Enter the Beaman Library and behold the veritable treasury of books, DVDs, audiobooks, and learning kits purchased for your use. Choose one or twenty, present your library card, and off you go. That is the uniqueness of the library transaction. This book or those DVDs are yours to borrow and they are, in a certain sense, totally free.
The library will trust you and have faith that you will not damage or steal the book. The library implicitly believes that you will return the book pretty much on time so that it can be shared again and again. Within this trust, the library only requires the briefest of personal information and extends to you a guarantee of privacy regarding those items checked out under your library card.
What a wonderful communal transaction from a public institution that exists only because the people in the community are taxed and a small percentage of that shared wealth is dedicated to the library. For nearly two centuries in West Boylston and nearly three in the State of Massachusetts it has been held as a civic virtue to fund and maintain a public library.
What other public institution shows such faith in your honesty, entrusts you without question, or provides you with as much entertainment or edification and yet leaves you alone to use it as you choose? In an age of instant gratification, it is easy to lose sight of the rarity of this type of social contract with our fellow citizens. And, if you have any long-overdue items tucked away somewhere at your house, know that we offer amnesty and full restitution of the privileges of your library card upon their return. No questions asked.
Louise Howland
Library Director
Please note: Beaman Library will be closed on Saturdays
from May 25 through August 31.
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of
Civil Rights, Washington, DC 20250-9410.
