A Brief History

In 1987, a committed group of Berwick residents banded together to form Berwick's first public library. Books, donated by the community, were housed in the library's first location, a room in Berwick Town Hall. That room is now the Town Manager's office.

By November 1995, the library had moved to 43 Route 236 in the post office building. Its space (less than 1200 square feet) could seat just eight adults; only six to eight preschoolers could attend story hour; over 1000 volumes sat in storage because of insufficient shelf space.

In 1996, Richard W. Stillings bequeathed 1000 shares of General Electric stock to the Berwick Public Library for the sole purpose of building a permanent library in Berwick. In 2000, the Philbrick Family gave 3 acres of land to the Berwick Library Association. These generous donations prompted a major campaign to raise the capital needed to open a new library in Berwick. Residents, businesses, and foundations responded admirably. The new Berwick Public Library opened in summer 2005, having been built without Town, State, or Federal funding.