LYNN — The Lynn Public Library marked its 124th birthday and the end of National Library Week with a tour that examined some of the library’s rich history.
From the outside, the Renaissance architecture and captivating columns, which Head of Adult Circulation Lindsey Robert said were the strongest stones in North America when the library was built, are immediately noticeable. There are prominent lamps as well, which Robert said were restored just 13 years ago, after trustees partnered to work on them after an attempted theft in 1900.
Once inside, there’s a plaque on the right dedicated to Elizabeth Shute, who Robert said was known for her extreme generosity. Shute left behind $88,000 for the library in 1893, which led to its construction finally beginning in 1898.
The library received a few bequests, though, which is why it is not fully dedicated in her name but instead to everyone who contributed.
There’s also more to welcome visitors in just the front foyer, with marble, brownstones, and a chandelier that Robert said is supposed to reflect the idea that the library is a place of enlightenment — a common theme in much of its art and decor.
“Our historical tour is significant because it facilitates a heightened appreciation for not only the craftsmanship that went into building this beautiful piece of Lynn’s history, but for the library itself,” Robert said.
Robert said the library is a “place for our community to come together and obtain much-needed resources.”
Here’s a look at some of the library’s history, as well as some of the notable changes there over the years.
The children’s room
The children’s room was the “newspaper room” up until 1920, where only men could sit on leather couches, read the paper, and spend time with one another. This is also why only a men’s bathroom used to be downstairs, while the women’s bathroom was upstairs.
That room is now the children’s room, led by Head Director Susan Cronin. The colorful room is filled with art, like the murals all around the walls, which were decorated by artist Yetti Frenkel in the mid-1990s. There’s also a notable oil painting toward the front of the room featuring a scene from “The Story of the Champions of the Round Table” by Howard Pyle, which was painted by Frank Schoonover in 1940.
The main circulation desk
The library’s main desk area is very open and accessible, with light filtering through the rotunda and onto the hexagonal main desk. The rotunda is 33 feet in diameter and extends upward to the skylit dome ceiling. There’s also a captivating Roman mosaic flooring that one can see when looking down.
Before, the area used to be somewhat similar, except with a desk inside the archway and a leather padded bench used as a circulation desk. This lack of access to seating was the main reason for the change in setup, and it slowly became the room seen today.
The reading room
The reading room is where the fiction books are located. There are tables there for anyone to read, work, or even start a community puzzle.
It used to have just rows of tables, with lights on each, similar to the look of Bates Hall at the Boston Public Library.
What commands the room is the 34-by-15-foot mural on the front wall. This mural, titled “The Awakening of Ignorance,” was commissioned and donated in 1900 by one of the library’s trustees, Joseph N. Smith, and created by South American artist F. Luis Mora.
In it, six cave dwellers are amazed by the civilization that is to be. In the center of it stands an angel, dressed in all white and with her hands open wide, representing progress.
“The entire painting itself represents the library as a place of enlightenment,” Robert said.
The DVD and teen tech room
In the era before computers, there was a whole room dedicated to cataloging, where women were hired specifically to sit and type many, many catalogs. This was the room where you could learn the location of the book you were looking for. When the computer came along, this room was turned into a DVD room, featuring more than 4,500 movies and multicultural DVDs and CDs.
There’s also a teen tech space, where teens sign up to do crafts. While it has to be rented out sometime, it’s still open to all patrons.
The nonfiction room
The nonfiction room was the children’s room until 1920, when it became a fiction room. Later, it became used for nonfiction because the library’s fiction needed more browsing room.
Its history seeps through little details, like in the small indents and crevices on the columns signifying the transformation of electric gas.
The most important change in the room was an elevator that was added in 1983, which travels between that room and the floor above. There has not been a new model of this 41-year-old elevator since, though.
The young adult room
In the young adult area, there is a notable portrait of Charles Sumner, which was presented by the heirs of John B. Alley. Sumner was a Massachusetts senator during the Civil War who was staunchly opposed to slavery. He addressed the Senate about whether Kansas should be incorporated into the United States as a slave or free state, and criticized two other senators. In response, a representative from South Carolina slammed a cane into Sumner’s head, which caused his long absence from the Senate.
The teen room that sits close to the painting is now sectioned off, with a few tables where people can sit and read in the middle. Around it, there are a few more study tables that anyone can sit at, overlooking the balcony to the circulation desk on the floor below.
The stack room
Across the way is the three-floor-high stack room, featuring a wrought-iron shelving that goes the entire length of each floor. There’s also glass flooring, which shimmers due to the reflection from the windows and the skylight that filters through the building.
There’s an overflow of books that are still kept back there, and the staff, especially the Resource Department, will go there to look for books for people who cannot find them in their usual sections.
