The Very First Director

Although we didn't officially open the library doors until April 2, 1962, the DeWitt Community Library Association Inc. had been formed and planning the official opening of the library for quite a few years prior to that date. The organization and purpose of the library, as well as the process of joining the OCPL network, involved many months of drafting and discussion before the place you know today as DeWitt Community Library could be achieved.

Right now, we are involved in a big change, as our longtime Director Susan Reckhow recently left the DCL to pursue a new career opportunity. So we thought this would be a good time to take a look back -- way, way back -- at the very first library Director, a man by the name of Lindsay Smith. Back at the library's conception, the formal position of Director didn't exist just yet; Mr. Smith's title was simply Librarian, as he was the only librarian on staff when the doors opened in the spring of '62. Today, we find ourselves in a very similar position to the one back then, as we are in the process both of a Director search and a search for land to construct a free standing library. In the Board of Trustees meeting minutes dated September 7, 1961, secretary Bettie Roth notes that "George Heine . . . . announced that space under the Candlelight Shop will be available on October 1, 1961," however, he "also presented some blueprints prepared by Jack Robertson on August 23, 1961. The prints were four sets of plans for a split level library for erection on land donated by Eagan in Shoppingtown. These plans are all very tentative and looking forth many years into the future."

Although the library building project was put on hold, they did find a Director. In the notes for that same meeting, "Betty Smingler gave her report concerning the hiring of a librarian. She has spoken with Mr. Lindsay Smith who is a staff member in the English Department at Jamesville DeWitt High School. A graduate of Syracuse University, he has a M.A. in library science specializing in public library administration. He was a member of the library Board of Trustees of the local library in Ilion, New York." The Board also discussed the prospective librarian's salary "as set forth in the temporary budget. . . . Bettie Roth moved that Mr. Lindsay Smith be invited to be a librarian of the DeWitt Community Library Association Inc. at the rate of $3.00 an hour for 18 hours a week." This would amount to a yearly salary of about $2,800; fast forward to 1996, when Susan Reckhow was offered the same position at a salary of $30,000 a year.

So, Lindsay Smith was offered the position and invited to attend the next month's board meeting. Back then, there was still no formal library in which to meet. The Board and staff wouldn't actually be given keys to their space in Shoppingtown until a month before opening, so meetings of the Library Assocation were held in the Community Room of the Lincoln Bank Building. Accordingly, Lindsay Smith showed up at Lincoln Bank on Tuesday, September 26, 1961 and formally "accepted the proposition we voted to offer him. He has discussed his intention with Mr. McGee and is ready to go to work. This solves our most immediate and pressing problem and we can consider ourselves very fortunate in view of the shortage of librarians." He "was introduced to the board members and verbally accepted position of librarian . . . for the period of October 1, 1961 to September 30, 1962. Lindsay discussed kinds of books to be ordered and the total aim and type of library we hope to develop for the Town of Dewitt."

Smith's career as Director lasted until the library had been open for one year. Sadly, "because of Mrs. Smith's death" he resigned his position on April 4, 1963, and another librarian, Kay Kinney, took over the position. But during his time with the DCL, Lindsay Smith was very productive in all aspects of the Association. Back in 1961, when the library's balance sheets were written in longhand on legal paper, there are several checks noted for various amounts of money he donated to the library; he organized a massive book drive and coordinated the notation and cataloguing of hundreds of donated books to start up the collection, including hand choosing which of the donations would go into the loaning collection and which would be sold for additional start-up funds; and he did much of the leg-work of setting up the physical space, planning layout and furniture.

Click on the thumbnails below for full-size views of Lindsay Smith and other key members of the first library Board, and the Dedication Litany that was read the day the DeWitt Community Library opened.