Library plays role in region's cultural life

By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History 

     Carved in stone over the front entrance to the Amsterdam Free Library at Church and Grove streets are the words, "Open to All." Generations of Amsterdamians are familiar with the interior of the stately building with its handsome woodwork, large reading tables, computers and second floor children's section.

The present library building opened in 1903. A wing at the rear of the structure was added in 1980. The Amsterdam facility has now been named the central library for the Mohawk Valley Library System.

“We’re proud to call ourselves the central library and we’re going to do our best to make sure that we do as much as we can for everyone,” said Nicole Hemsley, the library’s executive director, in an interview with the Daily Gazette.

The first organized book collection in the city was the Amsterdam Union Library, founded in 1805 and operated one day a week from the home of the librarian. There are no records for the Union Library after 1832 and it is not known when this subscription library ceased operations.

The Amsterdam Literary Association was formed in the 1840s to promote literature and the association lasted at least until 1860.  

Speakers were invited to winter sessions but the bylaws stipulated that speakers be paid no more than travel expenses. When there was no speaker, topics were debated, such as "Is the motto, Our Country Right or Wrong, consistent with true patriotism?"

On January 14, 1848 an unknown topic was discussed with "a good deal of irregular conversation between members -- whereupon on or about the hour of ten and without any motion being put, the meeting broke in a row." At the next meeting, the minutes were altered by changing "row" to "disorder."

In 1891, prominent citizens led by two physicians, William H. Robb and S.H. French, founded the Amsterdam Library Association. That collection was located on East Main Street, west of Church Street. It was not a free library -- members paid a subscription fee of one dollar a year.

In 1895, the facility became a free library after a fund raising campaign organized by women in the community sponsored by the Daily Democrat newspaper, a forerunner of the Recorder. A special women's edition of the newspaper sold 10,000 copies and raised $1,500.

In 1902, the Amsterdam Library Association became the Amsterdam Free Library after a donation of $25,000 was secured from philanthropist and industrialist Andrew Carnegie, who was solicited by Dr. French. Carnegie agreed to put up the money to construct the library building in exchange for the city's pledge for ongoing financial support.

Historian Hugh P. Donlon wrote that city aldermen were hesitant about the idea of ongoing library maintenance, but went along with the proposal after a meeting at alderman Frank Parmentier's saloon on Railroad Street.

At the library’s 1903 cornerstone ceremony, Dr. French paid tribute to the city's growing industrial importance, "The whir of spindle and wheel will penetrate even the rooms set apart to reading and meditation, a constant reminder of the fact that thought and action must be inseparable. The toiler, not the idler is the one for whom libraries are founded."

Through the years, natives of the city including movie actor Kirk Douglas have remembered the library with donations. Douglas honored his friend Sonya Jacobsen Seigel with a library gift.

My Aunt Vera Cudmore visited the library monthly in her later years, plopping herself on a chair next to the mystery section to borrow books, especially murder mysteries set in England donated by the wife of longtime Mohawk carpet company executive Herbert Shuttleworth.

Bob Cudmore is a freelance writer.

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