The Concord Free Public Library is a public library in the town of

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the confl ...

. The main building is located at 129 Main Street, and the Fowler branch is located at 1322 Main Street in West Concord.

History

The Concord Free Public Library was founded by Concord native William Munroe, son of the famed pencil-maker. Munroe worked with other prominent members of Concord to form a board of trustees that would provide financial backing for the library. Building plans were commissioned by

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

firm Snell & Gregerson. The land was purchased in 1869, and construction began in 1872. The library was dedicated on October 1, 1873. In March 1885, the Concord Free Library was the first institution to ban Mark Twain's ''

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' or as it is known in more recent editions, ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', is a novel by American author Mark Twain, which was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United St ...

'', and a number of New England newspapers applauded their condemnation: the ''Daily Advertiser'' (Boston), the ''Daily Republican'' (Springfield, MA), and the ''Freeman'' (Concord, MA). But many criticized or mocked the library's decision, and as a number of contemporaries and Twain himself noted, the ban contributed to the novel's publicity and helped its sales.Michael Patrick Hearn, "Introduction," ''The Annotated Huckleberry Finn'' (New York & London: W.W. Norton, 2001), pp. lxxvi-lxxxii. The Fowler branch of the Concord Free Public Library, designed by architect Harry Little, was dedicated on May 18, 1930.

References

{{authority control Public libraries in Massachusetts Libraries in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Concord, Massachusetts Library buildings completed in 1873 Tourist attractions in Concord, Massachusetts