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Library to pack up quirky history

Looking for the 1924 Largo High yearbook? Hankering to see the Fonz's signature? Curious about a French princess' letters?

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY
Published May 23, 2005

LARGO - Lost in the hype and anticipation over the July 31 grand opening of Largo's $21-million library is a smaller, far less glitzy building that has satiated thirsty minds, saved procrastinating students and entertained children for more than 30 years.

The county's most used library (an average of 1,400 visitors pass through each day) is moving to a new home. But before the shelves are cleared and the doors closed at 351 East Bay Drive, the St. Petersburg Times took a look to see what made this particular library special.

At almost any library a visitor can explore the thoughts of Plato, go on adventures with Huck Finn and get spooked by Stephen King. However Largo's collection also includes forgotten love letters from French royalty, a president's autograph, the works of a local surrealist, one of the state's most extensive genealogy collections and bricks from Largo High School's old building.

Largo's first library was created on April 7, 1916, by the Largo Woman's Club and occupied a room in the old Town Hall. The librarian, Marie Allen, was paid $2 a week to watch over 560 volumes. A week later, the widow of an Ohio doctor made a donation, helping the collection to grow to 652 books.

Today, the library has more than 227,000 items and 53,655 registered users, more than half of them coming from outside Largo. About 300 questions come through the adult reference desk each day, said Olga Koz, the library's information services manager.

Some questions puzzle the eight people working on the reference desk, but they almost always find the answer. Koz shared some of the more interesting questions:

What cuts (parts) of cow are safe to eat if it has a mad cow disease? BSE (mad cow disease) has never been found in the muscle-meat of cattle. The prohibited parts are brain, spine, thymus, tonsils, spleen and intestine.

Who would sell corrugated roofing material to Cuba?

The United States has a trade embargo in place with certain countries, including Cuba.

Librarians are dealing with more than challenging questions. Library-sponsored Harry Potter events brought controversy from some Christian groups who aren't fond of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The one question that does stump Koz: Who steals the books on the Wiccan religion weeks after they make it to the shelves?

Books don't discriminate, therefore the library is visited by all walks of life. Fran Fedor, who works on the reference desk, answers questions from a lot of the younger clientele.

"Because I work on Sunday afternoons, I see a lot of students because it's due tomorrow," Fedor said.

She said that most students don't know of the extensive databases the library spent $20,000 subscribing to this year. By using their library cards, students can access them from home.

"A lot of times kids will turn on their heels," Fedor said. "Access from home? I'm outta here."'

Another little known service is the Ask-A-Librarian virtual reference desk. By going to www.asklargo.com patrons can chat live with a librarian online.

Sometimes Fedor receives thank-you notes from people whose questions she answered.

"It's nice. Where else in our society can you get service for free? Where they're not trying to sell you something on the other end?" she said.

The library gives away free service but also takes in just about anything.

"It seems like the library became sort of an archive," said Casey McPhee, the assistant library director, picked to be the new library's director.

McPhee points to iron gates in the foyer of the library that will have to find a new home. The gates were originally used in an old bank building in 1920.

The local history section has Largo High School yearbooks, the oldest from 1924.

In 2000, the genealogy collection of more than 9,000 books was recognized by the Florida State Genealogical Society with the Genealogy Outstanding Achievement Award. The collection includes complete U.S. Census records from 1790 to 1920.

Ethelyn Woodlock, an artist and shell collector who moved to Largo, donated several of her works to the library. She said she spoke to ghosts in her New Jersey mansion.

Giant posters of letters and pictures autographed and sent by 1970s celebrities are also stuffed in one of the building's many crowded offices. The letter-writing campaign asked celebrities to encourage children to read.

"As a child, I spent a lot of time playing outdoor sports, but I also loved to read," wrote tennis phenom Billie Jean King. "Reading gave me a chance to step into someone else's shoes for a while and share their experiences and that was great fun for me."

"Learning to read was the most exciting event of my childhood," wrote children's author Beverly Cleary.

The television star known as "the Fonz" sent an autographed picture. "Dear Students! Self respect is cool. Reading is cool. And I have heard through the grapevine that you are cool. Love, Henry Winkler 1979."

Other notables include President Jimmy Carter, Darth Vader, the Muppets, Paul Newman, Walter Cronkite and Judy Blume.

Perhaps the greatest mystery of the Largo's collection is a box of letters written in beautiful, faded script on browning paper. Written in French, some of the letters are presumed to be from Princess Louise de Caraman Chimay, possibly the mistress of Napoleon III. Included in the box is her will from 1798. The box of letters was donated to the library, which tried to track down family members in France but couldn't find any.

Another stack of letters in the box are dated 1924.

"I kiss your dear hands and I clasp them in mine. Always, Henry," one says, translated from French to English.

"You have to watch out that you don't become a museum," said the library's director of 35 years, Barbara Murphey, who will retire Aug. 5. "On the other hand, you want things that are interesting."

When Murphey was hired, the Largo Library was a small building on Fourth and Cleveland with four employees and a $10,000 book budget.

Today, the library has more than 60 employees. And the book budget?

"Well, we're kind of into the $300,000 range," Murphey said.

The library isn't just about books anymore. DVDs, CDs, computer games, magazines and books-on-tape are stacked on the jam-packed shelves. Murphey isn't sure what is going to happen to all the quirky and interesting artifacts the library has collected over the years, but she is sure the new library will be a good combination of old and new.

"That building has that flexibility," Murphey said. "I wanted a building that respects the past and looked to the future."

Christina Himes brought her grandsons Michael Beasley, 6, and Devin Beasley, 5, to the library Thursday. Because she'll be babysitting this summer, she expects the trip to be the first of many.

She thought the experience would give them something more educational to do than sit around and watch television all summer. Michael is just learning how to read. He loves books about Christmas, and Grandma will take him to the new library once it opens to check more out. This week, he'll get his first library card.

[Last modified May 23, 2005, 01:23:18]