Westbrook Public Library

The Westbrook Women’s Civic Club started the Westbrook Public Library in about 1917. Each member contributed books from time to time, and the club also had various projects to earn money to purchase more books. Through the years the library location in the city council rooms proved to be much too small.

In the early days each member took her turn at working in the library. A group of three Civic Club members was elected to serve as a Library Board. Mrs. Adolph Peterson was hired as the first librarian. In 1953 Mrs. Edna Carlson was hired as the librarian and by that time the library had been in four different locations. In the 1970s, the city purchased a vacant grocery store building on First Avenue and the library remained there until 1992 when it moved to it’s present location, also on First Avenue.