MASONRY  IN  NORTH  DAKOTA

Chapter 20

GRAND LODGE LIBRARY

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 WHEN NORTH DAKOTA Masons and their guests » ' gather in Fargo in June 1964, to observe the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Grand Lodge A.'. F.'. & A.'. M.'. of North Dakota, they will be reminded that they are also celebrating the diamond jubilee of the Masonic Grand Lodge Library. We are told that when the property of the Territorial Grand Lodge was divided the library went to South Dakota with all of the other personal property and we were paid in cash. However, a good brother from the north presented our Grand Lodge with a book on Masonic history as a nucleus for a new library and thus our Grand Lodge Library began at the same time as the Grand Lodge.

            It was M.'. W.'. Theodore S. Parvin, Past Grand Master and for nearly fifty years Grand Secretary of Iowa, who at our first annual communication in June 1890 at Grand Forks, immortalized his name in North Dakota by the gift of 881 bound volumes with which to start a Masonic Grand Lodge Library. His generous gift was gratefully accepted by M.'. W.'. James W. Cloes, Grand Master, and a room in the Masonic Temple at Fargo was designated as a library, the books were insured, and funds were set aside for the administration of this new and important function of the Grand Lodge.

            By 1893 M.’. W.'. Frank J. Thompson, Past Grand Master, had become Grand Secretary and Grand Librarian. Then unexpected tragedy befell Masonry in Fargo. The Masonic Temple was destroyed by fire June 7, 1893, and with it practically all of the library. However, it developed that the Grand Secretary's office in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, could still supply unbound proceedings and some other books, so, with $1,800.00 of insurance on hand, Grand Librarian Thompson was able to replenish his book shelves at a cost of $2,062.71, and was "back in business" once more. In order to cover the increased expenses caused by the fire, the Grand Lodge voted a ten cent per capita assessment for the library which was adopted for three years. It finally developed that only one-fifth of the original library had been saved. It is interesting to note that the insurance was then raised to $3,000.00 and now, in 1962, is $120,000.00.

            With the building of the new Masonic Temple in 1899-1900, the Grand Lodge moved into commodious and semi-fireproof quarters, with adequate vault space, and the library has expanded rapidly through the years. In 1902 Grand Secretary Thompson reported: "I have begun a scientific catalogue of the library under the Dewey system, with my own adaptation of that system to the Masonic volumes contained in the library." He continued to develop the library in a general way, useful for his day and age and his objectives were thus completely defined and particularized. M.'. W.'. Frank J. Thompson passed away February 10, 1910.

            When M.’. W.'. Walter L. Stockwell, also a Past Grand Master, Grand Secretary and Grand Librarian, took over the Grand Lodge Library in 1910 he said: "The library is one of the lasting monuments to Brother Frank J. Thompson and must be made an agency for the greatest possible educational value and service to the craft in North Dakota."

            Without impairing its value as a Masonic library, operating for the diffusion of Masonic education in the lodges and among the Masons of North Dakota, M.'. W.'. Brother Stock-well envisioned a still broader program; that of making the library a state-wide institution, ministering to the citizenry of North Dakota as a research center in religion, fine arts, social sciences, history and biography—in fact, all of the tenets of a better Mason. With this end in view, the Masonic Grand Lodge Library became a non-fiction, reference institution, stressing the topics listed above. Its books on religion stand alone in a state having no religious training schools; its collection on North Dakota and Midwest history is the finest in the state; the field of fine arts is most comprehensive; and the field of social sciences is well rounded, equaling the collection of any small liberal arts college. The library has innumerable rare items, dating back as far as 1491; a Masonic Museum second to none; a huge clipping file and many valuable maps and pictures. The total number of all items under one roof in the library is now estimated at 50,000.

            By 1915 M.'. W.'. Brother Stockwell had found the administration of the library so burdensome, in point of time employed, that he obtained permission from the Grand Lodge to engage the services of a trained librarian-in-charge, and on December 1, 1915, Miss Clara Alida Richards, a graduate in library science at the University of Wisconsin, took over and the library became accredited by the National Library Association. Per capita dues were increased to meet the growing need and the services rendered and interest engendered grew accordingly.

            Speaking on the varied facets of the library, Miss Richards said: "Hundreds of requests come in during the year asking for books on almost every phase of knowledge imaginable. It is not unusual to receive requests for material on North Dakota history, woodworking, animal industry and religion in one day. Many times we are unable to supply the needed material, but we are always able to direct the inquirer to the place where such information may be obtained.

            "Another aspect of our service is directed toward the non-Masonic Women's Clubs, high school and college students and the intellectually curious everywhere. Today, the library of the Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star for North Dakota, has been added to our shelves and our horizon increased accordingly. Many of our patrons are related indirectly to Masonry, through their husbands, fathers and the like, yet many others have no such relationship.

            "The entire state and its neighbors are our clientele. Books are sent out, postage paid, in any quantity, for any length of time. We trust them and all we ask is that they return the books as soon as possible, thus helping to increase their circulation. You may not believe it, but 'it works'. This has made the Masonic Grand Lodge Library unique, for we are the only Masonic library in the country that offers such service to its patrons and we are among the largest."

            After World War II the library had so far outgrown its quarters that something had to be done. For several years Miss Carrie M. Plumley, office secretary, had been pressed into duty as assistant in the library, in addition to her already heavy schedule for Mr. Stockwell. Books were stacked on the floor for lack of space, and the mezzanine, used as a museum, was sorely needed for a stack room. Then, in the spring of 1949, the unexpected happened when the ground floor, under the Grand Lodge headquarters, became available for library space on a twenty-five year lease. A $75,000.00 remodeling project was voted by the Grand Lodge—payment was to be made from the earnings of interest bearing funds—and the aspirations of many years were realized.

            Early in the fall of 1950 the remodeling was completed; the library took over the ground floor, with a spacious reading room in front and a four tier, steel stack room in the rear, accessible by elevator and stairway. Around them were located the front office, museum, shipping room and a small lunch room; in the sub-basement was ample storage space. On the second floor, in place of the old library, was a comfortable lounge for meetings, etc; offices for Grand Master, Grand Secretary, office secretary and registry clerk; and above, the old museum had become a proceedings library. Ample vault space was provided, upstairs and down.

            It was one of the tragedies of life that M.'. W.'. Walter L. Stockwell, Grand Librarian, had hardly moved into his new domain when he was stricken down December 4, 1950, and his duties were passed on to M.'. W.'. Harold S. Pond, another Past Grand Master, Grand Secretary and Grand Librarian. It has been related in Chapter 17 how magnificently M.'. W.'. Brother Stockwell gave of his substance to his beloved library and how $30,000.00 of his estate was used to build the stack room in his memory.  Thus were his fondest dreams accomplished and he must have died a happy man.

            Since 1950 progress in the library has been steady and constant. January 1, 1956, Miss Clara A. Richards retired as Librarian-in-charge after forty years of untiring and efficient service. She passed away in January 1960, and in speaking of her, M.'. W.'. Earl K. Bitzing, Past Grand Master said: "To have made a distinctive contribution to the cultural climate of the Fargo community and the state of North Dakota—to have helped the educational process for youths and adults—to have given much in the fields of public service and religion—are high achievements for a lifetime's work."

            Miss Richards was followed for two years by Brother Albert G. Anderson of Fargo, a young graduate librarian, who worked hard to install new systems in the library and then moved to greener fields; leaving the burden of the work where he found it, on the capable shoulders of Mrs. Vivian Hay, who had served as assistant under Miss Richards. In 1963 Mrs. Hay is our much beloved librarian-in-charge, and with the willing and valuable support of Mrs. Mildred Nerhus as assistant librarian, the Grand Lodge Library is showing steady progress year by year.

            Following the remodeling of the library and offices in 1949-50, it became necessary to increase the income of the Grand Lodge to meet the normal expansion in salaries, maintenance, insurance, etc. Therefore, at its annual communication in June 1951 the per capita dues were raised to $3.00, of which $1.80 was allocated to the general fund, 70c to the library fund and 50c to the Masonic service and education fund. Thus the per capita income of the library was raised from $5,390.40 to $9,645.30 for that year, and the library assumed its pro rata share of the expenses. It was also able to spend upwards of $1,000.00 per year for the accession of new books. In 1958 the library's share of per capita dues was increased to $1.00 per year, out of a total of $3.50, which for the first year amounted to $13,415.00.

            In the meantime, endowment funds by way of gifts and bequests, had been accumulating in the library, the income from which was designated for the purchase of specific books. In 1951 the total of these funds, with interest, amounted to $5,421.82; in 1956 it was $11,806.84; and in 1962 it was $13,251.81. This has expanded the purchasing power of the library to such an extent that today a special effort is being made to supply the latest titles in religion, history, social and political science and the liberal arts, so that our clientele is becoming alive to its obligation to self and country if our way of life is to be preserved, and the result has been most gratifying.

            Naturally, the goal of every library is increased circulation and the Masonic Grand Lodge Library has directed its every effort, over a period of nearly seventy-five years, toward that end. Fifteen years ago the circulation had reached 1,500 volumes per year; since then it has averaged well over 2,000; one year it reached 2,500; and the nearest goal is for "3,000 in the sixties." It has been said that the Grand Lodge Library is among the five largest of its kind in America. Of this North Dakota Masons are humbly proud, and looking back over the unequaled heritage of the past, and pressing forward toward the accepted challenge of the future, they will not be content until the library serves the most with the best.