in Bray's building. The Women's Christian Temperance Union donated approximately 300 books to Chicopee Falls, and additional books were donated by Chicopee Falls residents including Bilad B. Belcher. The Chicopee Falls branch continued to grow until it occupied a room in the Wildes Hotel, a store at the corner of Market and Church Streets, and then the basement of the George S. Taylor School. In 1879 a reading room was opened in the evenings and used by the library. The reading book was a private subscription run by J.W. Cumnock, Rev. I. F. Porter, George A. Denison, A. F. Gaylord and William W. McClench. In May 1884, the townspeople of Chicopee voted to make the library free. Until that point, patrons had been charged an annual fee of fifty cents on the grounds that "theoretically people are more appreciative of privileges if it costs something". In 1888 the library outgrew its space in City Hall, and the library trustees issued a statement saying "we feel justified in calling upon our public spirited citizens to unite and erect a public library building from private funds". In 1890 Chicopee became a city and the rooms occupied by the library were needed for meetings of the city council. As a result, the building next to the library, which was the home of Jerome Wells, the first president of Chicopee Savings Bank (then Cabot Bank), was purchased and the library housed within. In 1899 an addition was made to the building which greatly enlarged the storage capacity. In 1898 a branch was opened in Willimansett. However, this branch was not as extensively used as the Chicopee Falls branch and the Trustees report of 1913 highlights the low usage. In 1906 the Trustees transferred 1,000 books to the Chicopee Falls branch and 500 to the Willimansett branch, and a card catalogue was completed in the same year. 1910 saw another branch established in Fairview. In 1907 Mrs. Spaulding, the wife of Justin Spaulding, founder of Spaulding, left US$20,000 in her will to the city for the construction of a new library. The plans for the new building in Market Square were drawn up by Kirkham & Parlet and the construction was completed by Denis Murphy and Patrick Rourke. The new library on the Market Square site was dedicated on May 13, 1913. The 1913 Trustees report stated that "the trustees hope in the near future