Since its first issues, the Gazette has reserved space for the Fletcher Memorial Library, beginning with the “Library Notes” which apprised us of new books every month. Just as the library’s rooms and services have grown, so has our coverage, expanding to at least a full page every month to announce the list of new books and movies, regular monthly events, a varied array of special programs, and the local artist’s paintings to be displayed at the Top Shelf Gallery.

A 1994 article entitled “Fletcher Memorial Library: a Gift from our Forefathers” offered a history of our library’s roots. These were extremely humble beginnings. Reportedly, in 1877 the Town of Hampton granted the request of the Library Association to build a bookcase in the Town Hall, which occupied the upper level of the Center School, to accommodate the collection. In 1894, the Association voted to give this “library” to the Town. Miss Eliza Durkee, who lived across from the Little River Grange and served as librarian, bequeathed her books and her home to the Town for a library in 1919. Her nephew, Austin Barclay Fletcher, contributed an amount sufficient for the purchase of the current site, and the Center School students transported the collection from the Town Hall. In 1924, the Fletcher Memorial Library was incorporated, and the by-laws adopted in 1938 provided for a nine member Board.

Eunice Fuller, who lived in the library, was our longest serving librarian. As devoted to her readers as she was to literature (and the Red Sox), she welcomed the elementary school students who walked from the Consolidated School to Fletcher Memorial weekly and faithfully served the larger community for 36 years, retiring in 1999.

The new millennium would come with many changes.

The Gazette introduced the “Cyber Library” to readers, and reported on the grant that connected Fletcher to the internet in 2001’s “Digital Library”. Retired school librarian Louise Oliver volunteered (for $1 a year) to serve after Eunice’s retirement, with assistance from retired school librarian Claire Winters. The two would earn the distinction of “Citizen of the Year” for their dedication of time and expertise.  Under their guidance, Fletcher Memorial expanded from the original three rooms on the first floor to include a biography room and a sun room for leisurely reading, and on the second, an historic preservation room and an eventual computer laboratory. Volunteers built shelves to accommodate the growing collection of literature and the Friends of the Library was established to support and sponsor activities. Handicapped access would be installed, as well as a public bathroom on the main floor, and a work room for cataloguing and repairing materials and preparing and storing refreshments for special programs replaced what was once an outhouse and an old shed.  Improvements would continue in terms of accessibility with a new parking lot in back of the building and new stairs and pavers in the front, and aesthetically with the development of a Butterfly Garden, which earned distinction from the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Although the role of librarian, currently the delightful Deb Andstrom, is no longer a voluntary position, volunteers at Fletcher Memorial are aplenty, serving as assistants and board members. Visitors and patrons are on the increase, as are special programs. Every month the Gazette announces weekly activities, such as the Knitting Group and Story Hour, which expands in the summer to include all elementary school children, monthly events, like the Book Club and the display of local artists’ paintings, and a variety of special programs. This issue also contains information on the Fall Festival, a collective effort of Town organizations, which the library initiated and which continues to grow. Last year the library provided a venue for the “Hampton Hoot”, a weekly sing-along, and recently sponsored a concert on its lawn. The library also hosted the “Random Recollections” of our elders, stories the Gazette recorded for posterity on our pages.

Fletcher Memorial has also provided opportunities for Hampton authors to present their published books to us. The Gazette has announced and covered these and written reviews on books written by Irene and Richard Brown, Alison Davis, Tom and Kay Gaines, Larry Goodheart, Jimmy Halloran, Penny Newbury, Beth Davis Powning, Jim and Janet Robertson, Lisa Sanchez, Helen Scanlon, Edwin Way Teale, Janice Trecker, Bill Welch, Michael Sean Winters, John Woodworth, and John Yanouzas. Among the library’s riches are the works of Hampton authors on Fletcher’s shelves.

One of the criteria for determining the desirability of living in a community is its library. In its ambience – the grand old home with its wide veranda and beautiful gardens located in the center of our village, its ever increasing collection, its preservation of historic records, its role as a center for culture and the arts, and its friendly staff, Fletcher Memorial excels in enhancing Hampton’s appeal.