In 1854, forty women of the town of Old Saybrook contributed one dollar toward a book purchasing fund, adopting the name “Ladies Circulating Library.” By 1865, the collection had grown to almost five hundred books.
By 1870, the collection had grown to eight hundred volumes and was moved to a building owned by local resident and political and social activist, Thomas C. Acton. This collection of personal letters, receipts and ephemera covers over 165 years of library history spanning two centuries.
