In the late 1800s, some of the women in the village of Windham Center were determined to feed their literary appetites. They wanted to have a library. So Marcia Bishop Hanson, Ann Louisa Hawkes, Charlotte Cobb, Nabby Gould, Mary Anthoine and others got together on a regular basis, holding “sewing circles” and each one gave a few pennies or a nickel, if they could afford it, and they saved their collection to buy books. By 1870, they had a little more than $100 saved up.

Meanwhile, their “library” (I envision boxes of books) was moved from one home to another, often depending on who was the leader of their group. The person in whose home the book collection was stored was the librarian. The collection grew over time, and eventually, some men joined and the group rented a small room in a little building in Windham Center, which stood adjacent to Alley Hawkes store (today, a museum of the Historical Society).

In 1907, some generous person gave the ladies enough money to buy the building from one of the Hawkes family.

They used the money to remodel the small building and called it the Windham Circulating Library. From 1907 to the early 1970s, this little library served the village of Windham Center and for many years, the nearby high school, which is today the town hall.

After the opening of Windham’s first public library, the small library in the Center was discontinued – as a library. It went on to serve as a building to store medical equipment that was loaned. Today, the Windham Center Circulating Library is part of the Windham Historical Society property. The Society also has rescued the former South Windham library building.

Windham Public Library’s website shows the evolution of the library in Windham, including all the various buildings where once upon a time, children and adults found solace in books.

Above is a view of the Windham Circulating Library from the parking lot of Hawkes IGA in Windham Center.