Peabody Institute Library

Specialties

General Information

The Peabody Institute Library is the public library for the town of Danvers, Massachusetts and is part of the North of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE), a consortium of 28 nearby local and academic libraries

The library provides materials for borrowing in many formats: books, audio books, compact discs, DVDs and several museum passes. We offer many services to the public including public computers, a dedicated Homework Center for middle and high school students during the academic year and meeting room available for private rental as well as extensive cultural/​recreational programming and exhibits/​displays.

Our building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

«National Register Information System». National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-​04-​15.

History

Established in 1892.

In December 1856, the American banker, philanthropist, and Danvers native George Peabody gave $ 10,000 for the establishment of a Danvers «branch» of the Peabody Institute Library of South Danvers (now Peabody, MA). This branch library was originally set up at Danvers Town Hall; but in 1857, Joshua Silvester, Simeon Putnam, and John R. Langley sold to the Town for $ 4,000 a four and one half acre plot of land on Sylvan St. (near to the Town Hall) for use as a site for the library.

In 1866, George Peabody, realizing the difficulty of a single institution serving two separate communities, allowed the branch to become independent and gave the new Peabody Institute Library of Danvers an additional $ 40,000. A Gothic style library was built at Peabody Park in 1869; the purpose of the new library was (in the founder’s language) «the promotion of knowledge and morality in the Town of Danvers.» The governing body of the Institute was vested in a board of nine trustees who were appointed for life