PRINCETON, CA (MPG) — Nearly 200 community members gathered on Wednesday, Sept. 24, at the Princeton Branch Library to dedicate the newly named Mary Beth Massa Reading Room, celebrating a local figure whose decades of service have shaped the branch and its youngest readers.
Colusa County Supervisor Janice Bell welcomed the crowd, calling the turnout a testament to both Massa and the work of Colusa County Librarian Stacey Costello.
“It’s apparent how much our guest of honor is loved by the outpouring of good wishes and the overwhelming response,” Bell said.
Costello thanked library staff, volunteers, and community partners, highlighting the Friends of the Colusa County Free Library, who commissioned a hand-painted sign by muralist Heather Hardison. She also emphasized that the space is ultimately for children and families.
“We’re here to honor someone whose name is forever linked to this library, Mary Beth Massa,” Costello said.
Massa’s involvement with the Princeton Branch reaches back to the early 1970s, even before she joined as an employee. She helped select the building’s carpet, wallpaper, and front door when it opened in 1974. In the decades since, she volunteered to keep the branch open during lean times and later led one of the county’s strongest children’s book collections. Generations of Princeton students recall her story times and warm welcome.
The dedication culminated with a ribbon cutting, where Massa was joined by Bell and Costello. Students from Princeton Elementary and High School presented her with a banner of congratulations, decorated with individual notes of thanks. The banner read in part, “Congratulations on your children’s reading room. So well deserved. Thank you for the many years of love, care and dedication you’ve given to students.”
Bell closed the program by inviting children to step into the room and listen to Massa read a poem ”It’s Raining Pigs and Noodles” by Jack Prelutsky, bringing the celebration back to the heart of her career, reading to children.