 Canton Public Library, ca. 1900 (Dan Keleher Collection) |
Canton Public Library1
The first library in Canton was a subscription library founded in 1766 by Elijah Dunbar and existed until 1812. The Canton Public Library was established in 1874 with a $500 stipend by the town at the request of Frank Webster and the Grand Army of the Republic who established the library in the Grand Army’s reading room on the corner of Church and Washington Streets. The library moved to Memorial Hall in 1877 where it continued to grow. This led to a collection of 9,100 volumes by 1898 and help lead to a donation from Mr. and Mrs. Augustus Hemenway that allowed for the current library building to be constructed. It opened in 1902 with 11,000 volumes.
In 1963 the town completed a $261,000 construction project that more than doubled the size of the library to 17,000 square feet. The library joined a library resource sharing venture in 1986 that led to the development of the Old Colony Library Network (OCLN) in 1988. The voters approved another library expansion program in 2000 that was completed in 2003.
Library Directors2
|
Name |
Years |
|
Frank Webster |
1875 |
|
Richard L. Weston |
1875-1879 |
|
Abby J. snow |
1880-1882 |
|
Abby J. snow |
1880-1882 |
|
Charlotte E. Endicott |
1882-1889 |
|
David Hagan |
1889-1895 |
|
Jennie Hewitt |
1895-1898 |
|
|
1902-1919 |
|
Gertrude Ryan |
1919-1946 |
|
Rose Holmes |
1919-1946 |
|
Margaret Doody |
1946-1971 |
|
Ann Jackson |
1972-1973 |
|
Mary Lane |
1973-1978 |
|
Jeannette McDonald |
1979-1983 |
|
Catherine Stetson |
1983-1984 |
|
Mark Lague |
1984- |
Resources 1 and 2
Canton Public Library, “Canton Public Library,” http://library.canton.ma.us/library/history.html.
Historic Homes of Canton, vol. II: North Canton Corner by Patricia Johnson, 49-61.
History of the Town of Canton by Daniel Huntoon, 590-592.