Manchester-by-the-Sea Public Library

In 1886, Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, a summer resident and great-grandson of President Thomas Jefferson, generously donated building funds to the town for the Manchester Public Library, and the majestic structure was dedicated the following year.

 

Designed by the renowned architect Charles McKim, the Romanesque-style building features large stone walls that reflect early medieval architecture.​ Rough-cut granite blocks surround the library and feature an arched entrance. Inside, a peaked ceiling reminiscent of the twelfth-century library at Merton College, Oxford, creates an inspiring space. A stained-glass window by Louis C. Tiffany & Co. provides soft, ambient light. An oak screen archway, decorated with carvings from a sixteenth-century church in Brittany, leads to the bookshelves. Above the archway, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's inscription remains relevant today for any modern public library, emphasizing the importance of making mindful and informed choices in reading and learning: “Choose well. Your choice is brief and yet endless.”

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The original layout of the library divided the space into three sections: the book collection, a Civil War Memorial area, and the Grand Army of the Republic meeting room. The first Library Director, Delucena L. Bingham, Jr., moved 1,000 books from the crowded former Lyceum Library at 12 School Street. Over time, the collection grew, the children’s room was added in 1967, and the library evolved from a memorial into a vibrant learning center, adapting to the community's changing needs.

 

For further reading:

- Huss, John. "A Walking Tour of Historic Manchester-by-the-Sea, The East Walk." Manchester: Manchester Historical Society, p. 12.

- Lamson, Rev. D. F. The History of the Town of Manchester, 1645–1895. Published by the Town, 1895, pp. 196-198.

- The Manchester Public Library Bulletin, January 1931, "History of the Library."