Saxonville Branch Library

Framingham, MA, 1963, by Richmond & Goldberg

Though no official record exists, library service in Saxonville dates back to at least the mid-19th century when industrialist Michael Simpson donated a room above a drug store at the corner of Danforth and Concord streets for a public reading room. The city of Framingham would take over the management of this room as an official part of the public library system in 1899. Over the next 60 years, the neighborhood would see massive growth and in the 1950’s the town decided that the current single room library wasn’t meeting the needs of the booming population.

In 1963, the new Saxonville Branch library opened with about 16,000 books and just over 4,000 sq. ft. of space. The brick building was expanded in 1986 and in 1987 rededicated as the Christa Mcauliffe Library after the Framingham-born teacher who tragically died in the Challenger disaster. By the 2000s, the library had grown to be the second busiest branch library in the Commonwealth and Framingham was looking for options to expand service. In 2010, they received funds for a new 17,000 sq. ft. building to be located not in Saxonville, but the neighboring Nobscot which was finished in 2016. The library building now houses the city’s Capital Projects and Facilities Management offices.

Sources:

Ameden, Danielle, “Framingham’s McAuliffe library expected to move”, Metro West Daily News, 13 October 2010.

Ameden, Danielle, “Chapter ends for McAuliffe library” Wicked Local, 11 February 2016.

Harris, Randy, “Library plans moving forward”, Framingham Online News, 14 December 2010. 

Tremblay, Bob, “Mr. Know-It-All: Getting bookish on the Saxonville library” Wicked Local, 14 September 2014.