TURNERS FALLS — After a decade of use as a staff office, the Carnegie Library in Turners Falls has opened the Local History Room to the public for a study and local history research space.

Caitlin Kelley, director of Montague Public Libraries, said that the office space at the Carnegie Library holds historical artifacts and items with some dating back to the early 19th century. She said there are hundreds of photographs, dozens of local history books, documents such as annual town reports and street lists, and other local history ephemera the library has cataloged and itemized.

“I’ve been working with our technician slash cataloger to pull all of our local history materials out, organize them, [and] make sure that everything is in a logical place,” Kelley said, “And now we’re excited to open the room to the public for a quiet study, but also for people who are wanting to do local history research.”

The idea to open the room to the public has been in the works, Kelley said, and the completion of a basement renovation project at the end of 2024 allows for more space in the library, so the Local History Room could open to the public. As time goes on, more items stored at the library will be processed by staff, and made available to the public.

“Some of the things that we have are not yet itemized, so we will be adding more to the collection as as time progresses, and as we have funding to itemize everything,” Kelley explained.

To get access to these historical items, Kelley said the library website has a Research Assistance Request sheet available on the Montague Public Libraries website for people to fill out ahead of time so library staff can locate and prepare items for visitors. She said the library also has drafted up rules for visitors to follow when it comes to handling the items in the Local History Room. With some of the documents being old and brittle, she said the rules for handling can help keep the items safe and in good condition.

According to the Local History Room page on the Montague Public Libraries website, some of the guidelines include patrons washing their hands prior to using items, accessing one subject box at a time that the library staff will provide, only using pencils for notes, no food or drinks allowed in the room, no photocopying of materials and only non-flash photography allowed.

Inside the Local History Room, there is also a display case that Kelley said will display some of the artifacts the library has stored over the years in the second floor of the library, and the items will be rotated out to showcase their collection.

This “hodgepodge” collection, as Kelley said, comes from donations to the Carnegie Library largely from between 1903 and 1906. Items from later in the 20th century are also available, as she said some soldier items from both World Wars are part of the library’s collection.

Currently, the display case houses items that were created or sold in Montague. A Facebook announcement about the Local History Room says these items include “knives from the John Russell Cutlery Company, antique eyeglasses, a key to the first district schoolhouse, and a cup and saucer, depicting the Oakman Street high school, which was sold by the Cassidy Brothers grocery store in 1905.”

Although the collection at the Carnegie Library isn’t as large as some other places in the region, Kelley said there are still “gems” at the library. Moreover, she said she’s excited to increase access and services at the library.

“Space is such a premium in this library, and it feels really great to be able to provide people with a space where they can sit and work quietly,” Kelley said. “So it just feels really good to to have more variety of spaces that people can have different kinds of experiences here at the library.”

To make an appointment to visit the Local History Room at the Carnegie Public Library at 201 Avenue A in Turners Falls, visit the Montague Public Libraries website at https://montaguepubliclibraries.org/gallery/1009/0/Local-History.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.