Just eight years after the grand opening, the Deposit Free Library was outgrowing its home above Smith\u2019s Pharmacy.\u00a0 The two rooms could not hold the growing volume of materials.\u00a0 The solution to this problem came from a local benefactor named Clark H. Minor.\u00a0 The story of the Deposit Free Library wouldn\u2019t be complete without telling Minor\u2019s story, as he was the driving force behind the construction of the current library building.\u00a0 Clark Minor was a native son who made good. \u00a0He was born in Deposit, lived here through his boyhood, and graduated from Deposit High School.\u00a0\u00a0 He continued his education at Worcester Academy and graduated from Hamilton College in 1902.<\/p>\n
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Upon his graduation, Minor was hired by the Western Electric Company.\u00a0 He advanced rapidly through various positions and into the international equipment field.\u00a0 When World War I broke out, Minor was manager of the Bell Telephone Company in Antwerp, Belgium.\u00a0 In 1917 he traveled to China and organized the China Electric Company, Ltd. \u00a0He returned to America in 1924 to join the International General Electric Company.\u00a0 By 1925 he was serving as its President.\u00a0 He was director of several foreign subsidiary companies and gave technical and financial advice on many of the important electrical and hydro-electrical ventures of that era.\u00a0 Minor was decorated by five foreign governments for his outstanding services in public utility planning and development.<\/p>\n
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Although he held a high-profile position in the business world, Minor was also very interested in art.\u00a0 He owned an extensive collection of art and taught himself to sculpt.\u00a0 In 1938, seven of Minor\u2019s pieces were featured in an exhibition at New York City\u2019s Studio Guild Galleries. \u00a0The Deposit Free Library is home to a scrapbook of Minor\u2019s sculpting career, as well as examples of his work.\u00a0 The bronze bas relief of Minor that graces the library\u2019s fireplace mantel was a self-sculpture.<\/p>\n
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By the 1930s Clark Minor was a successful, globe-trotting industrialist.\u00a0 Although he had moved well beyond his humble beginnings in Deposit, New York, he still held fond memories of his boyhood there.\u00a0 Minor also owned the Oquaga Press, Deposit\u2019s largest industry at the time, and was chairman of the Deposit Courier Company.<\/p>\n
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Clark Minor had been an ardent supporter of the Deposit Free Library from its beginning.\u00a0 An avid reader in his youth, he remembered his disappointment in the limited number of books available in Deposit\u2019s school library.\u00a0 When he learned of the library\u2019s need for more space, Minor offered to assume all the costs of constructing a new building.\u00a0 However, he also felt strongly that the community should be involved, so he proposed a deal.\u00a0 If Deposit\u2019s citizens could raise the money necessary to purchase a site, he would bear the costs of building and furnishing the building.\u00a0 Minor felt the people of Deposit would have a better sense of ownership in the new library building if they raised the site funds themselves.\u00a0 Because of that decision, the library property today belongs to the Deposit Free Library Association rather than to the Village of Deposit.<\/p>\n
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Library trustees wasted no time in accepting Minor\u2019s generous offer.\u00a0 Architect Victor Civkin of New York City drew up building plans.\u00a0 Minor, Civkin, and lbrary trustees considered several sites.\u00a0 The Front Street property they chose was selected largely for its central location and its eight large elm trees.\u00a0 Minor and Civkin were so delighted with the magnificent trees that the contract of sale stipulated they could not be destroyed.\u00a0 The library building was designed to leave the 200 year-old elms intact.<\/p>\n
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Following site selection, library trustees enlisted the local Boosters\u2019 Club to help them raise the site\u2019s purchase price of $2,200.\u00a0 The Deposit Courier waged a vigorous publicity campaign, residents were asked to subscribe whatever they could afford, and letters were sent to former Depositonians asking for support.\u00a0 In just over a month, the funds were raised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Just eight years after the grand opening, the Deposit Free Library was outgrowing its home above Smith\u2019s Pharmacy.\u00a0 The two rooms could not hold the growing volume of materials.\u00a0 The solution to this problem came from a local benefactor named Clark H. Minor.\u00a0 The story of the Deposit Free Library wouldn\u2019t be complete without telling … <\/p>\n