Andover Public Library
library in Maine, United States
The Andover Public Library is located on Church Street in Andover, Maine, United States. Although a private library funded by subscription was founded in the town in 1795, it was not until the establishment of the Andover Public Library Association in 1891 that movement to a publicly funded library began. It was originally quartered in a room of the Andover Town Hall, until 1943, when its present building was purchased from a Universalist church organization. The building is one of only two octagonal religious buildings known to have been built anywhere in Maine, and was probably the last building in the state built with inspiration from Orson Squire Fowler's promotion of octagonal buildings in the 19th century. On January 27, 1981, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The main block of the building is a wood-frame structure resting on a granite foundation, with a hip roof clad in asphalt shingles. Its front and rear facades are slightly elongated, giving the building a roughly rectangular shape. It is clad in wooden clapboards, and has a single brick chimney rising at the rear of the building. A gable-roof entry vestibule projects from the main block, with the door sheltered by a gabled portico supported by decorative brackets.
The library is open four days per week, and offers internet access, wifi, and access to a variety of online databases.
“Andover Public Library” enters the record as library in Maine, United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Andover, Public and Library can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Andover Public Library” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Andover, Public and Library provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4754625. Authority coordinates are 44.632, -70.752. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1795, 1891, 1943 and 1981.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Andover Public Library”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Andover Public Library primary sources, Andover Public Library archive and Andover research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Andover Public Library”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Andover Public Library” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.