WAREHAM FREE LIBRARY HISTORY

The Wareham Free Library was established in 1890 when Miss Anna Amory, a Trustee of the Boston Public Library and summer resident of Wareham, offered a $500 collection of books to the Monday Club of Wareham. The Monday Club agreed to support the library until such time as the town would appropriate funds for its support.

The library was incorporated in 1891 and was then located on the second floor of a hat shop on Main Street. In 1915, on the death of George Oakes Tobey, Jr., his mother, Blanche Waterman Tobey, offered to construct a library building in memory of her son. The land for the new building, located at the corner of High and Centre Streets, was given by Mr.s Horace Tobey. The building was completed and presented to the Wareham Free Library Corporation on September 28, 1016.

In 1971, the Board of Trustees saw the need to refurbish the library building. This project was completed in 1974. Circulation tripled, then quadrupled, and it became apparent that the town needed a larger facility.

In 1988, under the direction of Mary Jane Pillsbury, the Director of Library Services, an application was made for a direct state aid grant which was approved. The town of Wareham passed an article which stated that the town would raise and appropriate a sum of money to be used in conjunction with the sum that was received from the Commonwealth. The lot on 59 Marion Road was chosen for the site of the new Wareham Free Library and the ground breaking ceremony took place in October of 1989. The construction of the present library was completed in 1991 and the library was officially opened on May 6, 1991.

SPINNEY MEMORIAL BRANCH LIBRARY HISTORY

On June 9, 2005, the Friends, the Spinney Memorial, Inc. and the Town of Wareham entered into a Donation Agreement for the Spinney Memorial Building. The three parties agreed that the building would be donated by Spinney Inc. to the Friends who would then renovate and add to the building. Upon completion of the project, the Friends would donate the premises with improvements to the Town “for use as a public library.”

The Friends began an extensive fund raising campaign to build an addition to the current historical building and restore the existing building as a branch of the Wareham Free Library. Many private and business donations were made, grants were awarded, and many fundraisers were held.

At the spring 2012 Town Meeting, the voting members agreed to accept the Spinney Memorial Branch Library. On July 23, 2013, the Spinney Branch Library held its grand opening on the library lawn at 295 Onset Avenue,