page_title: Rochester, New Hampshire
section_title: Library
hierarchical_section_title: Rochester, New Hampshire / History / Library
caption_attribution_description: English: The Rochester Public Library in New Hampshire
context_page_description: Rochester is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 29,752, and in 2019 the estimated population was 31,526. The city includes the villages of East Rochester, Gonic, and North Rochester. Rochester is home to Skyhaven Airport.
context_section_description: The Rochester Public Library was approved in 1893 but was not open to the public until early 1894. Back then, the library was located on the corner of Portland Street and South Main Street. In 1897, the library moved to City Hall, where it remained for over eight years.
  In the early 1900s, Osman Warren, Rochester's postmaster,  contacted Andrew Carnegie for help in securing an endowment to build the new library. The Carnegie Institute donated $20,000 to construct the new building. The new library was built on the site of what was the Main Street School. The library was built in the Georgian revival style, using brick and granite, and the inside was finished with golden oak and cypress. The library opened on October 2, 1905, and 150 people registered the first day. Miss Lillian Parshley was the first librarian, serving until her death in 1945. Velma Foss, Miss Parshley's assistant, was the second librarian of the Rochester Library.
caption: The Rochester Public Library in New Hampshire
exif: {}