Case Title: Myrtle Rebekah Lodge No. 6 v. Cavendish Library Trustees

Citation: 169 Vt. 553, 726 A.2d 86

Docket Number: 

State: vermont

Court: Vermont Supreme Court

Date: 1999-02-08T00:00:00Z

Document:
Myrtle Rebekah Lodge No. 6 v. Cavendish Library Trustees (97-421); 
169 Vt. 553; 726 A.2d 86

[Filed 8-Feb-1999]

                                 ENTRY ORDER

                       SUPREME COURT DOCKET NO. 97-421

                             JANUARY TERM, 1999

Myrtle Rebekah Lodge #6 	     }	APPEALED FROM:
of Proctorsville	             }
                                     }
     v.	                             }	Windsor Superior Court
                                     }	
Cavendish Library Trustees	     }
of Cavendish, Vermont	             }	DOCKET NO. S-211-96 WrC

       In the above-entitled cause, the Clerk will enter:

       Cavendish Library Trustees (Trustees) appeal a declaratory judgment by
  the Windsor  County Superior Court that a parcel of land in the Village of
  Proctorsville has reverted to the  Myrtle Rebekah Lodge #6 of Proctorsville
  (Lodge) because the land is no longer used for library  purposes.  The
  Trustees claim the court erred in concluding that the land has ceased to be
  used  for library purposes and in declaring that under the terms of the
  deed the Lodge owns the parcel  of property where the old Proctorsville
  Library was located.  We affirm.

       The facts as found by the trial court are as follows.  In September
  1948, the Proctorsville  Fraternal Society conveyed to the Trustees a
  parcel of land (Proctorsville property), without a  building, in the
  Village of Proctorsville to provide a new location for a town library
  because the  owner of the land where the library stood no longer wished to
  accommodate the library on his  land.  The deed provided in relevant part:

   It is a further condition of this deed that the said parcel conveyed shall 
   be used for library purposes only, and if this condition be violated, 
   then the conveyed parcel shall revert back to and become the property 
   of the grantor or its assigns, and the grantee, its successors and 
   assigns shall have the right to remove any building which may have 
   been erected thereon, and also any heating plant that may have been 
   installed, all for its own use.      

  The library building was moved to the Proctorsville property in 1948 or
  1949, and the Trustees  began operating its circulating library there.  

       The library operated continuously until July 1990, at which time the
  books and operations  of the Proctorsville library were moved to a new
  library at the Cavendish Town Elementary  School.(FN1)  After the new
  library opened in Cavendish, the Proctorsville building ceased to be  used
  as a circulating library.  Because there is limited storage space in the
  new Cavendish library,  however, the Trustees store approximately
  five-hundred uncatalogued books at the Proctorsville  building, most of
  which will be used for book sales to raise money for the library.  A group
  called  React, a preschool playgroup sponsored by residents of
  Proctorsville, uses the building for two  hours a week.  React is not under
  the care, custody or control of the Cavendish Library Trustees  and does
  not have any affiliation with the library. Although the group promotes
       

 

  reading activities among preschoolers, its activities are not related to
  library operations.  

       The library's mission statement, adopted in 1993 but similar to the
  mission statement of the  library during the period of development of the
  new library, provides: "The Cavendish  Community Library promotes the
  exchange of ideas, stimulates thought, and supports lifelong  learning in
  the school and community by providing relevant, current materials, programs
  and  services for all ages." 

       The court concluded that neither the storage of non-circulating books,
  nor the limited use  of the building for two hours per week by React
  suffices to show that the property is used for  library purposes.  It
  stated that: 

   the functions of a community library are being carried out at the new 
   library located at the Cavendish School.  Storage of unused books is 
   tangential to the functions of a community library, and could be 
   accomplished just as well in a rented storage space.  The fact that unused 
   books are stored in the old library building in Proctorsville does nothing 
   to provide library services to the community from that location, which 
   was the purpose of the original grant.

  Accordingly, the court declared that the Lodge, as assignee of the grantor,
  owns the Proctorsville  property where the old library stands.  

       The standard of review is deferential.  We examine the trial court's
  findings only for clear  error; factual findings are viewed in a light most
  favorable to the prevailing party.  See Mullin  v. Phelps, 162 Vt. 250,
  260,