NORTHAMPTON — Lots of people feel a loyalty to the library in their communities, but few can match the dedication of Florence native Russell Carrier to Forbes Library.
With 41 continuous years of voluntary service as president of the board of trustees at Forbes, Carrier has helped usher in many positive changes and innovations — and for that work, the city resident was awarded the 2022 Trustee of the Year Award from the Massachusetts Library Trustees Association.
Library Director Lisa Downing said that she was very happy to nominate Carrier for the award and was pleased to hear that he had been selected for this honor.
“Russ cares so much about the library and has committed countless volunteer hours to making sure that this place is the best library it can be,” Downing said. “He is also very supportive, and that director-trustee relationship is very critical in order for the library to function well.”
A native of Florence, Carrier is a retired history teacher who worked in the Springfield school system. He said his dedication to the library was born out of an early love for learning that he discovered there as a young boy.
“I came from a household where my parents had only a grade school education,” he said. “Lilly Library and Forbes Library provided something that was missing at home, and really helped to inspire me to become a teacher.”
Carrier formed the Forbes Friends of the Library, a fundraising and community advocacy organization, in 1980, when he worried that the recent passage of Proposition 2½ would reduce funding for the library. Shortly thereafter he ran for, and was elected to, the board of trustees, and has served as its president since 1981.
This makes Carrier the longest currently serving elected public official in Northampton.
“His length of service is significant on its own, but because it is an elected position every four years, it really is a testament that the community has faith in his ability to serve the library,” Downing said.
Carrier was recognized for the many improvements and updates he has helped facilitate during his tenure. These include major upgrades and repairs to the building, bolstering the library’s endowment, and initiatives to support equity, diversity and inclusion.
Downing said the 129-year-old building had fallen into disrepair.
“The stones were basically crumbling, and the roof was falling in,” she said. “In another community this beloved building could have been let go, but now it is a beautiful functional modern library, that maintains its historic charm, and it is in the best shape it has been in for years.”
Renovations to the building occurred in several phases and included the first and second floor, the roof and exterior of the building, as well as the grounds.
“The building needed a lot of love but you could see the potential if you renovated it properly,” Carrier said.
Carrier’s love for, and pride in, the library is palpable when he speaks about its interior and exterior beauty, unique collections, its importance to the community, and the dedication of the staff.
“We are the only public library in the country with a presidential library,” he said, referring to the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum. “We also have a tremendous art collection for a public library.”
The collection includes over 100 pieces, and in 2021 the library established a fund to acquire artwork by local and regional artists who are Black, Indigenous and people of color.
Downing said that it was Carrier who initiated the formation of a racial and social justice committee at the library. Recently, Forbes received a $10,000 anonymous donation specifically earmarked to help the library in its goal to diversify its permanent art collection. The fund was approved and then doubled by the trustees.
“Until now, the artwork had been by, and depicting white people, and Russ saw the need to change that,” said Downing, noting that the library recently put up 10 new pieces that will change the look of the art collection in a significant way.
As an independent library with only partial funding from the city, Forbes relies heavily on its endowment, which is currently at $5 million.
“We have seen a huge growth in the size of the endowment,” Carrier said. “There are many things that the city doesn’t cover, so without having that endowment along with the Friends, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do today.”
Carrier said the upgrades at Forbes have helped maintain the library as an important focal point in the city.
“We needed to become more of a community center to expand what people think of when they go to the library,” he said. “Now people want to sit down and look around, and a lot of people comment about the comfortable ambiance of the building.”
For all of the improvements that the library has been able to make, Carrier credits the support of the community.
“If we didn’t have a community like Northampton, we couldn’t have made it happen,” he said. “There is a lot of deep, deep support for the library here.”
There is one thing, however, that remains undone, and it is something that Carrier wishes the library could accomplish.
“The most frustrating thing is that we haven’t been able to pay the staff what we think they are worth,” he said. “We have always had a great staff, all the way through — you really couldn’t ask for a better team.”
Carrier credited his successful career at the library as being a concerted effort of the staff, board members, volunteers and other city officials he has worked with over the years.
Though surprised and grateful when he heard he was to receive the award, it is clear that he is also proud of his pivotal role in helping to keep Forbes Library a vital part of Northampton.
“You know, you can’t get to be my age without making a lot of mistakes, and I have had plenty, but I guess this is one area where I feel like I did a pretty good job,” he said.