For 14 years, volunteer stops by every Wednesday at library to wind antique clock, water the plants

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Bill Lattin is like clockwork with a weekly duty: watering the plants at Hoag Library and winding an antique clock.

Lattin took on the tasks when Hoag Library opened in July 2012. The clock and most of the plants were moved from the former Swan Library, which had been Albion’s public library from 1900 to mid-2012.

Most of the furnishings at Hoag Library were brand new. But some old bookshelves and the clock made the trip a few blocks south to the new library on Main Street.

Lattin estimates the clock is from the late 1880s to early 1890s. It’s not a grandfather clock and it doesn’t chime or have bells. The Swan Library staff wanted a quiet clock. He thinks the clock was on the wall when Swan first opened. He has seen in some old photos of the library’s earliest days.

He climbs on a small ladder every Wednesday afternoon and winds the clock, but not too tight or it won’t keep time perfectly. Wind it too much and it could be off a few minutes when he’s back the following week.

Lattin had some added work today because the clock needed to be set back an hour. He was a few days after the fact with clocks falling back an hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday.

After winding the clock, Lattin fills a container with water. He gets the big plants upstairs first then checks the ones in the lounge area by the magazines.

He is steady every week in what he calls “wind and water” day.

“It gives it consistency,” he said.

He knows how the clock can be delicate duty and he thinks the plants respond better to watering the same time, every week. He tries not to saturate the soil with too much water. He feels the dirt first to get a sense of how much water the plants need.

Lattin, who is retired as the county historian and Cobblestone Museum director, has quietly gone about the tasks at the library without much notice. But I saw him today and was impressed by how committed he has been to this unglamorous chore.

Bill latin checks the soil to get a feel for how much water to give the plant at Hoag Library.