The first New Market Area Library was located in the historic Henkel House on Congress Street. The brick section of this house was built around 1802 by Dr. Solomon Henkel, physician and pharmacist in New Market, according to New Market Virginia Historic Downtown Self Guided Walking Tour. The building was owned by Elizabeth “Bessie”
Tusing (Mrs. Henry Tusing) at the time the library opened there.
The New Market Area Library started in either 1974 (according to an article in the Daily News Record “Oldest Library in New Market’s Henkel House Dates Back As Far As 1802 “ by Jim Hankey on May 25, 1990, an article “Five Years Coming” by Katie King in The North Fork Journal and an article in the October 30, 1974, Shenandoah Valley Herald) or 1973 (cited as the opening year in an article by Wilhelmina Santiful in the February 1, 2006, Shenandoah Valley Herald) and in an unpublished and undated paper “The Case for a Modern New Market Community Library: Examination of the Need, Explanation of the Proposal, A Call for Community Action” printed by the New Market Library Fund Committee.) The library will be celebrating 50 years in 2024, according to Peg Harkness, volunteer director!
At the time the library opened, the building was called “The Martha Henkel House” according to the SVH article. Mrs. Tusing had the original dream of opening a library so that parents in New Market did not have to drive to Harrisonburg, then the closest library to New Market, to check out books for their children. (There was also a county library in Edinburg at the time which worked with the library committee in setting up the library.)
Other library committee members, according to the DNR, were Mrs. Frank Driver, Vice President; Mrs. L. S. Corgin, Secretary; and Mrs. D. I. Peer, Treasurer. Mrs. R. F. Bingham served as publicity chairman. Joe Tusing, who now owns the building which housed the first library, recalls that his dad picked up children and took them to story time in the library. According to Peg Harkness, the current library director who became a library volunteer shortly after moving to New Market, the first director was Grace Brubaker. Joe Tusing recalls Grace Brubaker as a “driving force” for the library. The committee collected books to catalog in the library. Book sales were a “booming success” according to a volunteer. In addition to lending books, children’s programs were held including an outdoor program provided by the Luray Zoo. The staff consisted entirely of volunteers.
One of the volunteers in the early library described it: “there was a family apartment upstairs, which shared the front of the building. The layout included a large room with shelves, a few computers, a small desk, and a stove which served as the only heat source. Up a few steps was the4 children’s section, which included a few tables for program use. The opposite side of the building served as an area for copy machine use, a storage and supply room and a very small private bathroom, not for public use.”
As time went on, the problems with climate control, handicapped access, no restrooms, and general lack of space created a need for a new library. Other libraries in the county were upgrading facilities. An undated paper states “Through the generosity of Mrs. Anna Hildreth of New Market and her daughter, Cathy, a parcel of land can be made available off John Sevier Road near the unicipal building. It is at the center of town… It will allow visitors, browsers and readers to enjoy the new library while having a view of the mountains from the reading areas.”
In October, 2005, a fundraising effort was launched. The 2006 SVH article quoted Becky Kipps, “chairwoman of the board of trustees” who said “At our kick-off reception, more than 80 people attended and donated $22,370. That amount, combined with a $20,000 matching grant from the Shenandoah County Library Foundation, puts a total of $24,370 in the coffer for our building drive.” The money was raised; a new library was built. The architect and builder incorporated a lot of green features: recycled bricks from an old inn, Styrofoam concrete walls, corn fiber carpeting, reclaimed wooden rafters.
The new library opened on October 29, 2008. Kipps stated in the article by Katie King: “We like to call ourselves the little library that could, because this whole library from beginning to end has been a community effort.” Indeed, the community showed up to move the entire library collection to the new building at 160 East Lee Street. Once opened, the library continued to operate with only volunteers, although as part of the Shenandoah County Library System, book ordering and cataloging, technology and other services are provided by the county library.
The New Market Area Library continues to add services to the community. Children’s programs, both during the school year and during the summer months, are a vital part of the library. Monthly adult programs were begun by Bev Butterfield in 2013. An article in The North Fork Journal by Justin McIlwee “Learn a Thing or Two at the Library” published in February, 2028, featured the wide variety of adult programs offered free to the community five years after they started.
During the Pandemic, the New Market Area Library continued services as best as it could with an all-volunteer staff. Virtual adult programs were held. Volunteers recorded a children’s book being read each week and posted it on Facebook (following copyright guidelines); several virtual programs were held including a virtual field trip to the Frontier Culture Museum and a virtual PJ party for winter reading. Checking out books and other materials resumed as soon as possible using front door pick up. After the pandemic, the number of volunteers who returned and the lack of many new volunteers resulted in reduced hours. Where the library had once been open 7 days a week, it is now only open for 5, mostly days with only one day with evening hours. The possibility of getting part-time paid staff is being pursued with the Shenandoah County Library.
The most recent article about the New Market Area Library was published by the Mountain Courier in September, 2023. Titled “The New Market Area Library, Green and Growing” by Amy Voss Devito, the article was one of a series by the Courier on libraries in Shenandoah County. Fifty years of library service to the community with volunteers is indeed a milestone to celebrate! Hopefully the growing part is coming as well as the library enters the next 50 years!
