The Erving Library is a Massachusetts Public Library open to all Massachusetts residents. The Library is a member of C/W MARS and the Massachusetts Library System which provides access to most libraries in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, databases, and many services. Programs, events and new titles are listed on Facebook.The Erving Public Libraries (the Center Library and the Ervingside Library) merged in 2003 to become the Erving Public Library under the direction of trustees: Elizabeth Bazler, Marcia Bernard, and Marion Overgaard. Current trustees are: Rupert Roy-Clark, Mackensey Bailey, and Daniel Hammock.Since 2003, circulation, visits to the library, hours of operation, and services have grown. Current information about staff and hours of the library are available at:http://mblc.state.ma.us/libraries/directory/library.php?user=public&searchroot=libkey%3DPU-ERVING-PUBLIC%2Cou%3DWestern%2Co%3Dmlin.lib.ma.usHistory of the Erving Public Libraries.from Chapter 25 of The History of Erving Massachusetts, 1838-1988In 1882, the citizens voted to accept books from the Library Association and to establish the main library at Erving Center, with a branch at Millers Falls. The books were to be divided equally between the two. No provision was made for a public place to keep the books. Albert Briggs was paid three dollars for his services as librarian and room rent, while at Millers Falls, S. Buckman received the same amount. Users paid a fee of .50 for rsidents, payable quarterly, but $1.00 a year in advance, for non-residents. This fee system continued until 1885, when it became the Free Public Library. A $50.00 appropriation for books stood for many years, 1883-1912. In 1889, 62 books were purchased for $50.00. In 1988, a similar number of books was purchased for $400.In 1885, Mrs. Sarah Holton Ballou, a former resident then liveing in Detroit, Michigan, offered the town a gift of 250 volumes of current and classic literature, if the town would accept them with this condition, that it establish and maintain a free public library. The town accepted the gift, and rescinded the 1883 vote about fees. Mrs. Ballou suggested that the original committee should include the selectmen, the town clerk, and the Congregational minister.The first committee in 1885 was made up of three leading citizens, but did not include the Congregational minister: Noah Rankin, Alphaeus B. Parker, and Henry Burnett.
