On Saturday November 16, Mayor Thomas M. Menino made a special appearance at the Upham’s Corner Branch of the Boston Public Library to dedicate a mural that will now grace the library’s walls. The event featured coffee and pastries from Strong Cup, a coffee shop on Stoughton Street currently in the process of becoming a cooperative. A large crowd showed up on the drizzly gray morning to celebrate the new mural by Nancy Leigh titled “Tribal Toile”, painted in 2002. In beautiful sepia tones, the mural portrays Native American and African tribes people. In addition, the library provided a delightful entertainer, Violet the clown, who performed in the children’s section, located in the basement of the library.

The building that now houses the Upham’s Corner branch was once solely used as a municipal building with two library rooms, a swimming pool, and a gymnasium. The children’s library used to be the swimming pool and was converted to its current, beautiful state when the Upham’s branch was renovated in the 1980s. According to the Boston Public Library website, many residents from the area still recall the swimming pool and public showers of their childhood. The gymnasium is still intact on the third floor.