Rowley Public Library

The Rowley Public Library is a new building on a site, adjacent to the Town Hall in the historic town center, which was given to the town in 1948 for a new library and garden. It is set back from the street, with a garden forecourt. Parking for the library and the Town Hall is to the rear of the site. The interior houses the 13,800 square foot facility on one level. Entrances from Main Street and the parking area lead to a central gallery and circulation desk with visual control of the adult services area. The entrance to the Children’s Room is opposite the desk, and a large meeting room and two smaller seminar rooms are off the Main Street entrance.

The exterior is designed in a clapboard vernacular Georgian style to harmonize with the surrounding historic district. It is visually broken into smaller masses to match the scale of the older buildings adjacent, and a large part of the building is hidden behind the adjacent church. With the Town Hall and the Baptist Church adjacent, the new library forms part of a group of public buildings and spaces creating a municipal center that reinforces the historic downtown of Rowley.

(Richard Smith was Project Architect for Stahl Associates and Burt Hill)