Abbot Public Library
{{Short description|Massachusetts public library}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
File:Abbot Library, Pleasant Street, Marblehead, MA.jpg
The Abbot Public Library is a library in Marblehead, Massachusetts. The building is located at 235 Pleasant Street.{{Cite web|url=https://mblc.state.ma.us/directories/libraries/library.php?record_id=1469|title=Library MBLC|website=mblc.state.ma.us/|access-date=2023-04-17}}
The Library is a member of the North of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE) consortium.{{Cite web|url=https://www.noblenet.org/about/|title=NOBLE Web » About NOBLE|website=www.noblenet.org|access-date=2023-04-14}} The grounds are maintained by the Driftwood Garden Club.{{Cite web|url=https://driftwoodgardenclub.org/join/|title=About Us Driftwood Garden Club|website=www.driftwood Garden Club.org|access-date=2023-04-17}} Book sales are organized by the Friends of the Abbot Public Library and fundraising is organized by the Abbot Public Library Foundation.
History
In 1872 Benjamin Abbot{{Cite book|last=Roads|first=Samuel|url=https://archive.org/details/historytradition00road|title=The history and traditions of Marblehead|date=1880|publisher=Boston, Houghton, Osgood and company|others=The Library of Congress}} left $103,000 to the town of Marblehead and Abbot Hall was built in 1877 which included a reading room and library.
Marblehead Home and Style."Making of a Modern Library". North of Boston Media Group, 2018, p. 47-49. Oversight of the library was given to a board of trustees elected by the town. Books were first loaned in the spring of 1878. Mary G. Brown was the first librarian.{{Cite web|url=https://marbleheadhomestyle-cnhi.newsmemory.com/|title=Making a Modern Library}}File:MaryBrown-2.jpgFile:MaryBrown-1.jpg
In 1931, the Clifton Branch Library opened in the Hobbs Memorial Building on Clifton Avenue.{{Cite web|url=http://marbleheadpl.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?i=f&d=01011871-12311976&e=clifton%20library&m=between&ord=e1&fn=marblehead_messenger_usa_massachusetts_marblehead_19310717_english_3&df=1&dt=1&cid=2783|title=Open Clifton Branch Library Last of July}}
Gregory O. Lyon bequeathed $20,000 to the Town of Marblehead for the construction of a new library.{{Cite web|url=http://marbleheadpl.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?i=f&d=01011871-12311976&e=clifton%20library&m=between&ord=e1&fn=marblehead_messenger_usa_massachusetts_marblehead_19310717_english_3&df=1&dt=1&cid=2783|title=Town Warrant}}
The library moved to a new building at 235 Pleasant Street in 1954.
File:Reading Room at Abbot Library on Pleasant Street.jpg
The Friends of the Abbot Public Library helped preserve the Messenger, a Marblehead newspaper, on microfilm.{{cite web|url=http://marbleheadpl.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?i=f&d=01011871-12311976&e=friends%20of%20the%20abbot%20public%20library&m=between&ord=e1&fn=marblehead_messenger_usa_massachusetts_marblehead_19580508_english_1&df=1&dt=2&cid=2783|accessdate=2023-04-17|title=In Appreciation}} The microfilm was digitized in 2019 by Advantage Archives.{{Cite web|url=http://marblehead.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=digitize%20abbot%20library&i=f&d=01011900-12312023&m=between&ord=k1&fn=marblehead_reporter_and_the_marblehead_messenger_usa_massachusetts_marblehead_20190725_english_5&df=1&dt=1&cid=2785|title=100 plus years of Marblehead newspaper history online}}
In the fall of 2022, the library moved to an interim space on Brook Road, the site of the old Eveleth School, while major renovations and upgrades take place.{{Cite web|url=https://abbotlibrary.org/abbot-public-library-construction-launch-party/|title=Abbot Public Library Construction Launch Party|first=Cassandra|last=Sprague|date=March 16, 2023}} Renovations included upgrades in technology, new meeting spaces, a new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible garden as well as electrical upgrades and a new HVAC system.https://marbleheadcurrent.org/2023/05/31/supporters-tour-10m-abbot-library-renovations/ The Abbot Library Foundation has raised money for this project and was able to donate money back to the town.https://marbleheadweeklynews.com/abbot-library-presents-town-with-1-million/{{Cite web|url=https://marbleheadcurrent.org/2022/10/20/abbot-public-library-staff-breaths-life-into-their-new-home-the-eveleth-school/|title=Abbot Public Library staff settles into their new home: The Eveleth School - Marblehead Current|first=William J.|last=Dowd|date=October 20, 2022|website=marbleheadcurrent.org}}
File:Abbot_Library_on_Brook_Road_2022.jpg
File:Abbot_Library_at_Brook_Road_2022.jpg July 5–7, 2024 the library opened its doors to the public following the renovation to host the Marblehead Literary Festival, an event that is part of the annual Marblehead Festival of the Arts. Guest authors included Eric Jay Dolin, Hank Phillippi Ryan and Julia Glass.https://itemlive.com/2024/07/05/abbot-public-library-hosts-literary-festival/ The library opened for service July 10, 2024.https://marbleheadcurrent.org/2024/03/06/new-beginnings-abbot-public-library-renovation-nears-finish-line/ File:New Abbot Library July 2024.png File:New Abbot Library Reading Room July 2024.jpg File:Abbot Library New Garden July 2024.jpg File:Abbot Library New Computer Area July 2024.jpg File:Abbot Library New Gallery July 2024.jpg File:Abbot Library New Reading Area July 2024.jpg
