CQfflTTl u n ity
may
2008
17
Library Presents Two
Chautauqua Programs
On the Shelves: A Brief History
of the Vernonia Library
The Vernonia Library in conjunction with the Vernonia Friends of the Library
will present two Oregon Chautauqua Programs made possible with funding
from the Oregon Council for the Humanities.
By Nancy Birch
The Vernonia Library was officially established in 1928, making it eighty
years old this year.
The first program will feature Jeni Foster presenting “Birdsong: Birds as a
M etaphor in American Folk M usic.” The program will take place on May
12 at 7:00 pm. Ms. Foster will show how bird songs and flight are used as
metaphors for life, love, freedom, and death in cultures throughout the world
and how these songs reflect an American sense of adventure, opportunity and
freedom.
“At a meeting in the city hall Monday night, a board of directors and committees
were appointed to advertise, solicit books, subscriptions, money, and the general support
of all the people of Vernonia, as the library is for everyone in the city, camps, schools,
etc.” This is taken from an article in the May 1925 Eagle newspaper. Dates are a little
vague, but Vernonia did have a library by 1925 with 645 registered borrowers, 1087
total volumes and yearly circulation of 4160. Even so, the library was not officially
On May 22 at 7:00 pm, M att Love will present “The Portland Trailblazers’ established by city ordinance until Feb. 21, 1928. This information about the library
Championship Season: An Oregon Story.” Mr Love will discuss the impact of was found and copied from articles in The Eagle (researched by Delores Webb) and also
the Portland Trailblazers 1977 NBA Championship season, using slides, lec­ from library board minutes. Thanks to some unknown person, the original hand-written
ture, oral histories, and audio and video clips. Love shows how this memorable minutes of library board meetings from February 1928 through July 1988 have been
season is one of the signature events in Oregon sports history. This program preserved. (Minutes from that time forward have been computer generated.)
The history of the library is told in these articles and board minutes—of the fluctua­
was rescheduled from October 15, 2007.
tion of circulation in relation to population and later in relation to television and other
Both of these Chautauqua programs will be held at the Vernonia Library and sources of entertainment; of fund-raisers such as tag sales, paper drives, teas, rummage
sales, etc. to help fund the library; of expenses and revenues (right down to the penny);
will be followed by refreshments.
of borrowing books through the Carnegie Association, and so much more.
Circulation for 1932 was 14,623 when Vemonia’s population was estimated at 2500
and there were 1800 registered borrowers. By the late 1930’s circulation was under 10,000
per year. In 1950, only 3641 volumes were circulated and there were 570 registered bor­
rowers. The statistics from 1950 remained fairly consistent through the 1950’s and ‘60’s.
The May 1944 board minutes read as follows: “There was a discussion of the suit­
The Spring Sports A ssociation has four T-Ball teams this year sponsored by
ability of detective stories for the library, a topic presented by the librarian. She was
local businesses: Holce Logging, True Value, Wauna, and Sentry Market. directed to write the state librarian concerning this matter.”
The A ssociation has im plem ented a new division to its program this year, the
The library was part of the building (between the U.S. Bank and the mortuary)
JR M idget team. The team is for 7-9 year olds who are above T-ball level but shared by the police, city offices, and fire department until some time after the closure of
not quite ready for all fundam entals o f full baseball. A bsolute M arble and the Safeway store in September 1959 (I could not find a definite date.) when 919 Bridge
Granite sponsors th e JR M idget Team. The A ssociation w ould like to give a
Street became its new home. Once again space was shared with city offices. Council
special thank you to all the terrific sponsors.
meetings and municipal court were held in the space when the library was closed. This
arrangement continued until the new library was completed in October 1999.
M elissa Zavales said, “Our goal here in Vernonia is to create ‘ALL AM ERI­
The purchase of encyclopedias and other reference books, often mentioned in early years,
CAN BASEBALL TEA M S’ for players and the community. We encourage the
became less important by the late 1980s as computers with reference CDs and Internet
public to watch our games and to be involved. We have a wonderful group
access became sources of information in the library. In the 1990s, the state library ceased
o f volunteers who help w ith the Spring Sports Association: Brent Dass* base­ to provide materials for library patrons, severely limiting the sources for small libraries
ball president, M elissa Zavales, t-ball president, and Kathy Fetch, softball to pretty much what they could purchase on their own. The book budget of $1,000 for
president. We also have many parent volunteers. W ithout them the program
1988-’89 (when I was hired) has increased enough each year so most books requested
w ould not exist. Thank you. “
by patrons may be obtained. Nearly all of the funding for the library comes through the
City’s budget. A small yearly grant is received from the state for children’s programs,
The program has come a long way in the past couple of years. M elissa added, and The Friends of the Library help supplement programs and materials.
“Unfortunately, the flood hit the group hard (as it did m ost people), and we
Without a doubt, the most important and exciting event in the last twenty years has
had to start from scratch. We w ould like to extend a very huge thank you to
been the construction and move to the new building. Watching the foundation being
the Friends of Baseball program that donated over half of our equipm ent.”
poured, the walls going up and finally moving in were like seeing dreams come true. The
increase in circulation was noticed immediately—doubling in the first year. The new space
“We also had a couple o f work days in which volunteers gathered together
allowed expansion of programs for youngsters and the introduction of presentations such
to do field m aintenance and build tables with wood donated from Exterior as Chautauqua programs for adults. In that first year, 1999-2000, the library’s automated
Wood Products. ”
search/circulation program (Athena) was introduced with nearly all of the entries being
done by volunteers. What a joy it was not to type and file cards for each library item.
The Spring Sports A ssociation holds fundraisers throughout the year.
Currently there are 2,037 registered library patrons, 22,399 titles in the collection, an
average of 2,000 items are circulated each month for a yearly total of about 25,000, and
On F a th e r’s Day w eekend, Saturday, June 14th, there w ill be a baseball ex­
the library is open 39 hours a week. A weekly preschool story time is held each Monday
travaganza at Spencer Park. There w ill be a home run derby, pop can drive, at 10:30 and an after school activity/story time takes place at 3:30 (also on Mondays).
blood drive, car w ash, and o f course a delicious BBQ. Please com e and jo in The library does have “detective” stories as well as videos, DVDs, audio books, music
in the fun. There w ill also be a Firew orks stand again this year w ith dates CDs, and four computers with Internet access.
to be announced and the third annual g olf tournam ent Saturday, A ugust
Another quote from the 1925 Eagle is one that remains true today. It reads “The
23rd. This event has been a great success for the team s. Please jo in in the library is your library and it is open to everyone. Its success depends upon your patron­
activities and help make B aseball in the city o f V ernonia an “A ll A m erican”
age.”
com m unity event.
The following is a poem written by a former librarian, Edna Owens Engen that was
found among the board minutes:
Tired of thit
Buried Treasure
“Honey Do List’?
There are treasures to uncover
And adventures you can’t beat.
Sit back, relax, and let
There’s a jolly bunch of people
That Guy do it for you!
Whom I know you’d like to meet.
They’re all there, waiting for you,
I K .
If you’ll take the time to look.
Waiting just to be discovered
In the pages of some book.
Library staff will be happy to provide these newspaper articles and library board
minutes to anyone interested in reading them. (The hand-written minutes are a part of
history just by themselves.)
Spring Brings Baseball
Into Full Swing
Call That Guy for a helping hand...
(971)570-5226 - Local references
HAPPY 1ST
BIRTHDAY
W YA TT LEE
W O O D A LL!
Upcoming Library Events:
• Family Movie Night (Saturday, May 10th -7 p.m. — Snow Buddies)
• Chautauqua programs on May 12th (Birds as Metaphor in American Folk Music)
& May 22nd (1977 Championship Trail Blazers) both at 7 p.m.
• Ballot drop site until 8 p.m. May 20
• Book Discussion (Monday, May 26th -5:30 — Three Cups of Tea)
• Mature Movie Night (Thursday, May 29th — Rain Man)