Published: June 03, 2008 09:14 am      

Book People

Church parsonage once considered for demolition breathes new life as free Martindale library

Martindale — An historic church parsonage, once seriously considered for demolition, has a new life with the fresh mission of hosting a community free library in Martindale. That library’s grand opening is scheduled for noon on June 8.

“Six weeks ago we didn’t have anything — except the need for a local library,” Patti Petersen, mayor of Martindale, said. “So, I passed out the word that we needed help. And the community and outside help came through for us.”

As a member of the Martindale United Methodist Church, she witnessed its old parsonage restored.

“I thought what a wonderful place for a library. It’s within walking distance of many of local residents . So, everyone pitched in building book shelves in the first room. Shelves were also built around the walls of a separate children’s reading room. We even had foreign exchange students from Austin with the AFS Student Exchange group come down and spend the day helping. Then, about 4,000 books were labeled and tagged. Books were donated by residents, LULAC, Wimberley Library, Eugene Clark Library in Lockhart and Half Price Books in San Marcos", she said.

This is a library set up for the people – by the people, she said. The first month is free. After that, residents will be asked to donate a hardback book in exchange for another hardback book of their choice. The same concept goes for paperbacks. Residents will be limited three books per person per visit.

She stresses the entire focus is to simply get books into the hands of citizens. So, there is no card catalog or official book registering system. “We have come up with the Dewey Dot System,”Petersen said, smiling. “Colored dots represent various categories of books. Dots on the books correspond to dots on the shelves. This way, we can quickly put a book away.”

An equally unique system of colored stars is used in the children’s’ room. One star means mostly pictures, two stars represent text and pictures and three stars stands for books with chapters. General categories of books include mystery, romance, fiction, non-fiction, health/self help, science, travel, education, youth and religion. Tape cassettes and videos are also available.

Hours of operation are scheduled noon to 3 p.m. Sundays; 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays; and 7 to 9 p.m. Thursdays. Volunteers are needed to open the door, greet the people and help them in their selection, if they need help. To sign up or to donate books contact Petersen at 357-0323.

The parsonage is located in Martindale at 803 Bowie St. From San Marcos go east on Hwy 80 to the red light in Martindale. Turn right towards downtown Martindale, and go to the first street (Bowie). Turn left and go two blocks to 803 Bowie. The parsonage is behind the church on the right.

One of the organizers assisting with the project is Betty Watkins of Martindale.

“I raised three children and taught for many years so I had lots of books lying around. I thought it would be great if other children could read them," Watkins said.

She said the parsonage was seriously considered to be torn down just a few years ago. At that time church members, under the direction of local community leader, the late Allen Bates, thought the structure was special and decided to keep it.

Volunteers did most of the refurbishing themselves along with that of the nearby 103-year-old church. The parsonage is now is used for community and church events.