Begun in 1763 with approximately 100 books, The Leominster Social Library was housed in a pine secretary in the study of local First Church minister Reverend Francis Gardner. This secretary was later given to the Library Committee by his granddaughter and is on permanent display beside the Information Desk on the current Library’s second floor.

In 1856, the town voted to accept a collection of books from the Leominster Lyceum Library, to appropriate $75.00 to support the Free Public Library for that year, and to appoint a five-member library committee. This committee, in turn, hired its first librarian in June 1856.

The Public Library’s collection was by turns housed in a store, an office, and a room in the old Town Hall. Finally, in 1908, the town voted to accept a gift of $27,500 from Andrew Carnegie to build a new library building. The library opened in 1910 in its current location. In 1967, it opened a 10,000-square-foot addition with 61,669 volumes.

In early 2005, the Leominster Public Library began work on a major renovation of the facility. This project included restoration of the library’s historic building, demolition of the 1967 addition, and construction of a new three-story, 34,434-square-foot addition. The newly renovated and expanded building opened in 2007.

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