membership fee.
Amid the smallpox epidemic of 1928, the library stopped accepting returned materials that were checked out to someone in a household with a smallpox case. Patrons were asked to pay half the cost of the material, if possible.
Three years later, the public reading room became a separate endeavor from the WCTU. Caroline Marvin accepted the position of librarian, overseeing the 300-book collection.
In 1901, Marvin’s great uncle Daniel Marvin bought the Bricker house on West Whitney Avenue for $6,500. The home was originally built in 1867 by Dr. William Riley Bricker, a local physician. Marvin donated the house and grounds to the village of Shelby.
“The story goes that he visited Carrie downtown and said, ‘This isn’t good enough. We need better,’” children’s librarian Jami Williams said.
Voters approved the library’s first tax levy in 1903. Daniel Marvin added a portico and columns to the front for a grander entrance in 1904. Since then, the building has undergone several renovations. Additions were built in 1925, 1964 and 1990.
Controversy over the library’s future erupted in 1985, when the library board decided to raze the original house and build a new facility. The decision sparked fierce debate among community members, who took the matter to the City Council.
“There’s a whole scrapbook (of newspaper articles) downstairs devoted to that controversy,” said Lacella Lillo, the library’s outreach coordinator.
The library’s fate was sealed the following year, when voters rejected a ballot issue to fund the new construction.
The library board hired an architecture firm to study the older part of the building, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Construction on the old house and new addition began in 1990 and wrapped up the following year.
Do you have a bit of Marvin Memorial history you’d like to share? Members of the public are asked to share their stories, pictures and thoughts in notebooks located at the library’s charging bar. The notebook will be kept in the Marvin Room as part of the library’s historical archives.
Carpentry students from Pioneer Career and Technology Center built the library pavilion in 2006, funded by an anonymous donation. The pavilion was enclosed and became the Kerr Garden Room just last year.
The library planned another addition on the west side of the building a few years later, but the project was halted due to the Great Recession and budgetary concerns.
Over the years, the library has expanded its collection to include various media. The library also added new services and materials over the years.
The interlibrary loan service began in the 1960s, but patrons were charged postage for materials borrowed from other institutions. Vinyl records, including audiobooks, were added to the library’s collection in 1968; jigsaw puzzles followed in 1971, large print books became available in 1975 and Super 8mm film arrived in 1977.
The library purchased its first computer and printer for patron use in 1982. Beta and VHS video cassettes were added to the collection in 1986, and CDs arrived in 1988.
In 1997, the library made the internet available to patrons. A year later, the library launched its online catalog, allowing patrons to access their accounts from home.
Librarians pivoted operations in 2020 to continue providing services to the community with curbside pickup, virtual storytimes and drive thru programs.
Earlier this year, the library debuted its outreach mobile. The van was purchased with funds donated by the late Bert Davis.
Library fiscal officer Traci Montgomery said the vehicle will travel to area schools and make deliveries to nursing homes and to homebound adults.
“The whole concept of outreach is us going out into the community, so it’s more than just a bookmobile,” Montgomery said. “We’ll use it for storytime and crafts, signing people up for library cards and going to farmers markets.”
Shelly Krystofik, adult programming coordinator, said the role of libraries has evolved to be more service-focused.
Williams said that’s the natural result of libraries’ original purpose as information hubs.
“Libraries have always been epicenters of their community,” she said. “We are the places that house the information, and as information is more readily available, we become more the place of the services.”
When Ella Askey became head librarian in 1916, Marvin Memorial had a collection of just 5,000 books. Elsa Koupal eventually took over as head librarian, followed by Sidney Cohen in 1963. The community raised $20,000 for a proposed $60,000 addition to the library’s west side the same year.
In 1966, Cohen resigned and Rosemarie Nestleroad accepted the position. She stayed until 1974, when Mrs. John Huebner took over. Margery Hansen assumed directorship three years later, followed by George Young in 1980.
Ann Wood was appointed director in 1984. Wood was responsible for securing funding to preserve old Shelby newspapers, National Geographic and TIME magazines on microfilm. Wood was succeeded by Susan Vermilya in 1995.
Ann Bavin took over three years later and remained until 2012, when Kathy Webb took over. Webb recently retired and her replacement, Vikki Morrow-Ritchie, started just last week.
The library will wrap up its 125th anniversary festivities this month with a 1950s-themed sock hop on May 26 and BBQ with Ben Lash at the Black Ford Commons Amphitheater on May 31. Sock hop attendees can sign up for the summer reading program, purchase food from the Grunt Grub food truck and dance the night away to music played by local DJ Ed Gutchall.
