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    Provincetown Library

    4.5 (31 reviews)
    Closed 10:00 am - 8:00 pm

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    Outside sign
    Robert S.

    This is a nice library for the size of town. It has lots of audio books, films, regular books, etc. Every time I have walked in, I have seen lots of people using the resources of this library...either books, newspapers, periodicals, computer, etc. The Provincetown Public Library is located in the building that was once the Center Methodist Episcopal Church. This structure, like many in Provincetown, has had a long and varied history of use. When it was built in 1860 as the Center Methodist Episcopal Church it was reputed to be the largest church of Methodist denomination anywhere in the United States. It cost $22,000 to complete and could seat 900 people in its 128 pews. Through the efforts of the Provincetown Historical Association and the Historic District Study Committee, the building was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places. It received certification in October 1975. Subsequently in 1976, at a special town meeting, a group of citizens secured a vote to acquire the building for $135,000 and turn it into a local historical museum. The Provincetown Heritage Museum officially opened to the public on July 4, 1976. A dedicated group of volunteers set up exhibits on various aspects of the town's heritage. It was at this time that the half scale model of the schooner Rose Dorothea was built and installed in the building. The Heritage Museum operated on a seasonal basis with a minimal staff and a dedicated group of volunteers through the summer of 2000. In April 2005, the new Provincetown Public Library opened in the former Heritage Museum building bringing new life to this magnificent 1860 wooden structure. Inside, the Library is bright, spacious and designed to retain the feeling of the grand open spaces of the former church. On the first floor, much of the collection is contained in custom-built cases that were constructed by Provincetown master carpenter Bill Ingraham as a gift to the Town. The unique feature of these cases is that they re-use the mahogany arm rests from the church pews found in the basement before renovation.

    Adriana F.

    On all my previous trips to Provincetown, I never quite managed to visit this library due to time constraints and whom I was traveling with. This time around, my husband and I set aside a part of our day to go here. I was intrigued from the moment I walked in the grand entrance of a painted moonlit scene of a sailboat sitting in the bay. I soon learned that Provincetown is the oldest continuously running art colony and the library displays a portion of the town's art collection. I marveled from floor to floor, viewing the various art spanning different decades. Also, on display is the Lipton Cup. Since no other Fisherman's Cup Race was held after 1907, Provincetown remains the proud owner of the Lipton Cup. Another thing that made me gasp was a half scale replica of the Rose Dorothea schooner. The model spans an impressive 66 feet in length! I can go on and on about this magnificent library--a true beacon of learning and community spirit. If you find yourself in Provincetown with some time to spare, just wander in this impressive library. You will be mesmerized, I'm sure of it. Notes/Tips: **Even as a visitor, you may still join the library as a patron. **They offer binge boxes, which are set up by category (ie. James Bond, The American West, Marvel...) You can also get a complimentary bag of popcorn when checking one of these out. **For some stunning views of the bay and a quiet reading space, wander to the third floor of the library.

    Whaler Boat inside the library
    Enrique D.

    A whaler's boat inside a Public library, something you do not see every day. We just had lunch nearby and had to check out this boat. Its a hidden gem preserved inside. You would Miss it from the outside. Not only that, the Public library is a full function library for all your needs.

    The tower
    Brian S.

    A library with a surprise upstairs Provincetown has very close connections with the ocean and like many places associated with the sea, great drawings, photos and models of ocean scenes, lighthouses and beaches are common. However I never expected to see a 55 foot boat dominating the upstairs of the library. It's not really a true boat but it is a damn impressive 55 foot model of the Grand Banks Fishing Schooner Rose Dorothea. Not just a model but a complete reproduction that is accurate in every detail. You go up those stairs and once you look inside your jaw will drop. I've seen some cool things in eccentric libraries but never anything quite like this. They even cut away part of the ceiling to accommodate the top of the mast. The building is actually an old Methodist Church and the library was moved here from down the street in 2005. It's still ongoing renovations but even without the ship the building is stunning. Beautiful windows, wood and great old bookshelves quickly tells you that this is not just another library. Of course the library has it's modern side too, with computers, audio-visuals, large prints and periodicals. Not a bad place to relax and or do some research. Great views from the windows never lets you forgot where you are. In a lot of ways the Provincetown Library reminds me of the Antheneum on Nantucket. A fantastic old building, filled with history that just happens to be used as a library. A place that is so cool that it would still be great even if it didn't have any books at all.

    Janice J.

    Enjoying my time in Provincetown by visiting the library. Very unique to be sitting by a sailboat in the library. Beautiful place to visit.

    Petrina Y.

    This is great history I never heard about in school. Petrina Young and Valerie Walker enjoyed visiting the Provincetown Library to see the legendary schooner Rose Dorothea.

    Vee V.

    I had a great time with friends in Provincetown today! All the little shops were fun to pop in and out of, and the shop keepers are super friendly. There are a lot of little waterfront restaurants and bars to sit and people watch, or enjoy a snack or cocktail. The only thing I didn't like was on Commercial St, where the main attractions were, it's a one way. There were a lot of cars going down the road with people everywhere, the sidewalk was tiny. Naturally people were in the road. I watched a couple of people from cars and on the street scream at each other.

    A Kodachrome kinda town
    Ctrivergolfer B.

    What a glorious destination, the icing on the tip of the finger of the fabulous and multi-faceted Cape Cod. Such wonderful geography, as it's set nicely apart from other pockets of civilization on the Cape, and of course, beyond it is wherever 42-03 latitude lies on the European continent. It would be fitting if that were Portugal, for Provincetown rests its might culinary laurels not lightly around the shoulders of Portugese cooking talent. Shellfish combined or separate, in broths, stews, or taken for a dip in the Friolator, is the central attraction on most menus here and the Portugese tradition of boat to table comprises many star attractions in the casual Provincetown dining scene. Of course, Provincetown also has its kitschy side, but is not overrun by it. And should you feel it is, you can alight out into Cape Cod Bay for a twilight sail to soak up the wonderful breezes and vistas, as commercial vessels glide through these waters with regularity. Take a date for the weekend or scheme to revitalize your marriage. Chances are good Provincetown will identify what brought you close together with your love interest in the first place.

    1st floor main entrance!
    Louis P.

    Beautiful, historic library in Provincetown!!! Stopped by the library during the week and was very impressed by how beautiful and "up to date" the library was. The library has 4 floors and also has a lower level section (with overflow books), so there's technically 5 floors. The 1st floor has books and a checkout area, the 2nd floor is a children's area, and the 3rd/4th floors have reading and study areas. What was really cool is the large ship they have on the second floor in the children's department. Despite looking old, yet beautiful, the library is quite modern... there are computers for use and also wifi. This library is a perfect retreat for a cold, rainy day!!!

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    Krysia K.

    Nice little town with a lot of small shops and different restaurant. The street a very narrow. Very busy during the tourist season, little sleepy off season. During the tourist season driving is almost impossible, parking is difficult to find. The town has lots of charm. This is definitely a must see place.

    Renovated library building

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    What is there not to love? Great views, amazing beaches and friendly people... I love this place if I had the money I would move here.

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    I am in Ptown 4-5 times a year and I come to the Library for the quiet.

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    Provincetown Town Hall - Auditorium

    Provincetown Town Hall

    3.8(5 reviews)
    0.2 mi

    Oh darn, Jamie W and I had just missed Audra McDonald's appearance here with Seth Rudetsky by a…read moreweek. I would've loved seeing them in a vintage community hall setting like this. As it turned out, we were in Provincetown the following weekend when gay comedian Matteo Lane was appearing. It wasn't cheap, almost $120 for two seats in the balcony. We lined up on the grounds around the historic building and waited about an hour before they let us in. Entering the cavernous hall, I felt like I was in one of those late show movies where the suspicious townsfolk would be listening to a boyish Jimmy Stewart begging for their support for some cause like a new fire engine. Chairs were set up in long rows, and the acoustics were quite good. We could hear Matteo's punchlines pretty clearly from the balcony. The decidedly old-fashioned place really fits the small town vibe even if it's on busy Commercial Street. RELATED - Exploring Provincetown? Here's my collection of places l've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/3MzCyr8

    I love coming to the Provincetown Hall to see performances. I have seen so many great performances…read moreby the most talented performers. I have always gotten balcony seats and it's a great view from up on the second or third floor. The Town Hall is beautiful on the inside and out. They always have the best musicians come whether they're vocalists, pianists, violinists, etc. Sometimes they'll have famous award-winning performers. I always look forward to seeing a performance. They have bathrooms accessible and easy to find as well. After a performance, you'll also more than likely be able to find souvenirs sold by the entrance/exit. They always have the most talented guests come and perform.

    Photos
    Provincetown Town Hall - Montage of images from Provincetown Town Hall

    Montage of images from Provincetown Town Hall

    Provincetown Town Hall - Comedian Matteo Lane

    Comedian Matteo Lane

    Provincetown Town Hall

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    Truro Public Library - Pleasant room

    Truro Public Library

    4.5(2 reviews)
    5.1 mi

    I love this library. What a wonderful community resource. Good collection. Calming space. And the…read morelibrarians are the best!

    A wonderful new…read morelibrary I tend to like the old, quaint and historical libraries because most of the new ones tend to be functional and useful boxes built by the lowest bidder. Most certainly do what they were designed to do but have a boring and pedestrian atmosphere. Places to work and not relax. The new Truro Library, built in 1999, shows that it is possible to build a new library with plenty of charm, character and originality. The library holds about 25,000 items, which isn't really a lot, but has many cool open spaces to sit and stretch out and a great soaring ceiling that makes the entire library seem much larger than it is. The librarians were very friendly and explained how the first library was built way back in 1894 and for a long time the town of Truro had two very small libraries. Finally in 1999 the books and materials from the two tiny libraries were combined into this one beautiful facility. Cool local artwork decorates some of the walls and a fine community room is located downstairs. It's nice to see that attractive new libraries are still being built. Perhaps not as opulent and extravagant as some of the incredible structures that were completed at the turn of the century, but still distinctive and captivating enough to be appreciated for a long time to come.

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    Truro Public Library
    Truro Public Library
    Truro Public Library - Puzzles

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    Puzzles

    Wellfleet Public Library

    Wellfleet Public Library

    4.4(9 reviews)
    11.0 mi

    I found the Wellfleet public library to be a rather pleasant place. They have great skylights and a…read morefriendly staff. Some nice places to read and it wasn't too crowded when I went. They had an excellent pile of puzzles. Furthermore, they displayed great wall art all around the library by different artists. My favorite was this rug with fishing boats. The Wellfleet Public Library is part of the CLAMS system, which, if you aren't already, I highly recommend you join!

    A library with a…read more porch Wellfleet is a pleasant little town on Cape Cod. It's typical of many Cape Cod towns with beautiful beaches, great dunes, open ocean and a unique charm. So it's quite appropriate that the town has a beautiful and unique library. The library is actually quite new and the books weren't moved into the building until 1989. Before that the official Wellfleet Library took a circuitous route that took them into several different locations around town. Seemed the library was always jumping around. The first library started in 1893 when the books were just sort of piled in the back of the First Congregational Church. Over the years the library took up residence in a bank, dry good stores, town hall and finally an old curtain factory. The poor books certainly had to move around a lot over the years but finally have found a permanent home. The present library is a wonderful place. The first thing that catches the eye is the huge porch. A great place to sit outside and read, talk to friends or just relax. The inside has over 10,000 square feet and separates into several rooms which makes it a convenient place to hold meetings, events and displays. Of course the library has all the usually amenities of a modern library and helpful and extremely pleasant and friendly librarians but it's the cool, rustic and unique charm and great porch that makes this library special. It took a century to find it's permanent home but I suspect that the library is going to be in this spot for a long, long time.

    Photos
    Wellfleet Public Library
    Wellfleet Public Library - Lots if info

    Lots if info

    Wellfleet Public Library - Comfy places for kids

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    Comfy places for kids

    Eldredge Public Library

    Eldredge Public Library

    5.0(5 reviews)
    28.2 mi

    Slate wood and…read moremarble The Eldredge Public Library was opened in 1896 and was constructed by the architect, Albion Marble. It's looking a bit scruffy now on the outside but when it was new it must have been stunning indeed. The lovely old building was built in Romanesque Revival style and has a slate roof, cool marble floors and amazing woodworking all through the interior. It had an addition on the back of the building in 1968 and other work completed in the early 1990s. The library has all kinds of cool art, a grandfather clock, antique furniture and even a spiral staircase that unfortunately isn't in use anymore. Typical with many libraries in the late 19th century there is a lot of strange little corners and nooks to explore that aren't particularly practical but certainly are fun. The library is more than just a pretty face, it now functions as a modern 21st century library with great wifi, a community room, plenty of audio and visual material and friendly and helpful librarians. A cool old library that manages to combine the practical new with the aesthetical old.

    A beautiful building, well kept, well stocked, and organized. Lots of activities going on and good…read morehours as well. And I was there in the middle of winter! Great wifi. Even when they were closed, I would bring my laptop and just park in front (when I was without internet for a couple weeks). My only comment would be that the staff is a little laissez faire with noise control. There were a lot of loud kids, people crunching on food in the computer room, people playing music on their cells while they browsed, etc.

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    Eldredge Public Library - Kids Pizza Parlor

    Kids Pizza Parlor

    Eldredge Public Library
    Eldredge Public Library - Great old grandfather clock

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    Great old grandfather clock

    Falmouth Public Library - Love the cute signs all around this library

    Falmouth Public Library

    4.9(7 reviews)
    41.1 mi

    History and…read moreconvenience The very first idea for a library in the town of Falmouth was back in 1792. At first the books were stored where ever there was room and eventually ended up in the town hall. The library finally got a permanent home in 1901. As the town grew the need for a larger library also become obvious. So in 1966 an addition was completed. And again in 1978 another addition was added. And finally in 2008 major renovations took place and now the library is a whole lot larger than the original one but still has the charm of the very first building. The library is beautiful, both inside and out and the additions and renovations blend in extremely well with the original concept so it can be difficult to see exactly where the addtions were added. The seal of the town of Falmouth is even embedded on a dome in the ceiling. The library has lots of very comfy place to sit or study as well as a great local history room, kids department and community room. A lovely and very useful library that has grown along with the town.

    We went to this library a lot when our kids were little. They loved it and we loved it. We had not…read morebeen back for a while but wanted to see how it had fared in recent years. It's a small town library that's really crowded during summer tourist season and never used to be crowded at all in the off season when we were often in town. It was jam packed on a cool drizzly summer day. It still has a large lower level children's section. And it is still the place to be with wonderful creative updates. The book areas are nicely delineated by age groups and book styles and there are lots of inspiring posters even on office and closet doors. A creative playhouse is at one end. A local garden having a butterfly release on Saturday was nicely featured with all the details of the event and displayed many correlated books. The librarians were very helpful and parents circulated through the areas with their kids. There did seem to be lots of locals socializing with each other but also some obvious tourists enjoying the facility. The building still has lots of historic charm but there are updates to some areas as well as the exterior. There appeared to be an addition since we were last here and we heard maybe yet another in the near future. Parking was a real problem this week but I would guess they can handle the off season/school year just fine.

    Photos
    Falmouth Public Library - True!

    True!

    Falmouth Public Library - Winter at Falmouth Public Library

    Winter at Falmouth Public Library

    Falmouth Public Library - Falmouth Public Library & friend

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    Falmouth Public Library & friend

    Brewster Ladies Library

    Brewster Ladies Library

    5.0(6 reviews)
    21.0 mi

    Sarah and Mary…read more Way back in about 1850 two young girls named Sarah and Mary decided that their little town of Brewster needed a library and instead of just whining and complaining they did something about it. They got together some other girls and started working various odd jobs to get money together for the library. The girls bought, borrowed and got people to donate books and in the early part of 1853 "The Girls' Library" was opened in a bookcase of a local house. A membership fee of one dollar was charged to take books out and the little library thrived and grew. Finally in 1868 a real library was built and an addition was quickly added in 1877 to accommodate the growing collection of books. In 1879 the name was officially changed to "The Brewster Ladies' Library". In spite of the name members of the opposite sex were also allowed in the library. Other additions were added in 1977 and 1997 and were carefully planned to be in the same cool colors and style of the original. The library today is stunning, beautiful, fascinating and very, very cool. Just so many great old photos and things to look at. It's easy to lose track of time in a place like this. A very nice and knowledgeable volunteer gave us a wonderful tour of the library and filled us with more facts, figures and history that I could possibly remember. An amazing library that has grown a whole lot over the decades but in a way hasn't changed one bit. An absolutely wonderful testimony to a dream that two young girls named Sarah and Mary had so many, many years ago.

    I love this library! Never in my life did I think those words would ever leave my mouth! The kids…read moresection in particular is unstoppable. I feel like the kids have more books than the rest of the library itself! I bring my niece here every Thursday and literally spend 2-3 hrs putzing around. They always have a table set up with some sort of craft du jour for the tykes and tons of toys, puzzles, games, etc to keep them buzzing for hours. Love it!! The staff are super friendly and smiley. No crotchety old women here. Well I mean older women...yes, crotchety...no. And a major plus, the kids part is separate from the rest of the library, sooo...no one shushing the kids or giving us adults the hairy eyeball! Again, love it!! The rest of the library is pretty standard. Computer room, young adult area, massive amounts of adult lit., reading area, etc. It's worth the trip for sure. Definitely the coolest library in the area. Did I really just say that?! Oh and disregard the "Ladies" part, not sure where the name came from. Men are more than welcome!

    Photos
    Brewster Ladies Library
    Brewster Ladies Library
    Brewster Ladies Library - Great history here

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    Great history here

    Provincetown Library - libraries - Updated June 2026

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