Much has changed in Wayland since I first arrived in 1970 with my husband and eleven-month-old son. Only two traffic lights, one in each center, were needed to navigate your way through town. No woman had yet served on the Board of Selectmen since the town’s incorporation as Sudbury Plantation in 1639, although that was soon to change. Passenger train service into Boston still had another year to run before ending forever, and you could buy locally grown produce at farm stands throughout the town. We lived on one of the many dirt roads still left then, coping with the dust until the town spread used motor oil to hold down the dust and dirty up the house. The Wayland Middle School that we know today was in the planning stages, and the nationally renowned high school was only ten years old. The Wayland Free Public Library was primarily a place to find a book or newspaper to read or to do research on topics of interest. A few years later, my husband’s first stop to research his newly discovered celiac disease and the gluten connection, at a time when no one had ever heard of gluten, was the WFPL. Investment information? Where else but the library reference section? Legal information when he wanted to start a company? Maybe that required a trip into larger Boston libraries, but Wayland’s was a great place to start! However, even then, the library had an eye to the future. The 1970 Wayland Annual Report states that, “Libraries today are more and more serving the function of multi-media centers for the community.” In 1970, the WFPL added 59 phonograph records to their collection and 21 reels of microfilm. Today, the WFPL has indeed become a multi-media center and so much more.
More recently, the library became an activity and educational center for our grandchildren, from story times to dance classes to art projects. And throughout the years it has been a venue for educational and entertaining lectures on every conceivable subject. I fondly remember my stints as a book sorter for the highly anticipated semi-annual book sale sponsored by the Friends of the Wayland Public Library. It is lovingly continued year round in post-pandemic form on the first floor inside the Raytheon Room.
While I cannot go back to the earliest history of the library that is covered in detail on this website, for me the library is a blend of history and memories that goes back over fifty years. I have spent a good deal of time next door as president, curator and active member of the Wayland Historical Society, headquartered in the Grout-Heard House Museum, and frequently found myself at the WFPL exploring its local history treasures including photographs, maps and books. I often used the hard copies of the Vital Records of various Massachusetts towns for historical research before they were accessible online. The library has partnered with the Historical Society over the years on a wide variety of talks and research projects on the unique and world-class history of our town, at times done by yours truly. It has proven to be a win-win proposition for both institutions– friends and neighbors who share common interests and enjoy collaborating with one another.
The Covid pandemic showcased the best of the WFPL, from books that one could safely pick up outdoors to masked interactions when possible. Even masks did not disguise the warm smiles and gracious help that patrons received from the staff. I was able to do some work in their archives with safety as the first concern. I especially enjoyed being shown some rare treasures that reflected the life of Lydia Maria Child, a prolific writer and human rights’ crusader of the 19th century, whom I greatly admire. She moved to Wayland shortly after the library was founded and I am sure she benefited from this rich resource down the road from her home.
The library is a rich mix of the old and the new, always moving forward as times change, but retaining the fundamental values that have characterized it from the very beginning–a love of books and all forms of learning, of helping others to enjoy the riches of the world without even having to venture out of town. The library’s effectiveness in meeting its mission has only been enhanced with the advent of digital media and interlibrary loans, which it embraced with great gusto.
I can think of no better place than the Wayland Free Public Library to make your own memories, as my family has done for so many years.