General Info:
A New Chapter For The Town Book Store On January 6, 2007, we celebrated the Grand Opening of our new storefront at 270 E. Broad Street, which is under the new ownership of Anne Laird ( Westfield native and former Town Book Store employee ). The move is a homecoming of sorts for the bookstore, which after 72 years in its former location has moved to the site of Westfield's first library, built in 1906 with a grant from Andrew Carnegie. Our new shop is prominently positioned at the eastern gateway to Westfield's historic downtown, with large windows facing Mountain Avenue, East Broad and Elmer Streets. Ample parking is available along the street and in a large public lot behind the store. A courtyard walkway leads to the entrance of the new shop, just a few doors down from the Rialto Theater. The bright, inviting space includes leather seating for browsers and a reading table for children. An updated computer system provides speedy inventory searches for new and out-of-print books. As always, individualized attention like special orders, personal recommendations, and free used and out-of- print book searches remain a mainstay of our business. In the latter part of the 19th century, the public library movement began to grow. People believed that libraries could be forces for moral good and should be open to all. In fact, in a 1905 speech promoting the establishment of the Westfield Library, Westfield resident and Library Trustee Salter S. Clark claimed that Westfield would be better off spending its tax dollars on a library rather than an additional policeman because the moral benefit that a library could bring would be far greater than that of a policeman. Philanthropist and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie also believed very strongly in the good that public libraries could bring. Largely self-educated, he had benefited from using a Pittsburgh library on his way to becoming one of the richest men in the world. He was an advocate of democracy and capitalism and favored Let There Be Lightover the doorways of library buildings. Carnegie funded a huge grant program that resulted in over 2500 library buildings libraries across the English-speaking world from 1898 to 1917. Westfield applied for a $10, 000 Carnegie grant in 1905. Westfield voters, all men at the time, had to vote to agree to support the library with $1000 of tax revenue per year. Fortunately, a majority of men supported the ladies' movement, the grant was awarded, and the original Carnegie library was completed in 1906. An architectural treasure and true Westfield landmark, an addition to the original building now houses Town Book Store. Look carefully on the Elmer Street side and you will see the author's name Hawthorneover one of the windows. That is a hint to the building's rich past. No doubt the members of the Every Saturday Book Club are smiling down on the many Westfield book lovers, and the building, which are their legacy.