ABOUT THE WESTERLY PUBLIC LIBRARY

This year, the Westerly Public Library is celebrating the 125th anniversary of the founding the Westerly Memorial & Library Association, which began in 1892. The organization raised half the $50,000 needed to construct and open the building in 1894. Stephen Wilcox of Westerly donated the land and agreed to match the $25,000 raised by local citizens. The association also owns and maintains Wilcox Park, which was donated by Wilcox's wife, Harriet, in honor of her husband in 1898. The library is a private, non-profit corporation and receives about 25 percent of its funding from the towns of Westerly and Stonington. In addition to the "Margaret Wise Brown Collection," the Westerly Library has acquired some unique items over the past 123 years, including a bust of Edwin Booth, brother of, yes, John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. It has a well-stocked genealogy room with more than 3,000 local photographs and city directories for Westerly and Stonington. There is a sculpture of the Runaway Bunny in nearby Wilcox Park, which was installed in 1998. In 2015, the library was named a "Literary Landmark," in honor of Margaret Wise Brown. It is one of 150 such designations across the United States.