Marian M. Hunter History Room
Avon Free Public Library
281 Country Club Road
How It All Started
The Avon Free Public Library can be traced back to 1791 when Reverend Rufus Hawley started collecting money from residents to purchase books for a community library. The roots of the Avon Free Public Library can be traced back to 1798. Records show that the first librarian was Samuel Bishop, a prominent citizen living on Ciderbrook Road in the district of Farmington called Northington (as the Town of Avon was then known), with a population of 1,750. He maintained a collection of 111 books in a room in his home and allowed borrowers access to the collection six times a year, in December, February, April, June, August, and October.
When Samuel Bishop retired, Josiah Ansel Wilcox was voted librarian to succeed him in 1842. The library was moved to the Wilcox home which was also located on Ciderbrook Road. There is no record of the hours when the library was open to borrowers during Mr. Wilcox’s tenure. During this era, each member borrower was required to pay to take out a book, and they were assessed a users’ tax of $ 1.00 per year.
In 1852, the library closed. The 111 books were kept for many years by the Wilcox family. Books and reading were apparently shared informally during the next few decades. A “Literary Club” and “Debating Club” were active during the 1880s. In 1890, a group of concerned women who felt the town should have a library started a public library in a former harness shop on the north side of what is now Route 44, near the intersection of Routes 10 and 202. In 1891, the building was needed for other purposes and the books were taken to the Bishop house on West Main Street, then moved again next door to occupy the front room of Phineas Gabriel’s shoe store. This incarnation of the library prospered for a few years until citizens began to patronize the Simsbury Library. The books that remained from this collection were stored in the homes of two different Avon residents for safekeeping.
Finally, in 1909, the Avon Free Public Library was on its way to becoming a valued town institution. A board of directors was elected to re-organize the Avon Free Public Library. By-laws and rules were drawn up by two men who served on the Board of Directors. Funds totaling $175 were raised to pay for the developing library and hire a trained librarian to classify the collection. Fred Neville’s home on the site of the old Towpath School was the last to house the itinerant collection. He became the first paid librarian. and was compensated not only for his duties as a librarian but also for the space in his home used for the library. The library was open for two hours each Friday evening from six to eight P.M. Each borrower was limited to two books returned within two weeks. The records show that 62 families registered to borrow books that the first year and that a total of 1,767 books were circulated. “Sub-stations” were started in 1911 at Mrs. Louise Lusk’s home on Lovely Street and the “town hall” in Huckleberry Hill School. Fifty books were available in each location and were changed every two months.
It became evident over time that both a permanent building to house the collection and a more efficient way to operate the library were necessary. Fundraising began in 1929-30 to buy land and erect the first official library building. A site was purchased on the south side of Route 44 across the street from the building used for the library in 1890. On August 30, 1932, the one-room brick building was completed and the new Avon Free Public Library was opened to the public.
In the fifty years that the library occupied this building, it was enlarged three times with the help of private funding sources to keep up with the expanding population and the need for additional library services. During the World War II period, the library facilities were used by the Avon Defense Council and the local American Red Cross. A bookmobile, manned by volunteers, transported books to West Avon, Huckleberry Hill and Secret Lake for two years. The “Friends of the Avon Library”, organized in 1950, established new programs and provided funds for books and equipment. They set up exhibits and conducted storytimes called the “Wee Wigglers”.
Restoration
Long-range planning for a new library began in 1971. By the mid-1970s, conditions were ripe for the beginning of a boom in the town’s population growth, leading the communities in the Farmington River Valley with a growth rate of 34 percent. In 1974 the population was approximately 9, 400. Annual circulation in 1973 reached 49, 500 items.
The current Avon Free Public Library building was purchased in 1973 with funds raised by the Trustees. The new location on Country Club Road was chosen because it is close to the geographical center of Avon and within walking distance of the Avon Middle and High Schools. The library building itself was built with town funds.
With the occupation of the new library in 1982, the square footage devoted to the provision of library services in Avon increased from 4,681 square feet to 13,500 square feet, an increase of 188%. In the first five years of the new library, circulation steadily increased, the book collection grew, and the library increased magazine subscriptions.
When to Visit
Thanks to the diligence of volunteers and staff of the History Room over the last several years, many of the files have been digitized and available for your use. You may find information there to enhance your exhibit. To begin your search, visit: https://avonctlibrary.info/services/history-room/
You will also find on that page a link to the Connecticut Digital Archive project. This quickly becomes a very popular site for researching all sorts of historical files from many of Connecticut’s libraries and museums. There are over 10,000 Avon-related items digitized and available on that site. It is worth looking at for photos or documents for your exhibit.
For more information, please contact the Reference Librarians at 860-673-9712 or the Avon Historical Society at 860-678-7621 (leave message) or [email protected]
Exhibitions
Organizations and individuals are welcome to submit proposals for displaying history-themed exhibits in the Library’s History Corner located just outside of the Marian Hunter History Room. This area was specifically designed to contain displays of historical merit. It is jointly managed by the Society and the Avon Free Public Library.
For examples of past exhibits, please visit our Exhibitions page.
For guidelines on how to request the use of the Library’s History Corner for your history-themed exhibit, please download the Guidelines pdf.
Book Collections
Local History of Avon and neighboring towns
Book Collection of Northington Library
Genealogy of selected Avon families
Genealogical reference materials
Maps
The map cabinet inventory is available here.
Photographs & Visual Materials
The Clinton Hadsell Collection, 1899-1914
Serial Collections
Avon High School Yearbooks, 1961+
Connecticut Nutmegger, v. 32, no. 1 to present
Avon Town Reports, 1877 to present
Lure of the Litchfield Hills, Dec. 1940-Winter 1975 (issues are currently being digitized)
City Directories, 1913, 1918, 1928, 1932, 1964+
American Canals, May, 2002 to present
The Frank Hadsell Collection
Gravestone photos & index for cemeteries: Cider Brook, East Avon, West Avon
Photograph Collections of Case Family, Hawley Family & Robert Holmes Family ( not inventoried)
Photograph album of Hillandale-William House, 1926.
Vintage photographs arranged alphabetically
Postcard collections of Bishop Family, circa 1907-1925
Manuscript Collections
Archives of Avon Free Public Library and earlier libraries
Rev. Rufus Hawley Family: diaries, letters & genealogical notes
Hawley Family Letters, 1798-1828
Diaries of Frank Hadsell, 1859-1942
Selected letters of Mabel Bishop, 1907-1925
Avon Newsletter (WWII) January 1944-December 1945
Microfilm & Newspaper Collections
U.S. Census Records, Avon Microfilm reels, 1790-1930
Avon News, Microfilm 1986-1996
Avon News, Paper 1981-1995
The Farmington Library maintains a collection of the Farmington Valley Herald from 1894-1986.
The Connecticut State Library maintains a collection of Avon News (1987-1996), Avon Life (2001-2013), Valley News (1996-2004)
