Cumberland & North Yarmouth

Second social Library in North Yarmouth
In 1747, Deacon John White of the First Congregational Church of North Yarmouth left 30 pounds in his will for the purchase of books. Deacon White's largesse probably contributed to the establishment of a lending library in the area near the church, which is located on the Foreside in the present-day town of Yarmouth. In December 1793, just prior to the founding of the Second Congregational Church of North Yarmouth, the names of 40 men and one woman were affixed to a document establishing the Second social Library in North Yarmouth. The original proprietors were residents of the village that would later become Cumberland, as well as of the Walnut Hill area. The concept of a social library established by proprietors who paid a fee to belong and borrow books was not unique in the area, as one was established on Falmouth Neck in 1766. The books of the Second social Library in North Yarmouth were kept in the home of the appointed librarian.

First Social Library of Cumberland
The Second social Library in North Yarmouth was incorporated in 1817, and with the secession of Cumberland from North Yarmouth in 1821 became the First Social Library of Cumberland. The proprietors tax, or membership fee, which had been nine shillings when the library was established in 1793, now stood at two dollars. Proprietors had a right to take out one bound volume for two months at a time. The fine for an overdue book stood at one cent per day, and proprietors were "accountable for all damages done any book..."

The final entry in the record book is dated March 20, 1855, and is a call for a meeting to “see what disposition shall be made of the books and to manage the concerns of said Library.” It is unknown whether the meeting was called to consider an end to the Library or to find a new home to house the books.

Cumberland Library
It is unclear if the demise of the First Social Library in Cumberland at some point after the 1855 meeting was followed by the establishment of another library prior to 1897. What is known is that in 1897 the Reverend Frank Davis, pastor of the Congregational Church of Cumberland from 1892 to 1899, and his wife, Helen Davis, were instrumental in organizing the Cumberland Library. The Cumberland Library was housed in the home of volunteer librarians like Mrs. Annie Buxton Small, Mrs. Coral Adams, Mrs. Esther Hill and Mrs. Olive M. Hall. The library's catalogue was printed on cards, and as new books were ordered, new cards were printed and tied to the earlier cards. Apparently each borrower had a set of these cards, in effect a complete library catalogue that they could consult at leisure and in which they could note the books already read and cross out the ones removed from the collection. When Prince Memorial Library opened on January 7, 1923, the 600-plus books in the Cumberland Library were transferred there.

Hamilton Place Library
The Hamilton Place Library in North Yarmouth, located at 598 Walnut Hill Road, was established in 1894 as the town's first community library. Lura A. Hamilton, wife of Horatio Hamilton, was the librarian, and the library held 1,800 volumes. By 1909, the Hamiltons had started selling ice cream at the location, made from milk from their own cows. Hamilton Place Library closed after Lura's death in 1932.

Sources:
Around North Yarmouth by Lincoln J. Merrill Jr. and Holly K. Hurd
Beautiful in all its details: the architecture of Maine's public library buildings, 1878-1942 by Kirk F. Mohney
A short history of Cumberland libraries by Grace Trappan
The history of Portland by William Willis

Text by Thomas C. Bennett