Library Addition

Bolton Public Library // 1903

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The Bolton Public Library was established in 1859, when the town’s library collection was housed on a few shelves in the Selectmen’s room at the Town Hall. In the following decades it became clear to the community that a purpose-built library building should be constructed in town to house the growing collections there. At the time when wealthy benefactors donated funds for public libraries in towns and cities across New England, sisters Emma and Anna Whitney gifted their hometown of Bolton, $10,000 to build a dedicated library building in memory of their father, Captain Joseph Whitney in 1901. Completed in 1903, the Bolton Public Library was designed by the architectural firm Stone, Carpenter & Willson and built of local Bolton fieldstone in the Tudor Revival style. Of particular architectural merit is the red tile roof and three gabled bays with carved stucco and woodwork within half-timbered frames. The library was added onto in 2010 from plans by Lerner Ladds & Bartels Architects, who replicated key materials and forms so the new wing feels coherent with the original yet clearly differentiated.

Whiting Library // 1891

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The Whiting Library in Chester, Vermont, was designed by architect George H. Guernsey, and is said to be the only building in the village designed by a regionally significant architect. For the design, Guernsey created an eclectic library blending Romanesque and Queen Anne influences that strikingly enhance the library’s relatively modest physical stature. The building was named to honor Chester physician, Laurin G. Whiting and his wife, Abigail, who donated funds for the land and building. The polychromatic brick and granite building features unique gables, corner tower, and arched openings, which were carried over to a lesser scale into an addition a few decades ago.

Frederic C. Adams Library // 1898

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Built in 1898 in the heart of Kingston’s village center, the Frederic C. Adams Library was designed by renowned architect Joseph Everett Chandler and is one of the finest Colonial Revival style libraries in New England. Chandler, famed for his dedication to historic forms, created a one-and-a-half-story masonry gem, complete with a gabled roof, dentilled cornice, and a grand four-column Corinthian portico at the entry. The building’s story began with a bequest from Frederic  C. Adams, a Kingston native whose $5,000 gift in 1874 helped break ground on a dedicated library. Its elegant Colonial Revival look recessed panel windows, stone keystones, and symbolic half-round arches, echoes America’s early architectural traditions with a refined late‑19th‑century flourish. The library was eventually outgrown, and relocated across the street, to a contemporary building. After an award‑winning restoration, the building reopened in 2012 as the Adams Center, now housing Kingston’s Local History Collections in a climate‑controlled room and hosting community events upstairs. The Contemporary addition, paired with the restoration work all by Spencer Preservation Group, blends old with new in a pleasing way. 

Westborough Public Library // 1908

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The Westborough Public Library is a handsome, two-story, masonry building with additions to showcase the growth and importance of the library to the community. This building was constructed in 1908, replacing a small space in the first floor of the old Town Hall (since demolished) as the community’s first purpose-built library. The structure was designed by architect Penn Varney, who specialized in civic buildings in New England. The Classical Revival style building is constructed of buff brick with stone trimmings. Of particular note, the quoined arched entry and pediment with central wreath motif, add much to the design. The library was eventually outgrown, and in 1980, an addition was added to the rear, in a style taking cues from the main building, but clearly of its time. The Town of Westborough about to undergo a restoration and renovation to the library, including a new roof, HVAC systems, interior renovations and the restoration of the 1908 windows.

Ashby Public Library // 1902

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The Ashby Public Library in Ashby, Massachusetts, was built in 1902, completely funded by a donation from Edwin Chapman (1841-1915) who lived across the street from the new library. Mr. Chapman was raised in Ashby and became a wealthy Boston-area merchant in the meat trade by the late 19th century. Before this library was built, the town’s library collection was housed in the Wyman Tavern. The building was designed by architect Henry M. Francis in the Neoclassical style with Romanesque detail in brick and brownstone to make the building fireproof. The library was added onto in the rear in 2006 by The Galante Architecture Studio, which is recessed and mostly visible from the rear parking area. The addition is Modern in style to distinguish itself from the main library building.

Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library // 1923

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In 1906, the citizens of Boothbay Harbor voted to establish a free public library for all to enjoy. In 1923, the need for more library space, along with a desire for a World War I Memorial, led to the approval of a bond for the purchase of a 1842 Greek Revival style house on Oak Street. The building was remodelled for use as a library by the Boston architect William Stanley Parker, and was enlarged in 1966 to a design by Parker’s son, Stanley Jr. The temple-front, Neo-Classical entry was added at this time and harkens back to the original classical style Greek Revival home, while clearly showing a grander scale seen in the 20th century.

Morrill Memorial Library // 1896

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One of the best parts about New England is the diversity of the architecture and history of local public libraries. The Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts, was erected by George H. Morrill in memory of his daughter Sarah Bond Morrill, who apparently died in 1895 of Typhoid Fever at the age of 22. George Morrill made his fortune as one of the largest producers of printing inks in America. The business was founded by Samuel Morrill, father of George H. Morrill in 1845 in Andover, but in 1856, he moved the works to South Dedham (present-day Norwood). The company grew rapidly and factories were built in Norwood and expanded to meet increasing operations. Mr. Morrill built a massive estate in Norwood (no longer extant) and also houses for his family members nearby to create a small enclave for the family. One of the lots on Walpole Street was utilized for a memorial library in honor of his late daughter. Architect Joseph Neal, who originally worked for Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge in Boston, designed the Richardsonian Romanesque library constructed of rough-faced granite blocks with a red terracotta tile roof above. The main entrance was deeply recessed within a great Assyrian arch typical of an arch-type that was a hallmark of the public and ecclesiastical buildings of Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson during the 1870’s and 1880’s, but has since been enclosed by a vestibule, somewhat diminishing the original entry. The library was originally cruciform in plan but one-story additions constructed in the 1960s, on either side of the original facade have altered its original volume, but at least they are of a similar material. The library is one of the more unique in the Boston area and a testament to a father’s love to their children.

Frederick E. Parlin Memorial Library // 1894

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The Frederick E. Parlin Memorial Library is arguably the most architecturally significant building in the City of Everett, Massachusetts. Constructed of buff brick, sandstone and terracotta, it displays characteristics of the Richardsonian Romanesque style including the main entrance set within a recessed arch at the base of a square tower with arched openings. In 1892, Albert Norton Parlin, a local businessman, donated to the City of Everett the Pickering Estate, his birthplace and familial home, to be torn down and a library erected on the parcel in memory of his son, Frederick E. Parlin, who died in 1890 at the age of eighteen. Albert Parlin gave to the City an additional $5,000 to aid in the building of the Frederick E. Parlin Memorial Library. The original 1894 library as well as a 1911-1912 addition were designed by local architect John Calvin Spofford who positioned the building to face a small triangular park. By the 1940’s, the building was outgrown, but it wasn’t until 1982 that a plan was set in motion to renovate the original building and to construct an addition. Childs, Bertman, Tseckares was chosen to draw up the architectural plans, and ground was finally broken in the spring of 1990. With construction of the new addition, the building is almost three times its original size and handicapped accessible, all with an appropriate, Post-Modern design.

Langdon Library // 1892

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Langdon Library in Newington, NH, was established through the generosity of Woodbury Langdon of New York City, a summer resident of Fox Point in town. In 1892 Langdon offered to donate 2,000 books to the Town of Newington, if suitable provisions could be made for their care and circulation. The Town voted to erect a library at town meeting in 1892 and accepted the offer. Portsmouth architect William Allyn Ashe furnished designs for the building which reads as a pleasing, symmetrical Romanesque Revival building. The structure was outgrown and needed repairs in 2013, and hired the firm of Lavallee Brensinger Architects to oversee the redesign, which restored the 1892 building. The resulting project tripled the usable square footage of the library, and the new wing allows the library to remain quaint and the main focus.

Eastham Public Library // 1897

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Built in 1897, the ever-charming Eastham Public Library has served the town for over 100 years, constantly adapting and growing to meet the needs of the community. Originally constructed as a one-room hipped-roof shingled library building, the tiny space was appropriate for the town of just 500 people in 1900. By the 1960s, the rear ell was replaced with a large addition, effectively quadrupling the square footage of the library, but keeping the original structure intact. The 1960s addition was eventually deemed insufficient and was replaced in 2016 with the gorgeous modern addition by Oudens-Ello Architecture of Boston. The addition compliments the quaint one-room original structure with the use of materials, yet clearly distinguishes itself as 21st century design.