By Mary Carter
EAGLE TIMES CORRESPONDENT
CLAREMONT, N.H. — It’s not every day that one can go to a birthday party where the guest of honor was already 30 when Henry Ford rolled out his first Model A.
Today, scores of smiling guests got to wish a happy 150th birthday to Claremont’s Fiske Free Library. Technically, the library was in a different location when it first opened in 1873.
Housed on the second floor of Stevens High School, it proudly offered 2000 books donated by Claremont entrepreneur Samuel P. Fiske. Selecting an educational facility was wise, not to mention practical, since Fiske had married a Stevens girl.
For the sake of easier access and convenience, the library moved to the Bailey Block in the square. The Bailey Building, or Flatiron Building as it’s called by some, still shows ‘Fiske Free Library’ written on its Sullivan Street side wall.
It wasn’t until 1903 that the present Fiske Free Library began to take shape at 108 Broad Street. It’s one of 1,687 public libraries funded by steel baron Andrew Carnegie. Approximately half still operate as libraries today.
City Librarian Michael Grace is proud of Fiske Free and its role in Claremont.
“We treasure our history here and preserve the beauty of our past,” he said. “Fiske Free is a viable and necessary resource to our community.”
Not only was today a milestone birthday, it was a celebration of concluding another year of Summer Reading at Fiske Free Library.
Children’s Librarian Martha DeTore-Woods was thrilled with the season’s events, which included visits from museums and wildlife programs, the CLiF Book Giveaway, as well as guest appearances by musicians, magicians, and even Rockin’ Ron the Friendly Pirate.
Many of the young readers present at the party, many of them first time readers, gave thumbs-up reviews of the Summer Reading Program. Book series such as ‘The Baby-Sitters Club,’ ‘Puppy Place,’ and anything written by Dav Pilkey topped the charts for favorite check-outs.
A good number of the young party guests had logged in as much as 60 hours of reading over the summer. One first-time reader happily claimed that books had “more imagination in them than television.”
The festivities today included face painting, chalk drawing, balloon art by Marley’s, heavenly cupcakes from Uptown Bakery on Glidden Street, and lots of free-flowing bubbles.
Claremont resident Sharon Wood began her visits to Fiske Free Library back in the 1970s while doing genealogy research.
“The staff was so helpful,” she said. Wood went on to work for the library for over 20 years and became a member of the Board of Trustees.
“I wouldn’t have the quality of life without this library,” she concluded.
Claremont’s Fiske Free Library is officially a sesquicentennial. With a special nod to founder Samuel P. Fiske and all the gracious benefactors who followed, here’s to the next 150 years of Fiske Free serving its community well.
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