One hundred years ago, on July 15, 1895, Jervis Public Library was ready to open its doors. The community was filled with expectation. Gala opening ceremonies were held outside, amidst fine, warm weather. Addresses were given by prominent citizens; a chorus provided musical interludes. The ceremonies inaugurated what would become a major public information center in central New York. Well before the 10:00 a.m. opening the next day, a number of children had arrived to compete in a contest to see who would take out the first book.
The library was named after the prominent nineteenth century engineer John Bloomfield Jervis, who in his will provided funds to found the facility. Though originally scheduled for another site, it was soon decided that the Jervis homestead would make an ideal location. Melville Dewey, inventor of the famous Dewey Decimal System for classifying books, helped draft Jervis Library's bylaws. The Jervis Library Association had been incorporated in 1894 by New York State Legislative Act.
John B. Jervis grew up in Rome (then called Fort Stanwix) in the early nineteenth century. He attended local public schools and was interested in higher education, but his family could not afford it. When the construction of the Erie Canal began in 1817, he was hired as an axeman. While working on this job he received an informal education as a civil engineer. By 1819 Jervis was resident engineer in charge of the canal's middle section. In four years he was superintendent of fifty miles of completed canal. In 1827 he became chief engineer on the Delaware and Hudson canal and railway system project.
In both canal and railway engineering, Jervis was a supreme innovator. At a time when railroads were just beginning to appear in America, he drew plans for the "Stourbridge Lion," the first locomotive to run on this continent. He also invented the swiveling, four-wheel "bogie" truck, to keep the engine from jumping the track when rounding curves. Mr. Jervis was chief engineer of the Croton Aqueduct, the supplier of abundant fresh water to New York City and a major engineering feat of its time. He directed completion of the Croton Aqueduct Dam and the Harlem River High Bridge. Retiring to his home in Rome in 1866, he was active in organizing the Rome Iron Mill, of which he was a trustee until his death. John B. Jervis remained dedicated to intellectual pursuits, most prominently engineering and religion. Ten years after his death in 1885, his home became Rome's public library. His personal collection featuring rare early railroad, canal, and aqueduct documents is still housed within Jervis Public Library.
When the library first opened, the collection was 8,500 volumes, plus many pamphlets, state and government publications, and other related materials. An annex was built in 1925 so the library could expand. In 1961 a modern library capable of housing 100,000 volumes was joined to the original Jervis house and annex. Further funds from endowment and the city were used in 1972 to enlarge the library's capacity to 150,000 volumes. In 1988 another addition, with elevator, was built to expand the library's main lobby and make accommodations for physical accessibility.
The first librarian was Marjorie Elizabeth Beach, a former teacher, and a grandniece of John B. Jervis. In the early days, the library was open seven hours a day, Monday through Saturday, but the time open each day was divided into three intervals. The public areas of the library were furnished with polished oak bookcases and comfortable chairs. All patrons were asked to register their visits in a book provided. Both the card catalog and the adult book shelves were accessed by the librarian only. Children's books, however, were on open shelving.
Members of the first Board of Trustees included Edward Comstock, Dr. W.J.P. Kingsley, W.D. Manro, and Dr. Thomas Macomb Flandreau. Mr. Comstock was the President of the first Board of Trustees. In 1881 and 1882 he had been Mayor of Rome. Dr. Kingsley was the Vice President of the first Board of Trustees. He was a medical doctor who in 1859 founded a hospital for the treatment of malignant growths. In Rome he also served as Mayor (from 1895 to 1899) and President of the Farmer's National Bank, which he helped organize. The first Secretary of the Board of Trustees was W.D. Manro, Superintendent of Schools in Rome. Dr. Thomas Macomb Flandreau, also a medical doctor, was not an officer of the first Board of Trustees, but was perhaps the most scholarly trustee. He spoke French and German fluently and wrote poetry. He helped found Rome Hospital.
The second head librarian was Eugenie Stevens, who held this position from 1900 to 1921. She was one of several who helped Librarian Beach catalog the original collection and was promoted to the directorships from her position as Miss Beach's assistant. Miss Stevens experimented for a while with opening the library on Sundays.
In Jervis Library's early years, funds were in short supply, and the library's growth was hampered by an austerity budget. A wave of improvements, however, hit the library during the early 1920's, including the building of the 1925 addition. At the forefront of many of these improvements was the library's energetic third librarian, Clara W. Bragg, who was in charge from 1922 to 1923. She was a dynamic, highly educated woman, who had studied literature and modern languages at Cornell University and had served as reference librarian at Columbia University. Under her regime Jervis Library opened a branch in East Rome.
From 1924 to 1958 Helen Salzman was the librarian. Coming to this position from several years' experience in other libraries, she had a very professional approach. She was constantly introducing improvements and innovations in areas ranging from instituting children's holiday story hours to devising a better system for reserving books.
When the new addition to the library had been built in 1925, the old part of the library, in the Jervis house, was also remodeled and refurbished. In 1931, Henrietta Huntington Wright died and left to Jervis Library an estate which from the time was considerable and which improved the library's funding. Miss Wright was a descendant of Benjamin Wright, John B. Jervis' supervisor during the construction of the Erie Canal.
Fifth Director William A. Dillon, educated and University of Pittsburgh and Columbia University, presided from 1958 until mid-1985 and spearheaded the transformation of the library into a major area cultural institution. Under Mr. Dillon's regime, both the 1961 and 1972 additions were built to provide space for up to 150,000 volumes. Over the years the library's circulation rose continually. The depth of the library's collection was such that author Alex Haley (Roots; co-author The Autobiography of Malcolm X) completed various writing projects at Jervis and publicly praised the library. Director Dillon organized the library's collection of John B. Jervis papers and engineering drawings; acquired the Bright and Huntington Historic Papers which were microfilmed and made available to scholars; unearthed John B. Jervis' handwritten autobiography and guided it to publication as The Reminiscences of John B. Jervis: Engineer of the Old Croton, edited by Neal FitzSimons; and in the early 1980's began the library's automation. In 1990, Roman Dr. F. Daniel Larkin, noted scholar and historian, published Jervis' biography John B. Jervis: An American Engineering Pioneer.
Carole Fraser Fowler, educated at Colby and Douglas Colleges and Rutgers University, became Jervis' sixth Director in 1985. Her focuses have included increased physical accessibility, via the 1988 addition, and incorporating new technologies in order to access a wider range of information. Automated circulation of materials began in February 1986.
While Jervis Library remains committed to providing materials in traditional formats, computer technology and the Internet have revolutionized the library like nothing since the Dewey Decimal System. Computer automation has improved circulation and information services and increased the efficiency of record retention, communications, and office work. At a time when information is rapidly exceeding the bounds of print, access to the Internet has been recognized by New York State as one of critical importance to its citizens. Jervis Public Library has earned its Advanced Electronic Doorway Library status, awarded by the NYS Education Department and Board of Regents. New York State also underwrites statewide access to a diverse collection of commercial database services, dubbed “NOVEL,” which is available only through libraries within the state.
Internet access computers are in constant use by children, teens, and adults. Jervis is striving to meet the changing needs of its patrons by providing an increasing array of other technology-based services beyond the Internet, including multimedia computers in the Children’s Room, word processing for all ages, computer printouts at a nominal fee, a collection of circulating computer software and multimedia titles, and a website through which many of the library’s unique resources may be accessed without the need to visit the library building. The library acknowledges its role in introducing and assisting people with the technology it provides through its professional librarians, who offer periodic computer orientation and Internet training classes, and who assist and guide people in using library computers one-on-one.
As Jervis Library begins its second century, it is financially challenged by the increasing demands for electronic and telecommunications services while, at the same time, demand for traditional services shows little decline. Fortunately, thus far, the bulk of the library's hardware and software automation costs has been borne by grants, gifts, donations, and bequests. The Stevens Kingsley Foundation has been remarkably generous in responding to the library's special needs over many decades.
Jervis Library remains the most active in the Mid-York Library System, with 123,000 books, as well as a wide variety of magazines, newspapers, audio and video cassettes, DVDs, spoken word materials, computer software, and CD-ROMs, for total holdings of over 148,000 items. The library is used by an average of 800 people daily and circulates about 300,000 items annually. Patrons come to the library not only from Rome, but from many surrounding communities as well. Librarians answer over 50,000 reference questions each year.
In addition to providing information, research resources, education, and creative use of leisure time, the library sponsors many special services, including adult lectures, author visits & book discussion series, and numerous teen and children's programs, activities and events. Jervis’ Youth Advisory Committee, a volunteer group of teens, helps the library respond to the needs of its young patrons.
Through parallel development of both traditional services and technology, Jervis Library continuously seeks to expand its vistas and capabilities to meet the challenges of the future.
This page updated 7/2/2004