The Boylston Public Library has had an uninterrupted history beginning in 1792 as a private membership book-lending institution established only six years after the town was founded. In 1880, its librarian, George L. Wright, encouraged the members to convert their association into a town supported public library, which was then located in a room in the former town hall, now, the historical museum on the common.
The present building was built in 1904 on the site of the old center school, built in 1841, which in turn replaced the second meetinghouse of 1792. The library was a gift of Salome E. White in memory of her mother, Harriet Sawyer, of Sawyer's Mills, an industrial village within Boylston now covered by the Wachusett Reservoir. Designed by the Worcester architectural firm of Fuller & Delano, it served as the prototype for the library built in Oakham MA, three years later. It is a typical example of the small public library design made popular by the philanthropy of Andrew Carnegie at the turn of the century.
Boylston then had a population of only 1,370, which made the gift of a 4,000 square foot library with 5,000 volumes a point of local pride. In addition, a small branch library was established in the Morningdale section of town to meet the reading needs of that growing area from the 1920's until it was closed in 1959.
In 1975, increased use of the library led to the conversion of the basement into a children's room; funds from a federal program were used. Since that time, the children's room has become very overcrowded as the collections and programs have expanded.
In 1983, the Boylston Library Foundation, Inc. was established to raise and invest funds to expand the library building. A feasibility study was conducted and plans were drawn for a $1.1 million addition, but, in the absence of a state construction assistance program, these plans were abandoned. The Foundation, however, has continued to sponsor events and annual appeals to accumulate funds as the library's overcrowding has become more acute.
Since 1880, the library has been managed by a locally elected board of six trustees, two elected each year for three year terms. They meet monthly and set policy for the library as well as oversee the expenditure of the library's annual municipal appropriation.
There are now more than 32,000 items in the library's collection, and we are committed to renovate and expand the historic facility that has served us so will for 100 years to bring improved library services to the Boylston community as we embark on the 21st century.
