The First Twenty Years

Henry Ward Beecher once said, "A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life." In the fall of 1955, Orange residents Roger Boyd and Frank Merkel shared those same sentiments and decided to do something about it. To get things started, they enlisted interested people: Everett Martin, chair of the Republican Town Committee; William DeSenti, Merkel’s boss; Jack McHugh, an individual active on town commissions; and James Moran, friend of Merkel. They had the support of State Representative Nancy Whitney, First Selectman Arnold Hine, and Board of Education member John Lightfoot. The group began discussions on the need for a library in Orange and held meetings in Holy Infant Church for the public and Town Hall for local organizations to explore the project’s feasibility. Interest was abundant and that November, the Orange Library, a private entity, was incorporated. With State legislation authorizing a yearly payment of $500 and the Town providing matching funds, the new corporation was able to sign a three-year lease for a vacant store in the Firelight Shopping Center in the spring of 1956.

That February, the Boy Scouts, the American Legion, and countless volunteers held a book drive and by May 5, 1956, the Orange Library was open for business. Initially, the library was open 17 hours a week under volunteer librarian Jean Bilinski. Also, fifteen volunteers worked under the direction of Mary Daly, Julie Garrity, and Beverly Hall.

Activities moved quickly for the new library. In July 1959, Mrs. Alton Mabry was hired as part time librarian with a staff of 45 volunteers; a year later she began working full time. The book collection improved with donation from libraries in Milford, Hamden, and West Haven.

That spring, planning began for a new library building. Land was purchased at the Orange Center Road site with a $5,000 donation from the Orange Lions Club. Eben Wooley of Milford was chosen as the architect. The building was to cost $47,000 with furnishings budgeted at $7,500. The New Haven Foundation donated $3,000 and the Town mortgaged $20,000. Fundraising efforts led by Sonja Heeley and Mrs. Donald Adams yielded the additional monies to get project underway. Its final cost was $60,000.

The new building opened in December 1961 and contained 9,000 volumes. By 1963, circulation had climbed to 34,000. A year later, Norma Callahan became librarian and Town officials began considering taking over the library building for use as a town hall. Wisdom prevailed, however, and a new town hall was build.

Growing with the Town

By 1970, the library building that was new in 1961 was already crowded. In 1971 the Library hired architect Henry Miller to design an addition. Construction was completed in 1973 and the resulting building served the town for nearly 30 years. Several prominent residents joined John McHugh and Roger Boyd to serve on the Library Board – Motier Beque, William DeSenti, Bernice Feldman, Carl Hansen, Ira Goldenberg, Edwina Malcolm and Virginia Wallace.

On July 1, 1974, the Library became a Town department, and the non-stock corporation ceased to exist. The Board of Directors became the Library Commission. In 1975, Hillel Auerbach, Loretta Smith, and Ron LaMorte became Commission members and John McHugh retired. The Oral History of Orange, the personal memories of Orange residents, was recorded and stored so that future generations may learn of the past.

In 1985, Hillel Auerbach was elected chairman of the Library Commission and served until 1991. During this period the Library began circulating video tapes and CDs, as well as books and magazines. In 1988 the Library staff compiled and published Overdue Cookbook, a collection of patron and staff recipes. The proceeds from sales of this cookbook were used to refurbish the staff room. The 1977 bequest from Robert and Dorothy Pryde administered through the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven provided most of the funds for renovation of the upstairs staff area. The Pryde bequest also provided funding to expand and upgrade the computers and related equipment.

In the late 1980’s, the building of 9,500 square feet began to be viewed as inadequate by a large segment of the town’s population. There was little room for expansion, and the library lacked space for programs, growth for the collection, and the ever-expanding technology that the next two decades would require. In 1989 the Board of Education moved to the former Mary L. Tracy School building and the building, known as the Academy, next door to the Library, became vacant. This proximity made it very attractive to the Library, but after discussing the matter at length with Ralph Capecelatro, the First Selectman, the Library Commission decided not to expand in this direction. Mr. Capecelatro recommended construction of a new library building to meet the needs of the Town of Orange in the 21st century. He believed, and the Library Commission concurred, that to expand the existing building would simply be too expensive. The Commission established a Long-range Planning Committee under the leadership of Hillel Auerbach. Several years were spent in studying how other libraries in Connecticut dealt with the problem of expansion needs.

The Final Frontier

A major turning point came in the spring of 1994 when the Library became the beneficiary of a $1 million bequest from Mrs. Marjorie Case. The Long-range Planning Committee decided it was time to act. Then First Selectman Dorothy Berger agreed and appointed a Library Building Committee with Robert Mirto as its first chair; Mitchell Goldblatt later assumed chairmanship. A nearby site on Tyler City Road was chosen; an architect, Steven Nelson of Moses Pilon Nelson architectural firm, was hired; and a new library building was designed. Ground was broken for the building in November 1997 and the library was officially dedicated on May 2, 1999. The new building was funded by the Case bequest, monies from the Pryde Fund and Halliday Fund (Marion Halliday had left the Library close to $200,000), state and federal grants totaling $450,000, and bonding. Fund raising provided money for the furnishings.

While the Library was dealing with the problem of its physical plant, it made internal changes as well. Norma Callahan, who had become Library Director in 1964, retired in 1990. Marilyn Beattie was hired as her successor; Ms. Beattie served until 1999. Meryl Farber was appointed Library Director in May 2000. Shortly after Ms. Beattie took office, the Library Commission elected a new chair, Loretta Smith, who also served on the Building Committee. Under Smith’s nine-year tenure, numerous changes were made to better serve library patrons: summer Saturday and additional evening hours together with more days open during the school year were added; new Library policies were written and old ones reviewed and updated; the Library joined the Foreign Film Consortium; three new staff members were added – Reference Librarian, Children’s Librarian, and a Patron Services Assistant; a monthly book discussion group was begun and more programs offered; a telephone recording giving the library hours was installed; etc.

A major event of 1991 was the organization of the Friends of the Library. The Friends is a devoted group of Orange residents who give generously of their time to help make the Library a more valuable community resource. Under the leadership of Nancy Nyhan, the Friends held its first annual book sale in 1992.

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