How may we assist you?
Interlibrary Loan, Reserve, Circulation questions
Contact: Cheryl Spaulding, Adult Circulation Coordinator
Children's Programs, School visits, Children's Books
Contact: Martha Perkins, Children's Program Coordinator
Have a question? Ask "Reference"
Contact: Stephanie Richard, Public Access/Automation Librarian
Interested in Elder Outreach Program
Contact Anne King, Program Events Coordinator.
Interested in showing your art in our Art Gallery Hall
or participating in our Young Adult Exhibition Program
Call us at 283-3861 and ask for Anne King.
Want to know what's happening at the Saco Museum
Contact: Andrea Strassner, Museum Director
A Brief History About the Dyer Library
The structure which currently houses the Saco
Police Department was
originally constructed in 1893 as the first permanent home of the Dyer
Library Association.
As originally designed, the interior was largely one open space,
divided visually by a broad wooden double arch. The front space was the
reading room, which featured an oak common table and a large open
fireplace. The rear space was the shelf stacks. Adjoining the stacks
were two small chambers, a conference room and the librarian's
office. Philanthropist
Cornelius Sweetser, who was a distant
cousin of Wadlin Sweetser left the Dyer Library $10,000 as a
maintenance fund. The building fund was provided by the estate of Mrs.
John C. Bradbury, but the Association Secretary at the time of the
building was Hampden Fairfield, the executor of the Sweetser estate.
The general contractor was J. H. Randall of Portland and the mason was
Edwin R. Bradbury of Saco. After
more than a half century in this building, the Dyer Library moved
north in 1955 to the home of former board president F. C. Deering.
In 1974, a new wing was added. This broad L-shaped corridor
and
gallery, new offices, the Deering Room and Board Room and what is now
the Reed's Children's Room. In 1976, the Dyer Library and Saco Museum
joined together, forming a new Dyer Library Association. The library
and museum are located side by side at 371 Main Street. In keeping with
the idea that the museum and library are one cultural institution
serving the Saco Community, the Dyer Library Association is now
referred to as Dyer Library/Saco Museum.