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Westport Public Library

Westport, Italy

Westport Public Library

The Westport Library is a public library in the town of Westport, Connecticut, established on February 4, 1886, by members of the Westport Reading-Room and Library Association. Morris Ketchum Jesup, born in 1830 to a country doctor, amassed a fortune in the railroad business and became the benefacto

r of the library, donating the land and $5,000 for the building. In April 1908, the Westport Public Library was completed at a cost of $75,000 and dedicated to the custody of the Westport Library Association by Jesup's wife, following the wishes of her husband who died four months earlier. In June 1984, plans were announced to build a new library on a site adjacent to Jesup Green on the Saugatuck River. Considerable discussion took place about how to raise the money for the new library and the proposed site, a former landfill. After a referendum was approved, the new library was built for $4.6 million and opened on Labor Day of 1986. As popularity of the library increased, another renovation and expansion was completed in 1998. The improvements included a project called the "River of Names," a wall of small handmade tiles, paid for individually by donors, depicting local history. By the year...

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