A History of Service at Seymour Library
- 09/08/2026
- 11:34
- Jackie Kolb
From 1876 to 2026, Seymour Library has gone through a lot of changes! As we continue to celebrate the Library’s Sesquicentennial (150th Anniversary), we want to take a moment and highlight the most important part of the Library’s history – our relationship with the community!
In 1875, local banker James Seymour left money in his will to establish a library in Auburn, and in 1876 the Seymour Library Association formed, renting space on the second floor of the Auburn Savings Bank (now the Phoenix Building), the Library’s first home. That is just the start of the story. Through the decades, the Library has responded to community needs, with a thread of service and adaptation that runs unbroken to the present day.
- 1880s: The Library continues to expand its original collection and partners with the Board of Education to make access free for local schoolchildren.
- 1890s: Seymour Library becomes a free library – providing access to all members of the community – and begins plans for its own building as it outgrows its rented rooms.
- 1900s: The Library opens in its new location – the massive Case Memorial Building – and maintains various special collections, including braille books and a scientific library.
- 1910s: The Library offers books in multiple languages for immigrant communities and collects books for soldiers serving in WWI.
- 1920s: Seymour Library responds to increased reference requests (including during the crossword craze of the Roaring 20s) and provides outreach collections to Auburn Prison.
- 1930s: The Library offers resources to enhance job skills in the Great Depression, creates summer programming for children, and establishes a small branch library at 145 East Genesee.
- 1940s: The Library prepares to serve as an air raid shelter for the community, creates a series of storytimes focused on world diversity, and opens a second branch library near Lincoln School.
- 1950s: Seymour Library expands its focus on the children in our community, with outreach, expanded activities, and new furnishings for the Children’s Room including an aquarium.
- 1960s: The Library creates separate collections for “New Books” and “Young Adult Books,” as well as adding new types of materials including films, records, and microfilmed newspapers.
- 1970s: An expansion project adds more space to the Library building, enlarging the size of the Children’s Room and the Reference Room, and creating a History Room.
- 1980s: The Library expands its collections to offer large print books, audiobooks, and video cassettes, and enhances services to families by hiring a professional children’s librarian.
- 1990s: The west lobby addition provides an accessible entrance to the library building and elevator for patrons visiting the Children’s Room. The Library also adds public access to the internet.
- 2000s: The Library’s collection becomes automated, replacing the card/stamp process with a barcode and scanning system.
- 2010s: The Library redesigns and expands its History Room into the Mary Van Sickle Wait Local History Discovery Center and opens the IDEA Lab as an additional programming space.
- 2020 to 2025: The Library maintains essential services to the community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, constructs the new Richard S. and Jeanne Z. Dunn Family Space and renovates the West Lobby to enhance services. In addition, renovations to the historic roof are completed, helping preserve the Library for years to come.
Which brings us to 2026! We want to thank everyone for their patience over these past few months as Seymour Library has gone through another renovation, enhancing and updating multiple spaces throughout the building.
The Historic North Lobby, Fiction Room, DVD Room, and Large Type Room received a full overhaul, with new LED fixtures and accent lights installed within the skylights. A painting crew spent a month carefully scraping, resurfacing, and repainting the walls in these spaces, and afterward, new carpeting was installed. The historic doors in the North Lobby were also carefully restored to their former glory, with years of paint removed to show the beautiful wood underneath.
In addition to these improvements, we were able to add an additional private study room by converting a storage closet. The library now has two study rooms to help accommodate community members looking for a private space for tutoring, teleconference appointments, etc.
Plus, the second floor received a facelift, converting the space into a meeting room and additional quiet study area with new windows and lighting.
Please join us on Tuesday, September 22 at 6 pm for a ribbon cutting and reception celebrating 150 years of library services to the Auburn Community.
The ribbon cutting and opening remarks will start at 6 pm, followed by refreshments courtesy of the Friends of Seymour Library, tours of the newly renovated spaces, and music performed by Christopher Molloy. This event is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!
Learn more about how to get a library card or find information for upcoming programs!
Upcoming Sesquicentennial Lectures:
1876: Business District via HistoryForge
Thursday, September 24 at 6 pm
Get a view of 1876 Auburn through the interactive database, HistoryForge. Mary Lovell, Director of Reader and Information Services at Seymour Library, will show how Auburn HistoryForge uses census information to create a historical map of what Auburn’s 1876 Business District would have looked like.
Elizabeth Porter Clarke: Seymour Library’s 2nd Librarian
Thursday, November 19 at 6 pm
Following in the footsteps of Mattie Bullard, Elizabeth Clarke served as librarian from 1902–1919. Learn about her life and the Library’s role during a period that included World War I and the 1918 Flu Pandemic, with Dori Gottschalk-Fielding, Director of Development at Seymour Library.
We hope to see you at the library!