Our Rich History
The Springfield Town Library has been serving the community from its present location in the heart of downtown Springfield for over 100 years. Established in 1871, Springfield Town Library settled into a permanent home in 1895. Today, the library offers a full range of services, including more than 50,000 books and other materials, free access to online courses and a wide range of electronic resources, and programs for both adults and children.
From the nomination to the National Register of Historic Places: https://www.crjc.org/heritage/V07-4.htm
Springfield Town Library, 43 Main Street: (c,1895; enlarged 1928, 1938, 1966-67, 1978).
1-story plus full basement, hip-roofed brick Renaissance Revival style library with a rusticated foundation, brick masonry walls, brick, and terra cotta trim, and a slate-covered roof. The main building was erected in 1895 and has a T-shaped plan with a 40' x 56' main section and a 28' x 30' west wing. To this was added a 36' x 36' children's room to the south (on Main Street) in 1928, a 24' x 28' stack area to the rear of the original wing in 1938, a fire exit to the wing addition and new entrance steps to the main building in 1966-67, and a 50' x 50' addition to the rear of the 1928 wing in 1978. The 1928 "Barnard" wing was built in the same style as the main building, using the same scale, materials, and architectural details. All of the other additions are not visible from Main Street and they are sympathetic to the scale and material of the original building. The main block of the library exhibits iron ridge cresting; an entablature with a consoled cornice and terra cotta moldings; an entrance pavilion with Corinthian corner pilasters and a pedimented gable with a circular terra cotta date plaque "1895"; a frieze with "Spafford Library Building~ inscribed; and the main entrance with a decorated round-arched pediment with round terra cotta state seal in the tympanum. Quoins mark the corners of the main block and the south wing. The windows are 1/1 with triangular pediments supported by consoles.
The Springfield Town Library was erected in 1895 with a $20,000 bequest left to the town by Henry Harrison Spafford. Originally known as the Spafford Library Building, it is now referred to as the Springfield Town Library. The building was designed by architects Willard P. Adden of Reading, Mass., and Russell W. Porter of Boston.
About the Building
Springfield Town Library History
The earliest library in Springfield was organized in 1819 when a group of prominent citizens incorporated as the Springfield Central Library electing Nomlas Cobb as the town’s first librarian. The books, fewer than 100, were kept in his law offices for the use of the Library’s “proprietors.” For a substantial fee, a person of good standing and at least 21 years of age could become a proprietor with borrowing privileges.
A second library, the Agricultural Library Association, was organized in 1850 and maintained its own small collection until 1871 when both libraries and the Springfield Wesleyan Seminary dissolved and donated their assets to form the Springfield Town Library .
Over the years, the library moved its collection to the offices and stores of successive librarians. The Library found a permanent home with a bequest from Henry Harrison Spafford, and when the historic Spafford Library Building opened in 1895 the collection had grown to nearly 5,000 volumes.
Springfield Town Library has expanded several times since then. In 1928 a donation from the children of Henry Barnard allowed for the construction of an addition to house a children’s room. Ten years later the Library had again outgrown the building and in 1939 a bequest by Mary Barnard was used to extend the ell on the original Spafford building to increase the shelf capacity of the Library.
Over one hundred years later, Springfield Town Library continues to serve the community from that magnificent building, expanded several times over the intervening century and now housing over 50,000 volumes and including formats unimaginable when it first opened. The historic Spafford Library Building located in the heart of downtown Springfield is a local landmark and magnet, drawing people to Springfield from surrounding towns. Springfield Town Library enjoys the respect, devotion and support of the community as it remains committed to the best library services possible.