History of Hawley Public Library

It all started on Betty Howell’s back porch where PTA mothers would store the books they shared with each other. That is, until the books overflowed the porch and they needed more space. On April 11, 1961 a group of people representing the PTA, the town’s churches, civic organizations, and Chamber of Commerce met to discuss the possibility of starting a library in Hawley. That night the first officers were elected to head the fledgling association : Gertrude Erk, President; Rev. Robert Mark, Vice-President; James McGinty, Secretary; Stanley Mesavage, Treasurer. Other names in early minutes and newspaper articles included Fletcher Hurst, Kay Campfield, I. Reines Skier, Betty Howells, Michael Perrige, Alma Hames, Peggy Murphy, Ethel Blewett, Dr. Robert Gummoe, Clarence Reineke, Edith Wallat, Joseph Stegner, Mrs. Harold Baisden, Irene Beemer, Mrs. Harold Mang, and Betty Pasquariello, Volunteers went to work building shelves, painting, cleaning, and sorting the donations of books that came in from the Forest Lake Club, the Wayne County Library Board, and others. The first money actually spent on books came to $8.00 for 16 books purchased at a Jr. Hospital Auxiliary sale.

By November, the Hawley Library was open for business in one room of a tiny storefront on Church Street. Rent was $18 a month. The first electric bill came to $1.18. The library’s very first fundraising event raised $32—it was a clam chowder sale held on Election Day, November 1961. During the first months of the library’s operation it was open an average of 9 hours a week. Minutes reflect that by 1963 the books overflowed the shelves and we needed more space, so a second room was rented and connected to the first. But before long, the books overflowed the two rooms and we needed more space. Then a Christmas angel visited the library. In December of 1965 Roger Blough made a special gift of a plot of land and a new building to be built for the Hawley Library. The Helen Decker Blough Public Library Building was dedicated on October 30, 1966. Everyone in the community was overwhelmed and pleased with the new building which housed the adult and the children’s books, story hour, a small work area, and the checkout desk. New patrons signed up every day, books and monies were donated, and the volunteers were busier than ever. Years passed, the books overflowed the building, and again more space was needed.

Lola Longworth had been on the board of the library since 1966 and served on the book committee as the library grew through the years. In 1984 Lola made a gift to the library to build a new wing in memory of her mother, Louise Longworth. The Longworth Wing provided space for a reading room with reference books, periodicals, large print books, and study tables upstairs and a children’s room downstairs.

              Helen Decker Blough

The library was beginning to come of age, just at a time when the aria’s population would begin to explode and the demand for library resources would soar. By the early 1990s the books overflowed the space. Generous gifts were made in Bill Adams’s memory, a bequest was received from Helen Decker Blough, and a capital building fund (started in the 1960s, added to over the years, but untouched until now) reached a threshold which made it available for the board to use in a building project. Once again the vision and generosity of many different friends of the library had allowed us to do what we thought couldn't’t be done.

For its survival in the early years, its growth, and its present success, the Hawley Library also owes deepest thanks to two other groups—its volunteers and its family of annual donors and supporters. From year to year the faces may change, but the volunteers are the reason the library can do as much as it does. They work behind the desk, in the office, at fundraiser's, even at home. They come every week (with time off for vacations!) and help in every way. By the early 2000s    , the library employed three full- and one part-time staff members. But while our excellent staff are managing and improving our services, they too depend on our volunteer corps to get the daily work done And from year to year it is the support of the community that keeps our doors open and our lights on. Through general and memorial donations, support from two counties and one school district, books sales, and various fundraising events, hundreds of people generously give to the library every year, helping us to meet the needs of our thousands of borrowers. From the smallest gift to the largest, each and every one of our donors is part of today’s Hawley Public Library.

Throughout our history, the library has faced challenges and decisions requiring a certain faith in our ability to do what seemed nearly impossible. But guided by the vision to provide the best library service for the community, we have managed to succeed.