Beals Free Library, Winchendon, Massachusetts

Beal Memorial Library

50 Pleasant Street

Winchendon, MA 01475

Email: bealsmemoriallibrary@gmail.com 

Website: https://www.bealslibrary.org/

 Phone: (978) 297-0300

Once I started up the stairs, I saw I needed to enter on the side.

But, I'm not sure why I had to go through a basement filled with Christmas decorations.  

I visited this library on April 27, 2024, the same day I went to Ashby Free Public Library. The reference / checkout area was a large round desk surrounded by four rooms  and two hallways. The employees were very busy so I didn't ask questions. One thing I noticed was the ceiling fan was keeping us cool. I'm showing seven of the surrounding rooms.

The Library flyer stated that this library was built in 1913 with a $50,000 donation from Charles Beals in memory of his wife, parents and siblings." The population in this town is about 10,000.

At some point, I inquired about their genealogy section and I was taken to the basement. I find it more interesting if I have an ancestor to research, but unfortunately I didn't have anybody to look up. I'm showing what I thought other genealogists would be interested in. Lots of shelved filled with old genealogy / history books in a very dusty basement. If you locate your family, you are in for a treat.

I love old card catalogues. I don't know if they still use them because they have the internet

The collection of similar books are a set of the "Tan Books". Genealogy "Tan Books" most commonly refer to the Systematic Series of Massachusetts Vital Records.. This is a massive collection of 180+ published volumes covering the birth, marriage, and death records for over 200 Massachusetts towns up to the year 1850." Many Massachusetts libraries have at least some of these books, and you can find them online.

I only hope employees were able to locate what they were looking for.

Then an employee brought me up to the third floor where I saw a large meeting room and several small private ones.

This staircase was lovely, but another one wasn't as nice.

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A side view from a Library window.