NEW SHARON – One of the region’s first libraries has found a new home at the Farmington Fairgrounds and will open its doors to the public with the start of fair season in Sept.
The building, which dates back to the 1800s, will join several other historic buildings at the fairgrounds, creating a small makeshift village that serves as a living museum. The library will eventually be furnished with era-appropriate accessories, including the original card catalog published in 1897 and seven of the books found on the list.
“Patrons weren’t allowed to touch the books. They were kept behind the desk and you had to ask the librarian to go and get them for you. Books were really very precious back then,” current librarian of the Jim Ditzler Library Diana Oliver said.
Oliver was one of the people who worked to write grants for the move, and will continue to find funding to complete the museum for the public.
“I showed the kids an old list of library rules from back then and it made them howl with laughter,” she said.
The list of rules will go up in the museum as well to give the audience a feel for how libraries really worked in the 1800s. Before finding its home in New Sharon on Route 2, the library roamed the area promoting literacy to the locals. The one room collection settled in New Sharon for more than 100 years before expanding to an old farmhouse donated by Jim Ditzler.
“We didn’t get any assistance from the town. It was one of the first libraries in Franklin County, what was then Kennebec County, and yet nobody wanted it,” Board of Trustee member Michelle Winslow said.
When the board asked the fairgrounds if they would be interested, she said they were more than happy to house the piece of history.
The New Sharon Library Museum will open in September and is seeking donations to help furnish it. For more information contact the Jim Ditzler Memorial Library at 779-1128.
I worked there in the 1960s and it was musty and smelly. My greatest thrill was almost weekly visits from Gwilium Roberts (sp). He was very interesting to talk to.
How about giving a donation to the fair for the up keep of the building??
Please consider on donating to fair for up keep on the library
Gwilym Roberts was the consummate historian, everyone who met with him was enlightened a bit
He was one of my history profs at now UME 1961-2 ish when I got out of the USA
Kudos for preserving a part of history.
The addition of the New Sharon Library, to the museum area, will now be enjoyed by everyone who attends the fair in September. The building and grounds crew have almost completed the exterior restoration and Don Deroche will finish the outside painting soon. Because of the building age there was considerable work needed to the front of the building and costs were higher then expected. The fairgrounds are open daily now and please feel free to come and look at what has been done. On June 23rd Don Deroche will have a table at the annual animal shelter yard sale on the grounds and will donate all his proceeds to the library.
My daughter read to the young kids every other Tuesday at the New Sharon library. It was a wonderful experience for her. Faith was a wonderful librarian the kids all loved her. So glad to see the building preserved for future generations to see.
Growing up in New Sharon I have many fond memories of this library. The “musty” smell stayed with it too! I can’t wait to go to it this fall. Thanks to all who made this possible!
This building actually sat about where the “new” road/bridge is located. It was moved up to the site where it sat for many years. Flagstaff actually donated their books to the library when their town was being flooded.
The building at one time was the law office of one of New Sharon’s attorneys. Darlene or Dana Dill would have to come up with the name.
Many times the library trustees met in “Oliver Currier’s” law office, which at the time of this writing was the present library building. Records do not state, but early recollections are that it (library) was housed in the upper room of Lancaster Hall, later moved to a room over Day’s Hardware store, presently NS Thrift Store.
Lawyer Oliver Currier’s passed away in 1871, and in 1895, his heirs presented the building to the library trustees for a library. In 1906 a bequest of $500.00 was made to the Library from Home James Savage, in 1914 the estate of Maj Cyrus Willard it received $2400, as part of which was used to enlarge the building. When the library orginally opened with a total of 160 books, sometimes members would contribute a fixed amount to be used to buy new books, which were chosen with great care, since books were scarce during this time, by 1881 the total was 1142 books.
I hope a lot of people give due credit to Ron Pratt. He has been involved with the Farm and Home Museum at the fairgrounds which everyone should visit during the Fair. He has also had a vision of a small village adjoining it, which now consists of a blacksmith’s shop, a shingle mill, a school, a sap house, and soon to be a library museums.. Visit them during fair week and learn about our history. And thank Ron for his vision and hard work.
One of the great joys of visiting the library as a youngster was seeing Mildred Davis, the librarian. She was a small, older woman who was dwarfed by the desk she sat behind. She kept the records in long hand, I think. She always had great suggestions about what each of us would enjoy reading. After her husband died she sold their farm and moved to Farmington where she lived to be well over a hundred.