The Lucius Beebe Memorial Library is the main library for the town of Wakefield, Massachusetts. The building that currently holds the town's main library was opened in 1923 and is named after the first library commissioner.

History

Originally, the town of Wakefield,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, was named South Reading and its first

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

was called the Social Library and was organized in the early part of the nineteenth century as a

subscription library A subscription library (also membership library or independent library) is a library that is financed by private funds either from membership fees or endowments. Unlike a public library, access is often restricted to members, but access rights ca ...

. The library's collection consisted mostly of theological works. This library was not very successful and many subscribers soon withdrew their support. In 1831, the South Reading Franklin Library opened and this subscription library consisted mostly of books on art, science, history, and medicine. In 1834, these two libraries merged and retained the name of Franklin Library. In March 1856, the town approved the creation of a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

to be supported by local taxation. A committee was appointed and by the summer of 1856, the public library opened on the first floor of the old Town House. The library circulated 4,135 books the first six months it was opened. In 1857, the town sought to expand the library and appointed Lucius Beebe as chair of the library committee. This committee received an appropriation of $300 to purchase books and pay the salary of the librarian. By 1859, the library had grown to 1,678 volumes. The first librarian was noted as a Miss E.M. Newhall who was replaced in 1859 by Mrs. Emily C. Poland who served until 1866.Ingram, E. (1925)
''The Lucius Beebe memorial library, an historical sketch''
Wakefield, MA, Wakefield Item Press. In 1868, Cyrus Wakefield, the namesake of the future town, donated a house to be used by the city. One-half of the first floor of this building was dedicated as the new library space. Lucius Beebe donated $500 to the library and, as a result, the town renamed the library as the "Beebe Public Library." In 1871, a new town hall was built and the town was renamed Wakefield. Several months later the library was moved to the new Wakefield town hall. The library continued to rapidly grow and by 1900 the library board sought funding for a new building. After many failed attempts, a

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

met in 1916 to buy land for a new library building in the downtown district. The committee agreed to buy land on the corner of Main and Avon Streets. The residents raised $12,000 for the land in a civic campaign. In December 1916, Junius Beebe, the son of the late Lucius Beebe, donated $60,000 for the construction of the library building. Construction was delayed, however, by the entry of the country into World War I. Construction did begin eventually in 1922 after the cornerstone was laid and was completed and opened on April 15, 1923.

The Building

The building is constructed in the neo-classical style. It was originally described as

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

colonial with Georgian influence built in the Greek style. There is also a large reading room adorned with medallions that pay homage to literary giants such as

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, and

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...

. The medallions were constructed by Bennidetto Chippolini.

References

{{WakefieldMA Library buildings completed in 1923 Wakefield, Massachusetts Libraries in Middlesex County, Massachusetts 1856 establishments in Massachusetts