Dedicated to the memory of “Acton’s patriotic citizens” who fought in the Civil War, the Acton Memorial Library was built by William Allan Wilde in 1890 “to give to every man, woman, and child in Acton a library of good, pure, interesting and instructive reading—so to mould the minds of all.”

Its original red brick and brownstone building was designed by architects H.W. Hartwell and William C. Richardson of Boston and constructed by Charles H. Dodge for a cost of $30,000. Expanded in 1967 and 1999, the library accommodates 102,000 books, space for people, collections, and computers, a large Children’s Room and two meeting rooms.

A member of the Minuteman Library Network since 1988, the Acton Memorial Library houses a collection of approximately 170,000 items and circulates 640,000 items a year, making it one of the busiest public libraries of its size in the state.