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!

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.

Ladies and libraries…read more The South Library Association started back in 1869 and like many libraries systems it was known as the Ladies Library Association. As if men weren't suppose to have anything to do with libraries or books. Like most libraries back then it bounced around for a while and the books were kept in a shed. Finally in 1935 the town acquired a wonderful old house to serve as the permanent library. The library has a definitely small town charm to it and parts seem more like a friend's home than a public building. Lots of interesting old things to look at as well as free wifi, lectures, concerts and genealogy materials. A very pleasant children's room is located down stairs and the staff were very accommodating and friendly. A nice library in an interesting building, located in a pleasant Cape Cod town.

I have a timeshare in West Yarmouth. So when I go which is in August I always stop at libraries and…read moreinformation booth I love history and going to see historical sites and gathering information. I like the beach but since I'm originally from Long Island I need the ocean and not the day or the sound. I like finding little unbeaten off the path places.

Ships porches and…read morebooks The Dennis Memorial Library was built in 1924 in memorial of the veterans that served in World War One. It's a lovely building with a great porch that had a lot of additions and renovations over the years but still has the lovely ambiance of someone's old home. Lots of great ship models and paintings of ships that reflects the town's connection with the sea and as in many great old libraries, the building is as much museum as a place for books. The library has cool old funrniture and lots of comfy and cozy places to sit. The librarians were very friendly, pleasant and helpful and know virtually everything that has happened, did happen and will happen in the town. A very cool, relaxed, casual and useful library that has all the modern amenities that a library should have while retaining the cool nautical and historical feel of Cape Cod.

Great library in a great town...they seem to have a lot of ladies working the counter who love to…read morechat (it's a cheery place) so don't go to have quiet...get your books and join town chat..

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.

A library on the…read more cape Marstons Mills is a itty, bitty village in the city of Barnstable on Cape Cod. Definitely a cool, little place but not really a whole lot there. However they do have one very impressive and extremely friendly library. The original library in Marstons Mills was founded back in 1891 when a bookcase was put in a local post office and loaded up with books. You could only take out one book at a time simply because they didn't have a lot of books and they didn't one person to have them all. A demand for books was so great that it became obvious that a more permanent library was needed so the present building was constructed in 1894. Still didn't have a whole lots of books but over the years and decades the tiny edifice was expanded with more rooms until now the library has 21,000 volumes, audios, computers and all the modern amenities of a much larger library. However the building still holds on to it's historical roots with a cool fireplace and rambling and non symmetrical walls. From the outside you can see how the building just sort of flows from one section to another with a pragmatic sense of aesthetics. As with most small, local libraries the building also serves as a place for events, displays, poetry readings and information about town events. Local folks and visitors can come here to find out what's going on. And like many small, local libraries this library has an absolutely wonderful librarian. Helpful, friendly, knowledgeable and welcoming, the one I met was the quintessential small town librarian. She probably knew everything there was to know about the village and the Cape and was worth a visit to Marston Mills just to talk to. The library itself probably gets four stars but with the great librarian definitely gets five.

The best little library on Cape! It's not the Cavernous…read moreMashpee library, or the "you need a key from the security guard for the bathroom in Hyannis" library. It is just the best little library on Cape Cod!

A great, clean, very well organized and marked Library!…read more The main areas on the ground floor include a periodicals & magazine area, children's section and non-fiction/reference books as well as DVDs and CDs. I didn't see Blu-Ray discs but I didn't look too closely. The lower level has his and hers restrooms (sorry, no zhi & zher spaces), private space and a huge selection of fiction books. The library is very well lit, which makes a surprising difference! I think that most libraries are darker than they should be but I never really noticed it until I saw this incredibly well lit one. They also have a very clear map of the full library on the wall fight when you walk in and also the clearest/cleanest markings for their Dewey Decimal non-fiction section. Overall a great library!

Comfortable, light and welcoming. Be sure to check the hours, as they are not open 7 days/week, at…read moreleast not in the off-season.

I know what you're saying, "Steve, this place is such a dump!" Well, you would be partially…read morecorrect. We're in that time of year when the tourists are all gone but the retired population has not yet migrated south. That makes the next closes person to me in age here is about the same as Granny Clampett. Seriously, the folks who work here are friendly and helpful. The town went to a near single stream program last year and they donate deposit cans and plastic bottles to a local pantry. They keep it well maintained and clean (yes, I said clean). I'm usually the one saying that government screws things up but in this case, they've done a great job. Kudos to the town and the employees!

Haha here is an update on their website hours:…read morehttps://www.town.dennis.ma.us/department-public-works/solid-waste-recycling-division That's right. Not a word about their hours. I guess it is just soooooooo much work to list the hours. And I still average twice a year where someone looks at my out-of-state plate and walks over - with purpose! - to note that I can't be there without a permit. I then point to the permit on my windshield and say - "Like this permit?" If it's so easy to look at a license plate, it's sooooooo much work to look at a windshield as well!