Wareham Free Library celebrates 35 years of lending, learning and more

2026 marks 35 years of work for the Wareham Free Library and its board of trustees plans on celebrating not only the work done since its opening but also the long history of the library.

“We want this to be a real community event because the library is such a vibrant part of the community,” said Nancy Rice, library board of trustees member.

In 1991, the library was feeling the limitations of its High Street location. It was near impossible to search for books without fear of being trapped between the shelves and many kids could not access its basement children’s room so many people decided it was time to move.

“The old library was so tiny, the children’s room was in the basement and there was no elevator,” library director Patrick Marshall said. “You could really only go in two aisles at a time because we had to get as much in as we could.”

And on May 6 of that year, the Wareham Free Library moved to its current 59 Marion Road location and Marshall, who was a part of the moving process, said there was an immediate positive impact.

“We had a young kid in a wheelchair and he was so excited when this building first opened because he didn’t have to be carried to the children’s room,” Marshall said. “He could just come in the front door and go wheeling into the children’s room.”

Rice added while she was not a part of the moving process, she grew up on High Street and remembers seeing the transition.

“There were so many people who became involved in making that happen by working on the building committee and physically transporting books,” she said.

Since then the library has expanded its programming to not only offer books but to offer a wide range of services for people of all ages.

“There’s just no end to what the library offers and we really want to celebrate that,” Rice said. “There’s been a long history of libraries in Wareham and this is the first town-owned library building.”

The trustees are planning a celebration on May 6 to commemorate the day the library moved and there will be month-long events leading up to the event.

“We have a lot of possibilities. There might be library tours and we’re developing a survey for the public on how they use the library,” Rice said. “We want to do something permanent and do a nod to the history going back to its earliest days and celebrate the people involved.”