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History of the Library

The first library in Seekonk consisted of a private reading group of women who collected 70 books and called themselves “The Female Benevolent and Library Society.” Records of the group date back to July 9, 1825, thirteen years after the town was incorporated.

The first Free Public Library in Seekonk was established in 1899 in the Town Hall for the residents of the center of town. The townspeople appropriated $50.00 that year to help support the library. In March 1911, a portion of the Town Hall collection was moved to the new library room in Association Hall at Luther’s Corner. In 1929 the Mason’s Lodge desired the room where the Luther’s Corner Branch Library had been housed since 1911 and the books were moved to a new room in Association Hall. As circulation at the Town Hall Library increased, it became apparent that a larger library was desirable. Mrs. Isadore Forbes, the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Isaiah Smart, made possible the building of an $11,000 library on Fall River Avenue by donating the building and some of her own books, bestowing it in memory of her parents. Deeds for the land and building were presented to Selectmen Chairman Ellis P. Westcott, August 16, 1932. Opened in 1932, the Smart Memorial Library became the main library in town with the Town Hall library, a branch. The Association Hall collection was moved at that time.

With the increase in population in the north end of Seekonk came the need of a second branch library. The Town Meeting of February 1, 1932 authorized the Selectmen to accept the Old School House on Central Avenue from the School Department to use as a community hall. The North End library was opened April 25, 1941 in one room of Community Hall. In January of 1965, the Board of Library Trustees began advising the Board of Selectmen of the inadequacies of the space at Community Hall. The North Library in Community Hall was described as “Token service in highly inadequate quarters.” The collection numbered 2,100 within 181 sq.ft. The March 5, 1965 Town Meeting voted to establish a Library Building Committee. In September of 1965, the Committee recommended that the “present Community Hall be razed and the site be used for a new North Library and Community Hall.” William Diaz Warner was selected as architect of the proposed building. Unfortunately, the Town Meeting defeated the article because there was great objection to the modern exterior proposed. Going back to the drawing board, the 1966 minutes of the Building Committee revealed a new option.“Mr. Bessette asked that he be allowed to read a letter from the Board of Selectmen. Contents of the letter were read to the townspeople in which it stated the Selectman were giving their permission for the Community Hall to be used as a library that the structure was basically sound and that renovations and a new heating system would be made.” In 1968 the hall was completely renovated as a three room library and the town librarian’s office was moved from Smart to the North End Library. A special room in the memory of Esther Bradley, Town Hall librarian and Chairman of the Board of Trustees was set up at that time with memorial funds.

Until 1969, the maintenance and control of the library building was under the jurisdiction of the Board of Library Trustees. Correspondence from 1969 reveals the Selectmen assumed the maintenance of all town buildings except for the schools within their budget that year.

In January 1970, June Robbins was appointed a Part Time Library Director. This was the first time the Seekonk Public Libraries had a Director with a Master’s Degree in Library Science at the helm. It was also the first time the Seekonk Libraries had met all of the requirements for minimum standards by the Commonwealth. By June 1970, the Board of Library Trustees were already exploring the possibility of putting on an addition to Smart Library. At the October 1970 meeting, Trustee Joseph Calland proposed that the State Aid money be used for the plans for a new library.

In 1972, a Municipal Building Committee was appointed by the town. In February 1972, a meeting was setup with Herb Johnson, Chairman of the Municipal Building Committee. The options presented included a new central library, maintaining separate facilities at each end of the town or planning an addition to Smart. The majority opinion of the Board of Library Trustees at the time was that “we should seek a new library as part of the municipal center as this would provide the much needed space for the town’s future growth.” 1972 also saw the close of the Town Hall Library on March 1. A move to expand Smart Library was defeated in 1973, when a variance was denied by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

In 1974, the annual report of the library trustees once again noted that the lack of adequate space continued to be a problem with the Seekonk Library. Laurence Solomon was commissioned to do a space needs study. In 1974, the North Library was renamed the Calland Library.

The Special Town meeting of May 12, 1975 included the following article:
“”A motion was made and seconded that the town authorize the Moderator to appoint a Library Building Committee, to consist of seven (7) members to include one member from the Board of Library Trustees, one member from the Planning Board and one member of the Finance Committee, said Committee to engage an architect to draw up such plans as are required for the construction of a library and to determine the availability of such parcels of land as are suitable building sites according to the recommendations of the Library Needs Report and to transfer from the account “State Aid to Libraries, Receipts Reserved” the sum of $7,000.00 for said use of said Committee, with the provision that any unexpended funds used by said Committee, be returned to the account “State Aid to Libraries, Receipts Reserved.”” The motion passed unanimously.

A note in the minutes of the Board of Library Trustees in May of 1975 makes comment on a note from Laurence Solomon informing them that they might qualify for HUD grant money. By September of 1975, the Building Committee was still considering options such as :

1) Making more use of the High School Library
2) Extending use of Smart’s cellar
3) Opening a third branch in Field wood
4) Having further library studies done.

At that time, John Sullivan urged that no further studies be done, that the Building Committee concentrate on planning a central library building that regular meetings be held between the two groups and that there be a constant flow of publicity to keep the public informed concerning the Committee’s progress. Little else appears in the minutes concerning the new library building until a note about a ground breaking April 25, 1977 at 2pm. On August 11, 1977 Sharon E. Davis was appointed Library Director.

The groundbreaking was for a new library to be constructed and funded 100% through a grant of $700,000.00 from the Public Works Employment Act of 1976 in December of 1976. A Town meeting in January of 1977 voted favorably for using the old landfill off of Newman Avenue as the site for the new building. That Town Meeting also formed the Building Committee allowing them to enter into contracts with architects and builders. John Sullivan chaired that committee which hired the Providence Partnership as the architects for the project.

The building was originally sited in the middle of the lot on Newman Avenue. At the eleventh hour it was discovered that the location contained too much methane gas and the decision to move the library to its current location was made to save the project. John Murgia the building inspector courageously approved the move saving the library. He was later found to be in error in his interpretation of the zoning bylaws. So in December of 1977 the library building committee asked the Zoning Board of Appeals to remove this legal cloud over the building. The building violated the zoning bylaw by being 30 feet too close to the property line of George Smith. The zoning required that anything other than a dwelling to be at least 50 feet from the property line.

On December 19, 1977 the variance request was denied. The Building Committee took the issue to Superior Court where Judge August Taviera overturned the Zoning Board decision saying the board exceeded its authority in denying the variance. The Zoning Board finally granted the variance in November of 1978 with a 4-1 vote, John Tobin dessenting. The Zoning Board attached stipulations to its variance which kept the building closed until 1981. They specified that “No occupancy permit can be granted until the building is deemed safe by a full winter’s testing to prove that no significant amount of methane gas is recorded present under the building.”

Finally in January of 1980, Geotechnical Engineers Inc., of Winchester declared that the level of methane gas in the building, caused by the library’s proximity to an old landfill, was safe enough to open the building. In February of that year, Board of Selectmen Chairman, Robert DelRosso instructed counsel Max Volterra to file suit against the Providence Partnership for allegedly failing to provide an adequate ventilation system. March’s report from Geotechnical Engineering advised periodic monitoring of the methane. A permanent system of monitoring was installed and the monitors have been read everyday the building is open. In June of 1980, the town decided to have additional work performed by B & H Enterprises of East Providence. The work sealed the wall joints and provided ventilation to the walls, to prevent a gas buildup should it enter the building

The new building was permitted to open Sunday February 15, 1981 at 2:o’clock.


Isaiah Smart	Sarah Smart