Mission:

The mission of Tiverton Library Services is to be an essential resource for personal growth and community enrichment. Our programs, services and collections serve the personal and professional needs and interests of individuals, groups and organizations. As a vital part of the Town, our modern library services enhance the educational, cultural, social, and economic well being of the community.

History

Over seventy years ago, on a rainy Monday in May, the cornerstone of the Lydia Smith Baker Essex Public Library was set in place (currently the Essex Public Library). Newspaper stories of the time tell us that, among other things, the stone contained picture accounts of a disaster still fresh in the minds of the citizens of seafaring Tiverton – the hurricane of 1938. The weather was to play still another part in the erection of the building. The chairman of the board of trustees, Mr. George Delano, stated at the laying of the stone that construction should be completed in four months; the formal dedication did not take place for more than a year due to adverse weather conditions.

Today a visitor to the library, situated on Highland Road in the Stone Bridge section of Tiverton, can observe the famous Tiverton sunsets reflecting off the fieldstones of its walls, the same Tiverton fieldstone that the donor of the library, Miss Lydia B. Essex, admired so much that she expressly stipulated its use in the construction of her legacy. Miss Essex, a former schoolteacher, had been a long-time summer resident of the town. Upon her death, she left to the town of Tiverton a two –acre plot of land and approximately forty-two thousand dollars to be used for the construction and maintenance of a free public library in memory of her mother, Lydia Smith Baker Essex.

The gift was accepted at a Town meeting in 1937. Construction began in October 1938 and the cornerstone laid in May 1939. The library was governed by a board of five trustees which were appointed by the Town Council for a period of three years.

The heart of any library historically, no matter how fine its construction, is its collection of books. Miss Essex did not forget this and income from her bequest was used in the purchase of books. The foundation of the past collection also came from Whitridge Hall Library on Lawton Avenue which gave its books to the library. According to the Fall River Herald News of June 19, 1940, there were “books to suit all walks of life and covering a wide variety of interests; books that are out of print and others autographed by famous people and, last but not least, a very fine collection of reading material for children and young people”.

Some of the other long-term librarians included directors Margaret (Waring) Anthony; Mrs. Lilias (Sheffield) Leonard; and Mrs. Elizabeth (Davis) Reed.