George Washington…read moreslept here The very first Newburyport Library was founded in 1855 and the books were housed in the building that is now the town hall. It was soon obvious that this was a pretty bad location so a new building was soon found. This new location for the library was the lovely federalist mansion built for Nataniel Tracy in 1777. Tracy was a very rich merchant that fought for the country as a privateer during the revolution. Tracy had lots of cool friends and guys like George Washington, John Adams, Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson and General Lafayette all were entertained and slept over in this house. Tracy made some foolish business decisions and lost all his money and his wonderful mansion ended up as the town's library. Over the years additions were added and the great old building changed in appearance to more Victorian and then modern. The last major addition was in 2001 and added a whole lot of new space. Still a very cool building, if you look you can see the incongruity of the structure and the roof lines inside and where many of the additions and changes took place. It is now a wonderful library just dripping with history. Lots of great old pictures of great old guys and grand staircases and antiques everywhere. A truly stunning building worth taking the time to visit and explore. I think there might even be some books inside.

Awesome Three Floor Library With Thousands Of Books, Audiobooks, CDs, VHS, Puzzles, Board Games,…read moreAnd So Much More. I Love Going To This Library And To Libraries In General.

this is a nice library. hours are pretty good. ambiance is clean and quiet inside. kept in great…read moreorder and friendly staff. would recommend

I am adding to a previous review because I want to call out a current employee for exceptional…read moreservice. Kristen, the reference librarian, is amazing. She has helped me with copy and print services, answered my questions and found my keys and remembered who I was (I had only been there a few times) so when I stepped out of the elevator she waved me down to return them. I have observed her with other patrons and she is equally as helpful with them.

A library by the…read moresea This quaint and lovely library is actually in a town really called Manchester By-The-Sea. I guess they really wanted every to know that the town is indeed right on the ocean. The library was completed in 1887 and is built from New England ashlar stone. Designed by the famous New York architect, Charles Makim, it is a wonderful and lovely library that has hardly changed during the decades. A children's room was added in 1965 and some renovations done in 2005 to bring it into the 21st century, but most of the library still looks, feels and probably even smells like it did when it was built. A relatively small library, it's certainly not a place to find some obscure tome or do some serious research. It is a great place to relax and enjoy the anachronistic ambiance and décor. All kinds of cool paintings, sculptures, lighting and woodwork all over the place. Everyone here is friendly and talkative and it's as much as a meeting house as it is a library. Small, cramped, and difficult to walk in places upstairs, there are books and stuff placed where ever there is room. A very, very cool and unique library, one that seems so right for a quaint and odd little town called Manchester By-The-Sea.

they have an easy online order type system but i find it not to be the most user friendly. loraine…read moreder & kim claire have been great over the years!! for children there are programs with rewards/schedules to make reading more fun. they have butterfly cocoons hatching sometimes, and other fun activities like painting pumpkins.

Great service , lots of help from the workers highly recommended. If you need a library in the area…read moreplease go here

Love this library! The new updates are gorgeous, the staff is so friendly and they have a great…read morekids section!

We love the library! The new library is beautiful and an amazing space for the Melrose community…read more We frequent the children's and YA rooms the most often and the staff is amazing. They're so so helpful when speaking with my kids about what to read next, listening to their likes and dislikes and always finding something new for them. The after school programming is also a pleasant plus! My teen enjoys their crafts, and I'm happy it's someplace she can walk to after school for something a little different. For myself, I love their Libby app. It's stocked with so many audiobooks which I read in the car, on walks, and around the house. I'm so grateful for our library - both the building and the programming they offer!

this library is classy inside and kept in great order. friendly old woman working. nice and clean…read moreambiance. would recommend overall

I really like how organized the children's books area is laid out and also how the books are…read morepresented. Very clean and fun toys for the kiddos to play with.

Love the public library! You can request books via the MVLC app and they notify you when your books…read moreare available to pick up in person! So convenient! COVID precautions taken seriously, highly appreciated.

On the other side of Essex Street from the Salem Public Library is the Salem Athenaeum. For the…read moreenjoyment of the tourist as well as the Salem resident is this beautiful building located within the McIntire Historic District. Usually in front of the building is a posting of whatever is current within the Athenaeum. Upon entering the building, immediately to the right, before the central corridor, is the room dedicated to current exhibits. When I was visiting last May, there was a display of 1st edition copies of Mark Twain books from the collection. Further into the Athenaeum is found the shelves of new books for subscribers. It is very interesting to compare this set of books with the new books across the street at the public library. I remember hearing the sounds of Mandarin emanating from the second floor--an example of an activity taking place at the Athenaeum. A glimpse of the lovely rear garden is visible from within the Athenaeum. If you are lucky to be walking in front of this building during open hours, take advantage of the opportunity to spend time inside.

Great subscription library that is available for all. Many lectures, events, and concierge service…read more Gem of Salem!

A sweet little library located in two rooms on the first floor of the local Town Hall. There isn't…read moreroom for too much other than shelving in the space, but it is bright, clean, and well-kept, and there are a few chairs scattered here and there throughout. There's a table in the main area, but when I said I was looking for a place to do a little work I was invited to sit in the (very nice!) teen room if needed since school was in session. There's also an outdoor patio with a couple of benches and a truly lovely view down across some fields and marshes. Staff were really friendly. The other reviewer seems to have either attached the wrong example photo or misused the word "bombarded". As mentioned, I was there when school was in session, so no teens at the time, but certainly the teen space isn't very large and could get quite crowded and possibly noisy if bombarded by a bunch of kids all at once. However it's the one space that's in a different little room from the rest of the library, so staff seem to have made an effort to both keep teens from interfering with other people and give them their own space that kids that age really need and want. If the reviewer's intent was to show how full the shelves were ("bombarded" with books?), shelving throughout the library including the teen room was pretty full, but that's the reality of most very small libraries trying to maintain a robust and diverse collection that has something in it for everyone in town. It didn't look overstuffed, messy, or crammed in.

overall wouldn't recommend this library. the upstairs is blocked off so can't see in the upper…read morefloors of the building only the 1st. the young adult section is completely bombarded as you can see in the photo. smh. there's atleast a pretty good view off the back porch but you could get basically the same view at the park.

Very nice library located in downtown Andover. Clean and quiet so I like to come here to do school…read morework. There are plenty of computers available for use as well as tables and chairs on each floor. Great selection of books and other media. Staff members are friendly and helpful. If you have a library card, you can easily request items from anywhere in the Merrimack Valley Library Consortium. Only (minor) downside is with its location downtown, you may have to pay for parking if you park in the lot. It's 50 cents per hour until 6pm each day except Sundays and holidays. However there is plenty of free two-hour parking on the streets.

Outstanding. Generous hours, great selection of books, clean building, active community service…read more All public libraries should be like this.