Rutland Free Public Library, Rutland, Massachusetts

Mighty Mount Wachusett

There are visits that really make a lasting impression - places like Garden Grove, the Braddock Carnegie, and the Library of Congress come to mind. We recently visited the Rutland Free Public Library, in Rutland, Massachusetts, and - wow - it totally left a mark!

What made the visit so special? Let us count the ways! Plenty of space (16,000 sq ft), a large collection (75,000 items), cool and quirky features (free sunflower seedlings) - and, more than anything else - the people and spirit of the library. 

Rutland is a small community. There are just over 9,000 people and it sits at the geographic center of the state. By all impressions, it’s a sleepy place in many respects, a rural town, in a rural part of the state. 

The building is from 2001 and was designed by Wilson Raines. As is so often the case in this period, it is a pretty utilitarian space. Despite its age, the Rutland Free Public Library is in excellent condition. There was nothing apparent that seemed to want attention or repair.  

From the front of the building on Main Street, the library looks modest in size. As you pull around into the ample parking areas, you see that it’s actually quite large, and when you walk inside - wow - it’s way bigger than expected. The library this one replaced was just 1,600 square feet. The current library is ten times the size! What’s more, there is still unused space that could accommodate future growth. Pretty impressive planning.

The upper floor houses the library’s collection, and the lower one has a community room, a board room, a large space for the book sale, and the local cable access facility. For its size, there were a number of discrete spaces. The three study rooms caught our attention, as did the various seating areas. 

One of the things we really loved was the library’s homey feel. There was a cluster of houseplants around a south-facing window, including a whole load of sunflower seedlings. We later learned that these were free for the taking and were intended to honor the Ukrainian people. Across the library, a north-facing window provides a terrific view of Mt. Wachusett. 

It’s worth noting that the Rutland Free Public Library isn’t part of the regional CWMars network that serves the central and western part of the state, but rather MassCat, a network intended to support smaller libraries. As mentioned above, the collection is pretty large for a town this size. The collection is also extended through inter-library loan. The library’s large print collection sees a lot of circulation - both in Rutland and around the state. 

There’s a fair amount of technology available at the library - the standard fare - fast and easy wifi, public computers, printers, a copier, and fax. All of the equipment is owned, operated, and maintained by the library - which means no waiting for a vendor to come in to make a repair. That’s probably a bit of a double-edged sword, but we like the independence.

What we’ve described so far probably sounds like a pretty standard small-town library - and it is. So what made us so excited about our visit? In a word, the people. We were greeted upon arrival and the staff checked in to see if there was anything we needed. Everyone was happy to answer our questions and we observed really warm relations between the staff and patrons. This is a library that understands and responds to the needs of the community it serves.

Service is central to the Rutland Free Public Library and it’s something that the director, Kerry Remington, spoke with us about at some length. Our time with her was the highlight of the visit. She started as a part-time library assistant, then assistant director, and now director - a post she has held since 2009.   

Her belief in the importance of the library in the community was inspiring. She’s not some starry-eyed idealist though. She might even be viewed as a bit of a cynic, but she believes in the mission of the library. She believes in service to the community, and she believes in treating people right and with respect.

That attitude - and the fruit it bears - were on display all over the library. Let us share just a few examples. There are no library cards issued - the staff enters people’s names into the system and in many cases, they know their patrons by name. It creates a very friendly atmosphere. Then, there was the response to Covid. They did curbside pick-up early, still required at the time of our visit, and served as a vaccination site. A vaccination site that saw more than 100,000 people come through. In a town of fewer than 10,000. I’ll be honest, we were floored by that number.

Recognition for amazing work

This was one of the most optimistic and hopeful library visits we’ve been on in a while. There was such a positive vibe. It’s beautifully encapsulated in the Summer of Kindness theme at the library. It was a wonderful reminder that small libraries can have a huge impact. Not simply on the community they serve directly - but for people all over the region and all across the state.

We loved it!