Claremont to honor Fiske Free Library Director Michael Grace at retirement event

Michael Grace’s retirement celebration at the Fiske Free Library on Broad Street served as a reminder that Claremont’s library is more than a quiet room full of books. At 108 Broad Street, the city’s library is where residents get library cards, search newspapers, download materials and dig into family history, making the director’s departure a civic transition as much as a personnel change.

The event, held Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., honored Grace at an institution that sits at the center of day-to-day public life in Claremont. The Fiske Free Library’s collection includes Claremont newspapers on microfilm from 1823 to 2010 and The Eagle Times in PDF from 2011 to the present. It also preserves Claremont vital records from 1887 to 1942, along with New Hampshire town histories and genealogies, material that turns the library into a destination for students, historians and residents tracing their own roots.

That role carries a practical cost and a public purpose. The library offers genealogy and local-history research requests for $40, covering about an hour or two of staff research time. For families trying to document a line of descent, identify an old address or recover a newspaper clipping, that service can be as useful as any internet search. The library’s staff helps bridge the gap between old records and present-day questions, especially for residents who need access to materials not easily found anywhere else.

Grace’s retirement also raises the stakes around succession at a place with broad city responsibilities. The Fiske Free Library Board of Trustees advises the city manager on selecting and hiring the city librarian, budget preparation, policy, use and management, and capital improvements. In other words, the next leader will not only oversee books and programs, but also help shape how one of Claremont’s most visible public institutions is run and maintained.

The library’s history makes that continuity even more significant. Samuel P. Fiske established the Fiske Free Library in 1873 with 2,000 volumes from his personal library and $5,000 for additional books. He and Mrs. Fiske later added another $5,000 to create a permanent trust fund, giving the library a financial base that has helped it endure for generations.

That legacy still depends on community support. The Friends of the Fiske Free Library, a volunteer nonprofit, funds furniture, computers, children’s and adult programs, and the summer reading program through its annual book sale and membership drive. As Claremont recognizes Grace, the larger story is the institution he helped steer and the services residents will continue to depend on next.