Glens Falls public library movement — Part 1

It was an evening when only the devoted would venture out on a cold night to discuss culture.

“A day more dreary than yesterday it would be difficult to picture,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported on Oct.2,1888. “The cold rain, which began falling in the early morning and continued almost without intermission during the day, chilled humanity and made the region of coal fires desirable.”

Attendance was less than usual that evening at a meeting of The Lyceum, a local organization that held public lectures and cultural events, at Glens Falls Academy.

“The inclement weather conduced to a rather small attendance, but the proceedings were fully as interesting as usual.”

There were two noteworthy items of business that evening.

“A resolution was adopted extending an invitation to ladies to attend the meetings of the Lyceum.”

And the Rev. F.M. Cookson, Lyceum president, appointed a committee to study the feasibility of establishing a public library.

Committee members were the Rev. George B. Gow, pastor of First Baptist Church; the Rev. George L. Collyer, pastor of Glens Falls Methodist Episcopal Church; Sherman Williams, Glens Falls school superintendent and eventual co-founder of Crandall Library; the Rev. A. J. Fennel, pastor of First Presbyterian Church; and Professor D.C. Farr, principal of Glens Falls Academy.

The appointment was in response to Gow’s lecture that evening on the importance of public libraries.

“The reverend gentleman recommended a unity of movement; the consolidation of our present school libraries, and their use as a nucleus for a public library.”

Gow said that under state law, if a majority of tax payers in a town sign a petition, a town may levy a tax of $1 per voter — the equivalent of $30.43 in 2022 dollars — to establish a public library, and a tax of 50 center per voter per year in subsequent years to maintain the library.