The History of Our Library

The Walpole Library was founded in 1795 by a group of residents as a proprietary or subscription library. For an annual fee, members had access to the books and periodicals owned by the library. In 1823 The Walpole Proprietary Library became the Walpole Library Association, eventually accumulating a collection of about 600 volumes. The Walpole Library Association was also a subscription library, charging members a fee of about $25.00 (in 2005 dollars) per year to belong.

In 1853, the Walpole Library Association donated its collection to the town of Walpole in order to establish a public library. The town accepted the collection and has supported a public library for its residents ever since. In 1853, the town of Walpole spent $100.00 per year on the library expenses. Since its inception, the Walpole Library has also benefited from generous donations that are used to buy books and fund special programs along with other library needs.

North Walpole established a library in 1891. The North Walpole branch is still thriving, in spite of a loss of most of the collection in 1946 due to a fire.  It is located next to the fire department in North Walpole.

Drewsville had a branch library for many years. It was established in 1886 and continued through the early part of the twentieth century.

For many years, the Walpole Library was located in local stores and, at one point, in rooms in the rear of the post office. Much of the work of preparing books and maintaining the collection was done by volunteers, supervised by the librarians, a tradition that continues to this day.

In 1891, Hudson Eliot Bridge erected the present library building as a memorial to his father, Hudson Ernestus Bridge. A two-room structure, the Bridge Memorial Library was given to the town complete with furniture. The present day Reading Room retains the feel of an old-fashioned library, while the Stack room remains what it has always been -- a room to store books. In 1961, another room was added in order to cope with the library’s space needs. This room is now the Children’s Room. It is open and airy and provides space for children’s programs as well as easy access to books for younger patrons.

In 1988, the Austin Hubbard Room was added. This is the present day Reference Room. It now houses reference materials and is the home of the library’s public access computers. It has several large tables and is used both for quiet study and meetings.

Today the Walpole Town Library strives for both professionalism and friendliness. The two libraries contain over 25,000 volumes, including audio books, periodicals, and movies.