History

The Baptist Convention deeded the old Baptist Church (across from the Congregational Church) to the town to be used as a library in 1929. Whiting already had an active library in the home of Mrs. C.T. Mason. After the acquisition of the Baptist church, facilities were moved to that building. Mrs. Sara Needham was elected the librarian. Being the daughter of a Baptist clergyman, her standards were stringent. No profanity and very little boy-and-girl staff was the rule. All new books were carefully censored; sometimes, pages considered obnoxious were removed. Naturally, this caused some criticism from library patrons, but nothing was done about it out of respect for the women and the fact that no one else was eager for the job (pay was $15.00 per year).

After Mrs. Needham’s death, her daughter, Miss Edith Needham, became the librarian. When Miss Needham was no longer able to serve, and the community had lost interest, the town ceased to appropriate money for the maintenance of the library.

The building remained vacant for several years. Windows were broken, the roof leaked, and it became the home of mice and birds. In 1973 the town voted money out of Revenue Sharing Funds to repair the roof and the windows. Through the effort of interested citizens, the library opened to the public again. Mrs. Gladys Ketcham served as a librarian that summer without the benefit of a salary. Elected library trustees have operated the library since that time.

The library building was not upgraded and did not have electricity, heat, or plumbing. Due to the lack of heat, the library often only opened in the summer. In 2019 the Selectboard voted to allow the library to move into the top floor of the town hall. Volunteers moved the books, and the trustees opened the library in November 2019.