Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

Guess again

Moorestown second-guesses library's Latin message.

The Latin phrase engraved in decorative medallions on the new Moorestown Library was supposed to inspire.

The building's planners thought its translation was: "We confirm all things twice."

Apparently, they didn't . . . confirm all things twice, that is.

The Latin words - Nos Secundus Coniecto Omnia - actually mean "we second-guess all," which is what some critics have been doing lately.

Not to worry, though.

Moorestown Mayor Chris Chiacchio said two medallions with the incorrect phrase would be replaced with an appropriate motto yet to be determined.

Two other medallions also will be fixed, the mayor said. They marked the contributions of Friends of the Moorestown Library since 1853 in Roman numerals but incorrectly left out two "C's" - two hundreds years, he said.

"A mistake is only a mistake if you don't have the courage to correct it," Chiacchio said. "The architect will correct and replace the medallions at no cost to the township."

"The interest in this has been curious for the lack of a better word," he said. "But nobody is complaining."

Architect Rick Ragan of the Ragan Design Group, which designed the library, was not available to comment Monday.

The library, which opened to the public July 8, will be officially dedicated at a future ribbon-cutting ceremony - probably after the medallions have been fixed, the mayor said.

The original phrase "could have been expressed better," Chiacchio said. "Someone went to Google to get a translation, got lucky, and the whole thing had legs.

"Political opponents in town keep you on your toes," he said. "But I appreciate it being brought to our attention."

It wasn't clear who first pointed out the errors, officials said. But the original phrase - now literally lost in the translation - has not diminished the public's enjoyment of the library, the mayor said.

"It's still a great place," Chiacchio said. "You see the kids in the reading room, the parents with their children; I go there with my 3-year-old son."

"People are studying and on the computer doing the things they're supposed to do," he said. "They're not looking at the medallions and shaking their heads."

Library officials were not consulted about the medallions before they were created - and didn't immediately spot the errors when they went up.

"I designed the functionality of the inside, and people have loved the service we're giving them," said library director Joseph Galbraith. "But I never noticed [the mistakes] until someone pointed them out.

"I'm not a Latin scholar," he said. "I thought the original intention was [to come up with a phrase that means] 'We as a community seek answers for all.' "

Some Moorestown residents wondered why the original motto - "We confirm all things twice" - was ever chosen, even if it had been conveyed correctly in Latin.

"How inspiring is that?" asked Fred Abbate, an adjunct professor at the Pennoni Honors College at Drexel University in Philadelphia. "Is that what we put on the Library of Congress?"

"I don't think the phrase even makes any sense," said Abbate, who has studied Latin for many years. "How about a motto that's really inspiring?"

Abbate suggested that the residents be asked for suggestions.

"Ask them what they think," he said. "Maybe, it might be 'Wisdom, Knowledge and Virtue.' "

Whatever phrase is ultimately chosen, though, there's little doubt it will be confirmed twice this time.

"I'm not sure when the medallions will be completed," Chiacchio said. "But we'll want all the finishing touches done" before the dedication.