We are writing to express our strong support for the proposed creation of a cultural center at the old library and to urge the Board of Selectmen to view this proposal favorably.
Harvard is fortunate in its human capital, as can be seen by the impressive and varied biographies of the members of the newly formed Cultural Collaborative. We are also the beneficiaries of previous generations of Harvard residents like Warren Hapgood, who gave us the beautiful library building in the town center that bears his name. This building represents the importance of the arts and intellectual inquiry to the well-being of our community, equal in importance to any of our other civic values.
We are so grateful that a group of truly civic-minded townspeople have devoted their talent and energy to creating a plan to improve and sustain the old library, the Hapgood, for current and future residents. We urge the selectmen to see this plan as central to their own mission of bettering present-day Harvard and endowing its future; that is, to thank the Cultural Collaborative for its vision and efforts thus far and help facilitate its future efforts.
For our part, we are happy to volunteer and to pledge monetary support to the new enterprise. It will afford us many enriching experiences close to home, and, incidentally, improve the desirability of Harvard as a place to live.
Maria Kaufmann and Bob Benson
South Shaker Road
[Editor’s note: Historical documents show that while Warren Hapgood made a sizeable donation of $2,600 for improvements to the building plans for the old library, the town and citizens provided most of the $10,400 required for its construction. Land for the library was donated by Mrs. Augustus J. Sawyer.]
