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Thursday, January 21, 2010
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Cutting Ceremony cuts across many generations!
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Cutting Ceremony cut across many generations! EverythingWestport.com
Thursday, January 21, 2010 View the
photo album for this event now 32 photos | Dial-up speed | Broadband/DSL speed | $1.4 million dollar donation from the Manton Foundation
makes project possible.
The Manton Foundation is no stranger to million
dollar grants, having supported hospital research, library expansions, and
art galleries both here and abroad with gifts and endowments. “Sir Edwin Manton, creator of the
foundation, had summered in Westport for 40 years,’ said Hugh Morton,
Manton’s son-in-law. According
to UK’s The Guardian’s obituary, “Sir Edwin Manton, who has died aged 96, was
a driving force in the creation of the American International Group (AIG), a
collector of paintings by Constable and his contemporaries, and a generous
benefactor to the arts, the church and medicine. Knighted in 1994 for
charitable services to the Tate Gallery he was, after Sir Henry Tate, the
most generous benefactor in its history and continued to involve himself in
the affairs of the gallery well into his 90s.” “His
wry humour and sharp intelligence endured throughout his life and were a
feature of the annual meetings of the American Fund for the Tate Gallery, the
trust which he had established in 1987 with an endowment generated by a gift
of AIG shares.” “Edwin
"Jim" Alfred Grenville Manton, businessman, art collector and
philanthropist, born January 22 1909; died October 1 2005.” Private donation funded expansion; town’s stabilization fund assisted in new roof. “We are immensely grateful to The Manton
Foundation for this generous gift,” said Pauline Dooley, the library’s
building committee chairperson.
+enlarge With
construction of the addition completed, the Westport Free Public Library
sports a new roof funded by $56,000 from the town’s stabilization fund, and
takes on a new look, both inside and out. The added northeast wing was sorely
needed and will provide new space for historical document archiving and other
activities. More parking is a plus. This public improvement project was well
worth the money. The town paid for the new roof; a private donation paid for
the expansion, sort of like the old days when Yankee thrift would yield to
public need. The
new historical documentation room is 18’ by 28’, and can be easily secured
and monitored.
“We
have named our new community room the Manton Room in honor of Sir Edwin
Manton,” announced Dooley, pictured to the left. Students
from Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School volunteered to shingle
the building's exterior according to Michael Coughlin, Westport’s town
administrator. During the 18th and 19th centuries
Westport’s library had several homes, sometimes as many as four at one time, literally
being in the houses of town residents. For many years the small collection of
books sat in storage, gathering dust as no facility and little interest
caused then to be abandoned. In the early 1900’s the library was moved to the
Wolf Pit School, sometime thereafter to the second floor of the Bell School
at the Head of Westport, where it remained for many years.
Left: March 20, 1949 - Westport Free Public Library at
Central Village (town hall). Miss Barbara Speer (left) examines some records
as Miss Doris Smith (right) speaks to the librarian, Mrs. Charles Brightman.
Right: December 6, 1908 – interior of Westport Library (Little School House). Library expansion doubles
space. The
new addition provides more space for children’s and adult books sections, and
enlarges the community room and restrooms. Additionally, there is much more
open space which gives the interior a light airy feeling, and inviting atmosphere.
A far cry for the dark and enclosed mood of earlier library buildings.
Above left: Westport’s State Representative Michael
Rodrigues said “This is a proud day to be a Westporter. Public libraries have
long been the center of communities. To be here and see this expansion is
just wonderful.” Center: Library Director Sue Branco told the audience, “We
had the building’s mechanical systems updated.” Right: Improved cyber age services have
expanded the appeal of the library to both the young and the young-at-heart.
Above left: Library
Building Committee Chairperson Pauline Dooley welcomed a large gathering to
the dedication, and gave a brief overview of the renovations. Right: the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners’ representative
Irving Zangwill was on hand and told the audience that they “should love,
honor, and cherish your library.”
Westport resident and
artist Sharon Andrade was commissioned to paint three panels with fairy tale
scenes in the newly expanded Children’s area. - - - - - End - - -
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