Date: Fri 30-Jan-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

Betty-Downs-Booth-library

Full Text:

Former Booth Librarian Betty Downs: `I Hope Nothing Ever Takes The Place Of

Books'

(with cuts)

BY DOROTHY EVANS

When longtime reference library employee Maureen Armstrong remarked recently

about the festive Gala and Grand Opening ceremonies held January 10 and 11 at

the Cyrenius H. Booth Library, she said that "the whole world came."

Judging from the number of Newtowners attending both events, Mrs Armstrong

wasn't far off the mark.

It seemed that everyone who had either volunteered, raised funds, or had been

in some way involved with the 17-month renovation project was there.

But one well-known resident was not there who surely deserved to be -- former

Head Librarian Betty Downs.

Mrs Downs held the front desk position for 15 years between 1971 and 1986,

taking over from longtime Head Librarian Sarah Mitchell.

Since she has not been feeling well lately, she decided she would tour the

"new" library at 25 Main Street at a later time, in a more leisurely manner.

"I haven't been to the library since they closed, but I'll be back again. What

I miss most is the people," she said.

She spoke recently from her comfortable chair in the living room of the

Stevenson Road homestead she has shared with her husband of 58 years, Lawrence

Downs.

The couple has lived in his family home since 1940, the year they were

married. He was born in the house 81 years ago.

"Jane Campbell and Maureen [Armstrong] will take me around and show me all the

new spaces," Mrs Downs said with obvious anticipation.

She added that all the changes might be hard to absorb at once, especially

since when she was director the library was one-third its present size.

"We used the card catalogue to look everything up. That shows you how long ago

it was," she joked.

A Friendly, Social Place

Mrs Downs remembers exactly when she took the helm. It was December 10, 1971,

the day Sarah Mitchell retired. Before that, she had been a part-time

employee.

"I remember Henrietta Whitley, a librarian who lived to be 100. She died at

Glen Hill. I learned a great deal from working with her. She definitely kept

up with modern ways. If there had been computers then, she would have had one.

I took her job when she had to leave. Then I went to Mrs Mitchell," Mrs Downs

recalled.

In those days, life at the Cyrenius H. Booth Library was decidedly informal if

not downright social.

"The librarians made almost more noise than the patrons," she joked.

The Senior Center had not really "gotten off the ground" yet, so the library

was the place for many older residents to meet and enjoy themselves.

"And there were so many New Yorkers who would come in over the weekends. We

had an art show every month with special shows at Christmastime."

And the collection was much smaller ("The bookcases only were built part way

up the outside walls, not to the ceiling.")

The upstairs of the old building was used mainly as a museum and for storage,

and the children's room was downstairs to the left of the front entrance.

"I remember when my hardest decision was whether or not to open the children's

room because of bad weather threatening.

"Not that parents would use it as a baby-sitting space," she added with a

twinkle in her blue eyes, but the staff did not want the children to be

stranded there if a snowstorm blew into town.

Little Money

Looking back, Mrs Downs mentioned that the library had no computers to pay for

and continually upgrade.

"That wasn't until after I left," she said, adding that with the expanded

library and all its needs, "I think we need another Mary Hawley in town."

In the early years, "we were not tax supported at all. It was all Mary

Hawley's money set aside for library programs and maintenance," and their own

fundraisers that kept them going.

"I even remember once a man complained because one of the librarians wouldn't

let him use the phone," she said.

"The staff was small and we were like a happy family."

It was Mrs Downs who asked current Booth reference librarian Maureen Armstrong

if she wanted to work there.

"She's the only original one from my time. She's a good worker, a real peach,"

Mrs Downs said.

Back then, the library board was a "self-perpetuating group. They thought this

was a perfect place and they wanted to keep it that way. The meetings were

closed and the doors were barred."

"For 17 years or so, we got absolutely no money from the town except for

insurance," she added.

Though the town was smaller and fewer people used the library on a daily

basis, the patrons were often familiar faces to the staff.

"We all tried to call people by their first names, remember if they had been

on a vacation and inquire if they'd had a good time."

All in all, she said that today's new and expanded library was probably

necessary to serve the town's growing population, and the advent of computers

had made a huge difference in what a library could offer its patrons.

"But I hope nothing ever takes the place of books," Mrs Downs said.

Stevenson Road Homestead

Betty and Larry Downs live in a rambling white farmhouse with a handsome red

barn and outbuildings set on five acres. The property is on a wooded rocky

slope directly off Route 34 and it backs up to the Paugussett State Forest.

It is in the extreme southeast corner of Newtown, practically in Monroe, with

the Stevenson dam only a short distance down the road.

Mrs Downs said that when she was library director, she found the commute to

and from work was long enough that she didn't come home for lunch.

"Instead, I'd go to the luncheonette nearby and take a book to read," she

said.

The Downs family property used to include 125 acres and at one time they kept

horses, cows and chickens, but over the years the family sold off most of it.

"Larry remembers when they put in the road, in 1932. Actually, I think the

state owns our front porch," she joked, referring to the possibility that

Route 34 might someday be widened.

Fortunately, "they ran out of money, so we still have the porch."

Unfortunately, sitting there on a summer day and having a conversation is near

to impossible today.

"There is so much noise from the traffic," she noted.

The Downs' two children live out of state and "they aren't interested in

keeping the property. But we'll stay here as along as we are able," she added.

They both enjoy watching the birds that pay daily visits to their feeders, and

Mrs Downs anticipates the return in early spring of two mallards to a nearby

pond.

"We swear they are the same two ducks that come back every year."

Just that morning, a flock of 20 turkeys had paraded through the back yard.

Though she has some difficulty getting around these days, Betty Downs

continues to do exactly what you would expect of a former librarian -- she

reads voraciously.

"I've got Danielle Steele's The Ranch , the new Sandra Brown [ Fat Tuesday ],

and the latest Sidney Sheldon," she said, pointing to a pile of books heaped

on the table beside her chair.

It is clear that nothing will ever take the place of books in Betty Downs'

life.