By Florence Goodman

It's almost 200 years since our library had its humble beginnings in the Congregational Church. This year some major changes are planned for the structure that opened its doors on Bound Line Road in 1970. Change for our library has been slow, but steady and dates back to the early 1800s.

In 1828 Dr. William Andrus Alcott was the Sunday School Superintendent at the Congregational Church. Dr. Alcott was an educator, medical doctor as well as cousin to Amos Bronson Alcott. He graduated from Yale with a medical degree, but his love for education and books was also important to him. As Sunday School Superintendent, he wanted books for his pupils to read so he made a gift of twenty books to the church and established the first town library. The library was housed in and supported by the church for almost one hundred years.

An air of unrest was felt in the Congregational Church in 1839 when Reverend Chapman became pastor. He was a strong anti-slavery proponent, but not everyone in the parish agreed with his ideas. An anti-slavery meeting was scheduled in the church on December 12, 1839. The night before this meeting, someone placed gunpowder with a slow wick in the stove. Shortly after 9:00 p.m. an explosion was heard, but it wasn't until after midnight that someone saw the church in flames. By morning the church was reduced to ashes; there was no library from 1839-1843. The Church dissolved its relationship with Reverend Chapman and began plans for a new church. The new church was completed in 1843, and the library was once more up and running with a $100 donation from Preserve Carter. The new library was housed at the entrance of the new church.

Stephen Rogers served as pastor of the church from 1859-1863. He was a strong supporter of the church library, but poor health caused him to give up his pastorate. Before he retired, he donated 133 volumes to the church library. In September of 1873 the Congregational Church Parish celebrated its Centennial. The library was expanded when town leaders, including Amos Bronson Alcott donated books as part of this celebration. Alcott's donation included works by the Concord authors: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

The library continued to grow while housed in the church. From 1912 to 1917 Reverend Furness served as pastor. During his pastorate he expanded the number of books in the library and built a container in which to store the books. Beecher Memorial Parish Hall was presented to the townspeople in 1915 and given into the custody of the church. It became the new home of the library, which continued to grow for ten more years.

In 1924 the library was moved into our newly built Town Hall. It was housed in a room off the entryway where it remained until 1957 when renovations required it to move once again. The Center School was being used for town offices, so the library was moved into the basement of the Center School. Sixteen months later, when Town Hall renovations were completed, the town offices were moved back to Town Hall leaving the entire Center School building available. In 1959 the library was moved from the basement of the Center School to its new home upstairs, taking over the entire building. This served as our public library until the present library was opened on Bound Line Road.

The Center School Library continued to rapidly grow; records showed that in 1966 book circulations climbed to a new high of 18,601 and 369 new borrowers were enrolled. Library hours were increased to 32 hours per week. Space was at a premium at the Center School library so First Selectman, Edward Bagley had the old vault emptied to add floor space, but this was only a temporary fix. A meeting was held with the State Librarian to discuss inadequate space issues and availability of State and Federal grants.

Soon a Library Study Committee was established with Nicholas D'Agostino as Chairman, John H. Washburne as Vice-Chairman and Mrs. Florence Marino as Secretary. The other members were Reverend Sherman Andrews (Episcopal Church), David Herbst, Mrs. Ann Donahue, Alexander Nole, Robert Ducham, Richard Opper and Dr. Charles C. Sasso, Jr. They discussed the need for a new public library and made recommendations on location and size of the library.

In the1967-68 fiscal year a Library Building Committee was established with Alexander Nole serving as chairman. The members were: Francis Byrnes, John Keating, Joseph Ciarlo, Mrs. Gloria Lanosa, Mrs. Geraldine D. Cullen, Martin McCallum, Gloria D'Agostino, Dr. Charles C. Sasso, Jr., Robert Ducham, Edson Seymour, Lucian Helaire, Mrs. Isabelle Way, David Herbst and Earl L. Wooster, Jr. The unique look of the new library was the brainchild of landscape architect Leslie Searle who believed that a building must fit into the topography of the land.

Our library became a reality in 1970. Volunteers agreed to help move the books from the Center Street location to the new Bound Line Road location starting on October 17, 1970. The Center Street library closed on October 16th and the new structure opened on its formal dedication of October 25, 1970, with over 1000 people in attendance. Alexander Nole, stated it was, "a dream come true." First Selectman, Edward Bagley, said, "a momentous step forward in the life of the town of Wolcott." He also remarked that there had been controversy over the design of the building, but he believed it turned out to be a "forward looking structure" that reflected the attitudes of the townspeople. The building budget was $375,000, but Wolcott only paid $275,000 because of a $100,000 state grant.

In 1994 the Library's Youth Room was named for Alexander Nole whose 30 plus years of hard work and dedication helped to make the library a reality. The Junior Women's Club chose the library youth room as its special project raising funds for furniture, books, and cassettes for this new room. They also donated $5000 towards the development of the room by selling signed prints, note cards and post cards of the town Green by artist Tracy Sugarman.

Today the Library has morphed into a bustling community center offering residents a variety of books, technology and programs. These changes were gradual, but very significant. Sue Ouelette, who served as the Children's librarian for many years added a variety of programs for children. In 2018 Sue became the new library director and the programs continued to grow. She retired in August 2024 and the new library director; Matt Earls took over with the same continued enthusiasm. There are now programs offered for almost any age level and interest group. You can find programs offered at all hours of operation as well. The library has also become a meeting place for those students enrolled in home-school programs.

If you have not stopped recently by the library, give it a try, you will be pleasantly surprised. The Wolcott Public Library has come a long way from those early years in the Congregational Church when the first 20 books were donated back in 1828. Now it's exciting to see what the new addition holds for the future of our library. I will be giving a PowerPoint presentation on the library history on March 13th at 2:00pm.

(Information for this article was taken from "The Town of Wolcott Annual Reports from 1966, 1969, 1971", Waterbury Republican American articles October, February 1968, 1970, August 1989,December 1989, 1992, June 1994, August 6, 1995, 2005, "The Wolcott Congregational Church 1773-1948" by Rose E. Wakelee, 1948,"The 175th Anniversary 1796-1971" by John Washburne, "The Meeting House Atop of Benson's Hill" by John Washburne; an article written by Arlene Archambault, "A Sculpture in the Woods."; and an interview with Matt Earls, February 2025).

Sketch of the First Congregational Church 1773.

Sketch of newly built Congregational Church 1843.

Dr. William Andrus Alcott

Beecher Memorial Parish House 1915

New Town Hall 1923

Alex Nole, Mary Hunt and Margie Smith, 1980

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