Partner: Rye Public Library

The Rye Public Library opened on September 6, 1911, for the circulation of books every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon. Gifts to the Town of Rye, both land and building funds, were donated by Miss Mary Tuck Rand. Miss Rand formally presented these gifts as a memorial to her family in a day of ceremony on June 22, 1911. “I wish it to do good and be of much benefit, a store-house for books,  for information and knowledge, a mine of good, a fountain of help,  lasting. I hope it will help you gloriously onward and upward  through the journey of life and also those following after. This is my  sincere wish. Please accept this Library building and site from me.”  Excerpted from a speech delivered by Mary Tuck Rand, Rye Public Library Benefactor,  at the dedication of the Rye Public Library on June 22nd, 1911.  In 2011, both dates were commemorated during our Rye Public Library Centennial Celebration.   Rye Public Library was a relative latecomer in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, due to the dissolution of an earlier bequest to the town to build a public library. In years since, however, RPL has emerged as one of the most energetically supported and appreciated public libraries in the state. The tremendous response to our 2011 Centennial Celebration speaks volumes in illustration of this point.  The RPL facility has grown from its initial dimensions with three sequences of expansion. Two earlier additions, in 1967 and 1980 were augmented by the most recent expansion begun in early 1998 and opened to the public on January 16, 1999. Through the dedication of the Rye Public Library Board of Trustees who garnered wide community support, this expansion effort resulted in the wonderfully balanced and attractive building we now enjoy.  Rye Public Library Vision Statement  The vision of the Rye Public Library is to be the cultural heart of Rye by facilitating the free flow of ideas and information for all members of our community.  Rye Public Library Mission Statement  The Rye Public Library will be a friendly and inviting place providing unrestricted access to an array of materials, programs, and technologies that inform, educate, and entertain. We will promote the value of reading and encourage the quest for knowledge and experience to enrich lifelong learning, discovery, and creativity. The Library will be a mine of good and a fountain of help in the guiding spirit of our original benefactor, Mary Tuck Rand.  They count Rye Junior High School and Rye Public Library Book Discussion Group as partners in this year's Big Read.