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The Rye Public Library was opened on September 6, 1911 for the circulation of books every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.
Both the land and the money to build were donations to the town given by Miss Mary Tuck Rand. She presented these gifts to the people
of Rye at the annual town meeting as a memorial to her family.
It is hard to believe, but Rye was the last town in Rockingham County to establish a public library. According to the History of the
Town of Rye, N. H. by Langdon B. Parsons, a bequest of $8,000 was made to the town by Oliver Sleeper for the purpose of building a library
in 1883. A stipulation of the will was if the town declined to accept his bequest, the money would be divided equally among the two churches
in Rye. A special town meeting was called to allow the people to vote for acceptance of this legacy. Only a few voters turned out at
the polls because it was the busy hay season, and the result was unanimous not to accept the bequest.
The people who did not vote were very dissatisfied and a second town meeting was scheduled by the selectmen. The vote at this meeting
was unanimous in favor of accepting the bequest, but it would be another ten years before the problem was resolved. In the end, the churches
received what little money was left after all the years of litigation and the town continued to vote "no" by large majority
every year on the question, "Is it expedient to establish a town library?"
The first structural changes made to the library were in 1967 when the building was expanded. New facilities included a stack room and
adult reading area, staff workroom, charging desk, and a newly furnished children's room. Also added to the building was an expanded
ground floor area for library services and meeting room. In 1980 construction began on a new children's room located next to the meeting
room in the library's basement. A ceiling was torn down, a subdivision was added.
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