History :
Elizabeth Taber has been called the fairy godmother of Marion. As a childless widow who had made many shrewd investments in railroads, she chose to share her wealth with her home town. Among the organizations which benefited from her charitable giving was the Library.
In 1872, she gave $4,000 for a Victorian edifice to be built, complete with a $15,000 endowment. In the 1980's two wings were added to provide much needed stack space. By the year 2000, it was evident that the children's area needed to be expanded and meeting rooms provided to meet increased patron use of the facilities. A building committee has been appointed to draw up plans.
Elizabeth Taber's husband, Stephen, was a New Bedford clockmaker. The grandfather clock now housed at the Library cannot be positively attributed to him, but it did belong to Elizabeth Taber. It is the Library's only working timepiece and is wound by hand and key weekly.
