The Hubbardston Public Library is the public library for the town of Hubbardston, Massachusetts. It is located at 7 Main Street and provides books, services, and events to the community. The library offers Internet access and uses the CWMARS system, which helps libraries share books and materials.
The library is in a building that is important for its design. The building, constructed in 1874, is a Second Empire/Italianate brick structure and also houses the town offices. Much of the library's early collection and the building itself were made possible by grants and gifts from Jonas G. Clark, a native of Hubbardston and founder of Worcester's Clark University. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
Architecture and building history
The library is in the center of Hubbardston village, on the west side of Main Street (Massachusetts Route 68), north of where Brigham and Elm Streets meet. It is the most unique and detailed building in the village, with two stories, made of red brick, granite, and white wooden trim, and a slate roof. The middle section of the front has a projecting part with a steep, multicolored slate roof. This area once had iron cresting, which is no longer there. Ground-floor windows are in rounded arches with stepped granite headers, while second-floor windows are in segmented-arch openings with bracketed lintels. The central section has the main entrance set back in a round-arch opening, with two round-arch openings above it. A gable extends below the main roof, above a stone panel that shows the donor's name and the year the building was constructed.
Before this building was built, Hubbardston had no public buildings, and town meetings were held in the local church. It was the only public building until the 1980s, when a police station was built. The building was designed by Worcester architect Elbridge Boyden for Jonas G. Clark and built on three house lots that Clark purchased for this purpose. Clark likely arranged for materials and workers from outside the community, as other buildings from that time in the area were simpler.
Since its construction, the building has been used for the town's library, town offices, and community meetings.