A plaque recognizing Aunt Decie's library in Folsom (the original one room library that many remember from their childhood) was unveiled Friday night behind the Giddy Up Coffee House in Folsom. The Old Folsom Branch Library and Museum plaque was unveiled during the 4th Annual “Animals in Art Festival” at the FAR Horizons Art Gallery.
The one-room building is now a museum on the National Register of Historic Places. In the past few years, the small building has been totally renovated and repurposed as a "museum/library" for the community, dedicated to ‘Aunt Decie’, Folsom’s first Librarian.
Here are some photographs. Click on the images to make them larger.
Frank Richerand and Jerry Laiche conducted the ceremony that unveiled the plaque.
Richerand owns the Giddy Up, Paddock and FAR Horizons Art Gallery and was instrumental in spearheading the preservation of the building. He thanked Laiche and his wife Beth for arranging for the plaque and working hard to staff the library/museum during its hours from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Richerand invited those present to take a tour of the library, which can be completed in under a minute. "We endeavored to make it look exactly like it did when it was the only library, even down to the curtains on the windows and the color of the paint on the walls."
He hopes that longtime Folsom residents who visit will stir up memories of when they, as children, visited the building and borrowed books they would read and treasure for years. "Jerry and Beth have done the lion's share of the work making it look as it does," he went on to say."
According to Laiche, the plaque was paid for with donations from the community and proceeds from the sale of books donated to the library.
Laiche noted that the renovated library building was first opened to the public exactly three years ago. It took two years to design the plaque and have it custom manufactured. It took three months to cast the bronze.
"So we are now celebrating our third anniversary," he said.
The books on the shelves inside were all published prior to 1985, and any books donated after that year are sold to raise funds to operate the facility.
The building is also used for second Saturday monthly meetings of the Northshore Writer's Group, as well as educational sessions for a regular gathering of young writers ten to twelve years ago who want to learn how to write, and it also hosts book signings by local authors.
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