The Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, Wakefield, Massachusetts

[LIB7244] In 1916, the townspeople purchased a lot at the corner of Main and Avon Streets for $16,000. That same year, Junius Beebe, son of Lucius Beebe, donated $60,000 (average annual salaries at that time were around $700) toward the construction of a new library building, to be built in memory of his parents, Lucius and Sylenda. The cornerstone was laid on March 17, 1922 and the building was dedicated on April 15, 1923. The original building is still in use as a public library though there have been extensive renovations.  [Website]

Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, WAKEFIELD MA

Wakefield’s Beebe Library celebrated its 150th anniversary in March of 2006. The town’s first public library was established in 1856, when a committee consisting of B.F. Tweed, Lilley Eaton, Fred A. Sawyer, J.M. Evans, George O. Carpenter, and James Oliver was formed to take the necessary steps towards establishing a library. The library was then located in the old Town House, overlooking the Common. The following year Town Meeting appropriated $300 to buy books and pay the salary of a librarian. Lucius Beebe was the first chairman of the Board of Trustees. [Source: Library History, http://www.wakefieldlibrary.org/libraryinfo/librarybuilding/libraryhistory/]