Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, Cumberland County, United States | Library

Welcome to the Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Maine, United States. The Curtis Memorial Library at 23 Pleasant Street, Brunswick, Maine, opened in December 1904, but the history of the Library really begins 21 years earlier, in 1883.
With its spacious stacks, comfortable reading room with elegant fireplace, and separate children?s room ? an innovation then ? it took little time for the Curtis Library to establish itself as a focal point in town. Library use and support grew steadily. The building also began to function as a social center. Lectures and performances became regular events, and several clubs began to gather regularly: the Brunswick Dramatic Club, Red Cross, a boys? club and two girls? clubs, Stadium (a ladies? club) and the Iris and Peony Clubs were just a few of the early examples. In 1910 William Curtis made an additional gift, in memory of his mother, to improve the Library grounds, and these were landscaped to include a pond and a tea house. A few years later the Library even built a few tennis courts, on the adjoining land behind St. Paul?s Church. For the next 30 years, until World War II broke out, the Cutis Library Tennis Club was open to all Brunswick residents and guests for a small fee, collected by the librarian. 1915 also was the year the Library became a makeshift school. When the Brunswick High School burned in January, its 130-some students promptly moved into the Library and continued their studies there through June. Time and again in those early years, the Library reached out with a generosity of spirit and proved its value to the community.
For 121 years, with virtually no interruption, Brunswick?s Library has been an integral part of the community fabric. For 118 years it has been available to every resident free of charge and on an equal basis, regardless of age, income, social standing or educational background. Its mission, its commitment to leadership and excellence, and its tradition of service remain unchanged.
The Curtis Memorial Library now supports a collection of more than 120,000 items. Nearly 11,000 cardholders used the Library and more than 275,000 items circulated in the past year. Increasingly, the Library also is being used electronically, now for the first time offering wireless connectivity.