Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home Public Library has “come a long way,” as State Librarian MaryKay Dahlgreen described it during a 75th anniversary open house celebration on Tuesday, Sept. 19.
“I’m a librarian,” Dahlgreen said during the open house. “As such, I am required to do research.”
She compared the numbers for the Sweet Home Public Library of 2016 to the library of 1942, the year it opened.
The population of Sweet Home was 1,090 in 1942, she said. It was 9,090 in 2016.
“In 1942, Sweet Home Library had 126 registered borrowers,” Dahlgreen said. In 2016, the library had 2,283 registered borrowers.
In 1942, the library had 753 print items, she said. In 2016, it had 37,376. Circulation was 1,233 for 1942 and 39,421 in 2016.
In 1942, the library was open nine hours per week, Dahlgreen said. Esther Jones and Janet Wise each worked 4½ hours per week. Today, the library is open 26 hours a week with two librarians and a library director.
“You guys have come a long way,” Dahlgreen said. “The library of 1942 is not the library of 2017.”
In the fall of 1941, PTA President Pearl Hoy appointed a committee to explore the possibility of sponsoring a library, according to a library history. The Sweet Home Public Library opened on Sept. 19, 1942.
It was housed in two rooms of the old City Hall, according to a letter to Gov. Tom McCall. Library Board members acted as librarians. It was kept solvent by gifts from individuals, clubs and businesses. The library was formally incorporated in January 1949.
In May 1954, the city took over the operation, and the mayor appointed a new board. The library moved to the basement of the new City Hall. Local businesses purchased new shelving, stacks, books and furniture.
By 1957, the library collection had 5,809 volumes. That number doubled by 1964, and plans got under way for construction of the current building, which cost about $166,000. It was funded by a federal grant administered by the state library and a $92,000 bond levy. The bond passed 262 to 168 votes.
Joined by McCall, the City of Sweet Home dedicated the current library building on Nov. 23, 1969.
“I think it’s important to note what is a library,” said City Manager Ray Towry. It’s much more than books and periodicals. “It’s a roadway to knowledge. It’s a pathway to knowledge. It’s a pathway to education.”
The library provides a facility where the community can come together, Towry said. It’s a place where people can talk and meet their neighbors. It’s “a symbol of community and the dedication of a community to itself and its members.”
Anyone can gain an education at the library, Towry said, and it is among those things that contribute to a high quality of life.
Kevin Hill, chairman of the Library Board, described the board’s long-term vision, to expand – not the building, although that would be nice, but to “continue to improve this current facility.”
“We want to encourage reading,” he said. “That should be the No. 1 goal for any library.”
Additionally, the board wants to help improve lives, he said, to be a place where people can come to apply for jobs, for example, using public computers and Internet access in a time where many no longer accept paper applications and residents may not have access at home.
Also, the board would like to create a quiet place to study, Hill said. Medical students have asked for a quiet place to study and be alone with their thoughts.
In general, the library must continue to stay in step with changes and improvements in technology, he said.
Hill praised Rose Peda’s work as director, highlighting the library’s role in the community.
“She has led this library to be a spoke in the wheel of community interaction,” Hill said. On and off the library campus, library programs have gotten people to look up from their phones and interact with each other in a fun learning environment.
Peda’s efforts and innovation have included, for instance, taking the Summer Reading Program to the Boys and Girls Club in order to allow more children to attend. Early this summer, the library partnered with the Sweet Home School District to put little lending libraries at each elementary school.
Peda described another relatively new program that has allowed Sweet Home patrons access to much more. Through it, Sweet Home residents can borrow books from libraries across the county, saving thousands of dollars in materials and in preparing them for circulation.
“It’s really an extra service and bonus to our community,” Peda said.
“We want to see these activities continue on campus and off campus as well,” Hill said. “Our big dream is this library will be a vital part of the health of this community for years to come.”
“You have very much to be proud of,” Dahlgreen said.