History

The Marlborough Public Library was established in 1870 with a collection of 2,170 volumes located in City Hall. By 1900 the Trustees wrote that they had been "appealing for more space for ten years, to no avail". On December 25, 1902, city hall burned to the ground which included the library and the majority of the collection. Fortunately, before that happened the city secured a donation from Andrew Carnegie for $30,000 to build a new library and the location was secured by a generous donation of land from S H. Howe, John A Frye, and Dennis and Sophia Witherbee. In the fall of 1904, the new library opened.

In July of 1967, an arsonist set fire to the building and several of the library rooms and their contents were ruined. A rebuilt and expanded library re-opened on April 30, 1969. These renovations included separate art and music, and business rooms, open stacks and an auditorium. The library remained largely unchanged for the next 43 years until a small renovation of the children's room was completed in 2012 to better meet the needs of Marlborough families. In 2014 a Teen space was created, and then enlarged in early 2017.

It was clear that Marlborough needed a bigger, more modern library. In 2017 the city was awarded a grant of $10,186,626, from the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. That grant along with the city contributing $14,594,276 and generous donations totaling almost $2,000,000 made this new library possible. It was decided that to preserve Marlborough history, the Carnegie portion of the library was to be retained and restored and the library would remain at 35 West Main Street. The city acquired 4 residential properties to allow for this expansion and additional parking.

In 2021 the library moved to a temporary space in the Walker Building to allow construction to begin. Construction began in September 2022 and the new library was opened and dedicated on October 2, 2023. This new library increased in size from 22,300 square feet to 37,967 square feet and increased parking from 23 spaces to 70.

Thanks to the Marlborough Historical Society for their assistance in developing the History of the Marlborough Public Library (PDF) in commemoration of the 350th anniversary of the founding of Marlborough.

Living History: The Marlborough Public Library from WMCT-TV on Vimeo.