Brewster Ladies Library

Sarah
and
Mary
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.

As far as «curb appeal» is concerned, this library is very unassuming from the front. In fact if you drive by you almost miss the sign. Thankfully we walked. :)
From the backside it’s a completely different story. The gardens are lovely Japanese style. Parking is ample with additional next door at the Baptist church for days when it might be busy (read: rainy days when everyone isn’t at the beach). Parking rack for bikes and easy access for handicapped/​strollers with elevator to the floors.
Meeting rooms available for reservation on the ground floor for nonprofit ventures. A girl was practicing cello when we first visited which peaked the kids’ interest.
Speaking of kids, this had to be one of their favorite spots behind Paine’s Creek beach. Large meeting room on the main floor with baby grand piano which, when we first visited, was being played by a talented fellow who saw the kids and segued into music from the Wizard of Oz. Local artist’s talents are readily displayed on the walls of the room and available for purchase if they peak one’s style. Next to the meeting room is a decent sized kid’s room with many activities to keep the little ones occupied. Hand puppet theater, blocks and legos on decent sized play mat, several computers with kids learning software, and of course tons of books. They also do a nice read along and craft session at least once a week. My kids kept wanting to go back so if you are looking for something to do to keep them occupied, on rainy days or not, this is a good bet.
Environment if comfortable, the architecture is interesting to admire, and staff is friendly. They even have a gift shop for purchases to support the library.

Best Library ever!

Beautiful building in the heart of Brewster — a picturesque village on the Bay side of the Cape and situated on Route 6A away from the hustle and bustle of tourist trap Route 28. As Brewster is an extremely monied town, the library boasts a huge collection, and hosts many art events as the retirees on the Cape often tap into their creative side after spending years making a gazillion dollars on Wall Street. It’s true what Caitlin T. said — the children’s collection is overwhelming — a nice activity for visiting grand and great grandkids. Oddly enough, while I was living on the Cape, there was a gentleman who was stealing valuable books from a number of Cape libraries. Here’s the link to the story

Nice! Very pretty with a nice relaxed feel. Even for an out of towner and a man it is a great place to read or just puts around

I love this library! Never in my life did I think those words would ever leave my mouth! The kids section 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!