Library Card 
My Account Creation of Greenwich Library
Greenwich, CT established its first library in 1806 as the Greenwich Town Library when a group citizens met at the Theodore H. Mead House at the foot of Putnam Hill. There they asserted a need for a library because “the dissemination of useful knowledge tends to reform the morals, enlighten the understanding, refine the manners, and dispose men to the support of good government and civil society.” The library, which was a subscription library of $6 per year, shut down within a few years. Other efforts followed, but no true library was created.
The movement for a library within Greenwich gained traction in the 1870s as “a means of moral and intellectual culture.” In 1874, the Greenwich Reading Room and Library Association was established. The next year, oyster suppers, concerts, lectures, bazaars, and other assorted entertainments were held as a capital campaign to obtain the funding to build a library. In 1877, a reading room was opened on the second floor of the Moshier Building on Greenwich Avenue and Lewis Street over a hardware store. The first Librarian was E.J. Wright. He donated a portion of his private collection of books to start up the institution. He remained for one year to be replaced by his assistant Mary M. Miller who was appointed by the Board for $15 per month. Miller worked as chief Librarian until 1915 when she stepped down as the head. However, she continued to work as a Librarian at the Greenwich Library until 1928.
Incorporation
A major milestone occurred on March 28, 1878, when the State Legislature granted a charter to the association and it was incorporated. However, there was still no permanent home for the Library. In 1884, the reading room moved to across the street to the Ray Building on the southeast corner of Greenwich Avenue and Lewis Street. In the meanwhile, interest in building a new library continued. In 1882, Hannah R. Mead made its first bequest to the Library Association of $500.
In 1894, Mrs. A.A. Anderson of New York City, the daughter of Jeremiah and Elizabeth Lake Milbank agreed to erect a building if the land could be obtained. Supporters of the library collected $11,500 to purchase a plot of land on Greenwich Avenue where the Isaac Weed home had stood. In 1896, Greenwich Library was dedicated in the memory of Mrs. Anderson’s parents. The new library on Greenwich Avenue saw success and growth. In 1897, the philanthropic industrialist Andrew Carnegie donated $500 to the library. Formal incorporation of the new library as the Greenwich Reading Room and Library Association occurred on May 24, 1899 by the Connecticut State Legislature under Joint Resolution 433. This was changed on March 26, 1907 when the State Assembly under Joint Resolution 95, changed the name of the institution to the Greenwich Library. While the change was not to take effect for fourteen years, common usage of the new name soon made the old title obsolete.
Meanwhile, there had been growing pressure to make the Library a free institution. To this point, Greenwich Library had charged subscriptions for the use of the books. Nathaniel Witherell pledged $500 per year for two years if the library was free. Other donations came in with the assurance that if the library was made free, more gifts would follow to support it. Thus, on September 1, 1899, the Board made a resolution to make Greenwich Library a free institution. Support followed. Mrs. Anderson endowed $10,000 under the condition that another $10,000 could be raised to match it. $20,000 was raised and the Library started with an endowment of $30,000. However, these resources were sufficient to meet demand and not grow.
Financial support from the Town of Greenwich started in 1917 after lobbying by the Trustees and the Community. The Town appropriated $1,000 to the Library for operating expenses. This marked the start of the long-standing public-private partnership between the Library and the Town of Greenwich.
The usage of the Library on Greenwich Avenue increased as the Town grew in size. As the Town approached 30,000 residents, the Library underwent an expansion to meet demand. Meanwhile, Greenwich Library grew in scope with the establishment of the branch libraries at Cos Cob in 1930 within the Cos Cob School and the East Port Chester Branch in 1931 (now the Byram Shubert Library) in the Cygnet Athletic Club on Delavan Avenue. The East Port Chester Branch moved in 1933 to a building on Mead Avenue next to the New Lebanon School. The Cos Cob Library remained within the school until the early 1970s.
This growth coincided with the appointment of Isabelle Hurlbutt as the Library Director in 1929. She served as the head of the Library until 1961 and should be credited with truly making the Library into a priceless community institution. Hurlbutt was driven to extend library services to all quarters of Greenwich. In 1931, a small library deposit station which grew into a proper library was established at the Glenville School. In 1935, she established the first Bookmobile for the Library which was dubbed “Black Maria.” That same year, Library services began to extend further into the schools including Hamilton Avenue School and the establishment of a planned library within the Riverside School. This was followed by the establishment of a library station at Greenwich Hospital in 1937. By the early 1960s, Greenwich Library managed all school libraries as its “Extension Department.” Adults were typically allowed to use these school libraries after school hours. This practice was discontinued in the early 1970s and school libraries were transferred to the management of the Board of Education. Hurlbutt also promoted different kinds of library offerings. The first free public concerts sponsored by Greenwich Library were held in 1934 with a series of thirteen programs.
Greenwich Library, like many other institutions, contributed to the national effort of the Second World War. First Aid classes were held and the Library took part in a national Victory Book campaigns in which books were collected which were sent to American soldiers overseas and distributed by the American Library Association. It was during the war, that the Library also began to experiment with new collections. It began collecting records in 1943 with a phonograph being made available for public use the next year. Then in 1945, the Library obtained its first film projector with the first regular film offerings starting in 1947.
Library Expansion
By the 1950s, Greenwich had grown into a town of nearly 50,000 residents. Space at the main library on Greenwich Avenue was desperately needed. By the mid-1950s, the Library was operating the Main Library, two branches, and eight school libraries. The Trustees launched a fundraising campaign to expand the Library but did not reach its goal of $600,000. The campaign failed due to competition from other campaigns and lack of donations. Therefore, in 1957, the Trustees changed approaches and decided to move the Library off of Greenwich Avenue. They acquired the Franklin Simon Department store through a lease with an option to buy for $450,000 and hired architect Ralph Pomerance to redesign the building. Meanwhile, in 1960, the library on Greenwich Avenue was sold for $175,000. Between the purchase, redesign, and furnishings, the total net cost of the move was $750,000 of which the Town of Greenwich contributed $150,000. The new library opened its doors to the public on March 14, 1960.
It became clear within two years after opening that the Library needed to be larger to effectively serve the community. In 1963, the Library bought neighboring property which would allow for it to expand. Serious planning began in 1965 with the architects of SMS Partnership of Stamford to create a multi-story expansion which is that western part of the building which contains the main book stacks and theater. This expansion, when completed in 1969, cost $1,233,893. A second floor was built over the new wing a decade later, opening in 1981.
During this period of time, the Library was headed by Director Nolan Lushington. He was the second longest serving director, heading the Library from 1966 to 1987. Lushington, aside from leading major building projects, introduced new technologies and methods of material display which greatly enhanced the Library’s usage and standing.
The Main Library remained at its current size with the exception of a small addition for staffing space which was added in 1990. In 1992 the library received a bequest of $25 million from the estate of Clementine Peterson. the largest gift ever made to a community library in the United States. In her will, Mrs. Peterson established an independently-controlled foundation to disburse the funds and expand the business and music collections in memory of her husband, J. Whitney Peterson, and son, Jonathan.
A decision was made to remain at the present site and add a 32,000-square-foot wing, which would be integrated with the existing structure. Cesar Pelli & Associates were named as architects. $16.5 million was used for the construction of the new wing. The remaining portion of the bequest has been invested to generate income for the operation and maintenance of the new wing.
Library trustees recognized that many areas of the existing structure required renovation and modernization to meet the demands for service and changes in technology, to rectify inadequate parking, and to realize goals established by the Planning Committee and Master Building Plan. A capital campaign was launched, which raised $11,250,000 from the community for the renovation and modernization of the original building including $2,300,000 for the construction of a permanent home for the branch in Cos Cob.
The growth of the institution under the Peterson gift further cemented Greenwich Library’s place as a long-term center of its community. This status is reflected in the community’s support by a renovation of the Main Library undertaken under the leadership of Director Barbara Ormerod-Glynn between 2019 and 2021. In this renovation, the Library introduced a new community commons on its lower level which opened up spaces for its café and fully renovated Berkley Theater as well an Innovation Lab on the first floor which introduces new technologies to the community.
Byram Shubert Branch Library
In 1974, The Byram Shubert Library opened as a branch of the Greenwich Library system. Originally designed by R. Marshall Christensen, the cost of the new library was $370,000, most of which was donated by The Sam S. Shubert Foundation. The Byram Shubert name, which the Library retains to this day, comes from John Shubert. Shubert, the famed theater owner and operator, whose wife, Kerrtu, was one of the prime advocates of the Library’s construction. Additional funds for the Library’s construction were raised from within the community.
Although there were Library services at various facilities in Byram since the early 1930s, the construction of the Byram Shubert Library provided the community with enhanced resources that better suited the needs of the community.
The Byram Shubert Library Building Committee provided a basic program for the building. There was to be a 3,000 square foot open plan building with the capacity to be expanded to 8,000 square feet. A community center or meeting room was discussed as a potential later addition.
It is with its unique character and historical roots in mind that the Library sought to renovate and expand the Byram Shubert Library starting in 2004.
In March 2009, a $5.6 million renovation of the Byram Shubert Branch Library was completed, $3.1 million of which was privately donated. The federal government supported the project with a Community Development Block Grant $650,000, the State of Connecticut provided $500,000 in funding and the Town of Greenwich provided $1,360,000. The expansion and renovation project nearly doubled the available space with a two-level addition adjoining the previous one-floor structure. Together, the two floors house distinct areas for children, young adults and adults. The existing interior was renovated and appointed with entirely new furnishings. The branch library offers 24 public computer terminals, up from six in the old facility. The Byram branch collection features materials for children and adults and expanded offerings for young adults. The young adult collection highlights the latest and most popular materials, including graphic novels and critically acclaimed books. A new periodicals section includes more magazines and newspapers.
Cos Cob Branch Library
In June 1995, the Library purchased a site near the Cos Cob School at 8 Suburban Street for plans to rebuild the branch. The branch had been located at several different sites around Cos Cob including above the Food Mart and the Mill Pond Shopping Center. The branch rented at three different sites for 60 years before buying this property. To make the purchase possible, the Friends of Cos Cob Library contributed nearly their entire treasury for the down payment and the Trustees’ Development Fund of the Greenwich Library advanced the balance of the purchase price against future fundraising. The resulting new building increased the size by four times over the old facility. The building was designed specifically to remain consistent with the neighborhood by Kaehler/Moore Architects. The total project cost was $2.6 million.
The Peterson Wing officially opened June 12, 1999. Renovation of the existing building was completed in 2000. The Cos Cob Library opened in September 1999.
