A Little Backstory...
The residents of Worcester still hungered for local library services in their own neighborhoods even after the three Carnegie branches opened in the Greendale, Quinsigamond, and South Worcester areas. As mentioned in previous posts, the Worcester Public Library used delivery stations in private houses and stores to fill the needs of the expanding city prior to the opening of those branches. In fact, many of the delivery stations and school deposits actually continued beyond the branch openings in 1914! According to a 1961 history of the Billing Square Branch, Worcester Public Library continued to contribute materials to several delivery stations as well as school services (small collections of library materials housed in schoolrooms, with periodic refreshing of the collections) and deposit services in factories and other locations. However, the delivery stations were not substitutes for actual branches or similar services. The Annual Report for the year ending November 30, 1917 recommended discontinuing the Grafton Square delivery station in favor of the extension service.
In 1919, the city renamed Grafton Square as Billings Square in memory of Private Henry Billings, who died in World War I.
1928: A New Library Branch Opens
The Worcester newspapers first reported in March 1928 that the Worcester Public Library's board of directors sought to open a new library branch at Billings Square. A month later, one of the board members stated that Mayor Michael J. O'Hara assured him that the library would receive the city funding to open the branch. By July, the library board's special committee on branch libraries voted to accept a five year lease for a storefront at 353 Grafton Street (at the intersection of Orient and Grafton Streets), which would be the location of the newly named Billings Square Branch. In August, the committee announced that Miss Edith L. Mooney of the children's department of the Main Library would head the new branch when it opened on September 10.
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| Original Billings Square Branch Location |
We actually have a copy of Miss Mooney's report to the library board dated October 1, 1928 in a scrapbook on the early years of Billings Square Branch. In it, she reports on the first couple of days in the life of the branch. Apparently the first couple of days were so busy that the branch used police officers for crowd control, and the branch allowed only 15 children in at a time while locking the door between groups. By the end of the first day, the branch had turned away over 200 children because it was so popular (While waiting to enter the building, "one little girl lost her tooth and was escorted home by a policeman.")! The branch also issued over 1300 cards by the first Saturday evening and the collection was so popular that on one of the days they only had 353 books (300 adult books and 53 juvenile books) left on the shelves out of the 1775 books in the collection!
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| Excerpt from Copy of Report to the Board, October 1, 1928, Edith Loring Mooney |
Wherein the Billings Square Branch Gets a Shiny New Building
In March 1929, the library sought to purchase a vacant lot at the corner of Hamilton and Dupont Streets owned by Napoleon P. Huot to be used to build the new Billings Square Branch. G. Adolph Johnson was the architect for the Colonial-style building and L. Rocheford & Son won the contract to build it. The city ultimately spent approximately $75,000 to acquire the land and build the library.
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| "Sketch of New Public Library Branch," Worcester Evening Gazette, August 10, 1929 |
Construction of the library branch at 15 Hamilton Street was completed in spring 1930 and the old location was closed to the public on Friday April 25, 1930 to allow for the move of books and equipment to the new branch. That evening, several hundred people attended the dedication ceremony in the basement auditorium of the new building (an article published one week prior to the dedication indicated the auditorium had a capacity of 300 people and was the only auditorium in any of the branches!). The newly built branch staffed by Miss Mooney and five additional library employees opened for borrowing books the following day. The Worcester Police Department then took over the former Billings Square branch space to use as a police substation once the library vacated.
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| "Library Dedication Tonight," Worcester Telegram, April 25, 1930 |
The Billings Square scrapbook featured photos of a couple of staff members from the first year of the building and we figured it might be fun to share them!
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| Photos of Three Staff Members of the Billings Square Branch, July 1930, Billings Square Scrapbook |
Billings Square Branch Through the Years
The Billings Square Branch served its community over the years, with programs, reading contests for children, community meetings (including Boy Scouts and Girl Scout troops), political rallies, collections for the specific needs of its population, and much more. Billings Square's immigrant population made it necessary for the branch to carry materials in French, Polish, Lithuanian, and Arabic. The Annual Report for the year ending November 30, 1931 reported that one of the popular items at the Billings Square Branch was a Syrian newspaper from New York in Arabic that cost $10 per year.
During the Great Depression the branch held a "Hard Times Party." We cannot confirm whether this party was for staff or for the general public.
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| Undated Invitation to the "Hard Times Party!" at Billings Square Branch, Billings Square Scrapbook |
During World War II, the branch's basement served as headquarters for Ward 4 of the Draft Board.
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| "All Youths 18 to 20 Must Register Tomorrow," Worcester Telegram, June 29, 1942 |
In the aftermath of World War II, the Grafton Hill Unit 323 of the American Legion Auxiliary donated a Webster's Dictionary to the Billings Square Branch in memory of the 13 local men who died during the war.
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| Gold Star Mothers Honored, Worcester Telegram, May 21, 1947 |
The branch was always popular with children and families, as evidenced by the images below.
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| Undated photo from the Billings Square Branch |
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| Clipping in the Billings Square Scrapbook, Summer 1936 |
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| "Summertime, And..." Worcester Telegram, September 2, 1977 |
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| Billings Square April School Vacation Program: Bike Safety, April 18, 1978 |
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| "Young Man with a Beef," Worcester Telegram, July 15, 1981 |
The End of the Billings Square Branch
Unfortunately, the budget cuts of the 1980s hit the Worcester Public Library hard, including at the Billings Square Branch. The Worcester Telegram article reported in its October 22, 1982 issue that the latest proposal would only keep the Billings Square Branch open three days a week for 24 hours. Proposition 2 1/2 forced the closure of all of the library branches of Worcester Public Library in May 1990 (only the Great Brook Valley Branch and the then-named Greendale Branch eventually reopened).
The former Billings Square Branch remained vacant and sustained vandalism for several years before it was eventually sold in 1994 to a private group and was then used as a real estate office. The building now houses a hookah bar.
Sources:
"All Youths 18 to 20 Must Register Tomorrow." (1942, June 29). Worcester Telegram, p. 3.
"Attend Dedication of Branch Library." (1930, April 26). Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 2.
"Award Contract for New Branch Library." (1929, July 31). Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 21.
"Billings Square Library Opened." (1928, September 10). Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 13.
"Board Favors Branch Library." (1928, March 20). Worcester Telegram, p. 4.
"Branch Library to Be at Billings Square. (1928, July 10). Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 11.
"Branch Library Now Assured." (1928, April 17). Worcester Telegram, p. 1.
"Branch Library Opening is Held." (1928, September 11). Worcester Telegram, p. 4.
"City Dedicates Branch Library." (1930, April 26). Worcester Telegram, p. 1.
Cowan, Mrs. F. (1961). Billings Square.
"Exercises will Open New Branch Library." (1930, April 18). Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 15.
Kostopoulos, N. (1993, April 26). "Billings Square Branch Offers Being Accepted." Worcester Telegram & Gazette, p. B3.
Kotsopoulos, N. (1994, June 18). "City to Sell Branch Library." Worcester Telegram & Gazette, p. A2.
Kotsopoulos, N. (2017, February 14). "Former Library Branch Approved as Hookah Bar - Residents, Building Owner Work Out Differences." Worcester Telegram & Gazette, p. A4.
"Librarian to Recommend 1-Day Cut at Tatnuck Branch." (1982, October 22). Worcester Telegram, p. 8.
"Library Branch Nears Completion." (1930, March 13). Worcester Telegram, p. 13.
"Library Dedication Tonight." (1930, April 25). Worcester Telegram, p. 12.
"Library Plans are Discussed." (1928, October 23). Worcester Telegram, p. 2.
"Miss Mooney to Head New Library Branch." (1928, August 23). Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 6.
Mooney, E. L. (1928, October 1). Copy of Report to the Board, October 1, 1928.
"Move Library Branch from Billings Square." (1930, March 12). Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 2.
"New Library Branch for Billings Square." (1928, September 6). Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 4.
"Present Dictionary as War Memorial." (1947, May 21). Worcester Telegram, p. 11.
"Publicity Drive for Library Urged." (1929, September 19). Worcester Telegram, p. 2.
"Seek to Purchase Site for Library.' (1929, March 9). Worcester Telegram, p. 4.
Seymour, S. (1985, January 27). The Story Behind the Stacks. Worcester Sunday Telegram, p. F3.
"Sketch of New Public Library Branch." (1929, August 10). Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 1.
"Summertime, And..." (1977, September 2). Worcester Telegram, p. 14.
"To Investigate Sites for Library." (1929, January 23). Worcester Telegram, p. 3.
"Vote to Enlarge Branch Library." (1928, November 27). Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 3.
Winkelhaus, J.K. (1961, April 21). "Library Branch Marks 33rd Year." Worcester Evening Gazette, p. 22.
"Young Man with a Beef." (1981, July 15). Worcester Telegram, p. 4.
