Our
STORY
The Zadoc Long Free Library was a gift to the people of Buckfield by Secretary of the Navy John Davis Long.
It was built as a memorial to his father and mother: Zadoc Long and Julia Temple (Davis) Long.
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In 1900, for the sum of $1.00, Josephine Thomes sold to John D. Long the lot of land that the library sets on today.
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John D. Long contacted his friend and architect John Calvin Stevens to design the building, which was completed in 1901.
Mr. Long and his relatives liberally supplied the library with books, resulting in a circulation of about 3,000 books soon after it opened.
The Library was dedicated at the "Old Church on the Hill," during Buckfield's Old Home Week on August 17, 1901.
The Zadoc Library houses many historical items, such as
"The King's Arm," a musket used during the French and Indian War (which has been fired every 4th of July since the news of The Declaration of Independence);
a Civil War Drum;
and portraits of the Long Family.​​​​​​
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The Library was originally open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 2 to 5 pm and 7 to 9 pm for Buckfield residents only.
In 1964, the Library began also serving the towns of Hartford and Sumner, with increasing hours over the years.
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Now open 30 hours a week, the Library houses about 10,240 items (including children's picture books and easy readers, audiobooks, DVDs, reference books, graphic novels, and fiction and non-fiction books for all ages).
We also belong to a consortium through the Maine State Library, which gives our patrons access to library collections throughout the state (and country) via Interlibrary Loan and access to the cloudLibrary (with over 26,000 downloadable e-books and audiobooks).