Walworth-Seely Public Library: Taber

Jay C. Taber
Jay Taber is one of the people who lived in our neighborhood for many years. Among his numerous community activities, he was important in the establishment of the Walworth Reading Room, now known as the Walworth-Seely Public Library.
Jay was involved in the many organizational meetings in 1960 and was one of the officially appointed Library Board Trustees in 1961. He was active in working out by-laws, library hours, hiring librarians (Mary Jean Bowdey, then Mrs. Doyle), as well as ordering books.
At that time, after each library selected its Own books for purchase, the order was sent to a central point where a volume order was made out to the book distributor. Because of this mass ordering, the greatest possible discount was received. Thus the book budget was stretched as far as possible.
The Library officially opened its doors on August 19, 1962, and Jay continued on the Board until he felt new blood was needed. He stepped off the board in 1964, but never really stopped working for the betterment of the library and the citizens of Walworth.
“Loraine Finley was the true motivational force behind the Reading Room,” Jay modestly said. “She was the one who got the circulating, inter-library books and Rotating Collections to come into the library, as well as convincing the powers that be to share a percentage of the tax money with the Walworth and Ontario Libraries. She was a very quiet and lovely lady, but she knew how to get things done.”
According to Jay, when Loraine saw something that needed to be done, she contacted people and the project was completed. Jay’s uncle, Herland Ray, was one of those people, but it is unclear if he was volunteered or paid!
“I knew Jay Seely and his daughter, Miss Bessie Seely,” Jay said. “Miss Seely came to Walworth to take care of her father, then quite an elderly fellow. He was quite a character; an inventor, piano tuner, and proficient at many other trades.
“Miss Seely worked as a clerk in Joe Finley’s store,” Jay continued. “That’s how she and the Finley’s became friends. Miss Seely always had the good of the town and the people on her mind. I think that is why she sold the building to the Chamber of Commerce for $1 and later, quietly donated $500 as endowment/seed money for any renovations the Reading Room wanted to make.”
“The Chamber of Commerce used the front room and the Reading Room used the back,” Jay chuckled. “There was about a ¾-inch space under the door and during the winters, we froze. During the summer, we baked.”
Jay commented that he did not, at the time, envision how the library would grow, but in the 1962 brochure that commemorated the official ribbon cutting opening the library to the public, it stated: .
“To accomplish the one and only purpose of any public library – education and enjoyment derived from books -the Walworth -Seely Public Library offers its patrons the service of a large, invisible force of workers.”
Currently, Jay and his wife, Arlene, live in the Penfield/Webster area in a lovely 3-bedroom apartment. He keeps busy by volunteering through the Lutheran Church to mentor and tutor Hispanic children. Jay is also active in DOVE, which is an offshoot of Life Span, driving folks to doctors appointments. While he misses living in the hamlet in the beautiful, 160-year cobblestone home they occupied for so many years, he said that at his age, it was time to move, so they did.
Thank you, Jay Taber, for dedicating so much of your time, energy, and talents to our Town and the Walworth-Seely Public Library. You are a Walworthian with the accent on WORTH.
“Vision is something that can be touched or maybe seen in three-dimension. Visions are dreams; pictures that are conjured in the mind that are flexible, maluable; moving to where the need is. So I would agree that you (Loraine Finley and others) did have a vision of the library, of where we are today.” quoted from Walworth-Seely Public Library Director Mary Zingerella’s presentation to Loraine Finley, Walworth Historical Society’s Citizen of the Year banquet, May 21, 2007.
SOURCE: telephone interview with Jay Taber by Kate Chamberlin on Aug13-07 and Library archival materials.
Copyright August2007 by Kate Chamberlin