From the Board of Library Trustees

The Board of Library Trustees would like to thank the people who were instrumental in compiling this history of the Wayland Free Public Library. We thank Reference Librarian Marjanneke Wright for her role in cataloging the Library’s historical materials and enabling access to them through their preservation and digitization, and Assistant Director Andy Moore for his editorial assistance. Marjanneke’s vision and guidance brought us the book’s authors: Rafael Abrahams, Elizabeth Simms, and Joseph Weisberg, PhD students in the Department of History, Brandeis University GSAS. We are deeply grateful for the research and work that they and many others put into producing this project.

This library has weathered many events in the past 175 years at three different locations, including two pandemics (1918, 2020) and flooding, both minor and major (2010). Nationwide, libraries protect freedom of access to information, and are constantly asked to defend challenges to First Amendment rights and privacy laws. Through it all, this and other free public libraries have grown stronger, providing tools to deliver opportunities for learning, exploration, connection, and community engagement. Libraries are places of education, providing access for ALL to knowledge for personal interest and advancement and offering the tools that participants in our democracy need and deserve.

Many thanks to you, the townspeople of Wayland, for your strong, steadfast support of your library and its mission. We hope you enjoy this history, and with it gain a deeper appreciation of the importance of libraries in our individual lives and community, and their critical role in our democracy.

The future of our library and its services is up to you, and it depends on your continued support. We are well poised for whatever comes next and our future is bright. This cornerstone of our democracy, this community place and resource for education, will continue to change and develop. It is ready to learn from you and show you what can be next!

Happy 175th Birthday, Wayland Free Public Library!

AIDA GENNIS (CHAIR), LEAH HART (VICE-CHAIR), JUDY DION, ELAINE DONNELLY, ELISA SCOLA, WIN TREESE

MAY 19, 2023