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Dropped By

Santa visited the Abington Social Library for a recent fund-raiser. Courtesy photo.

 

 

 

ABINGTON — Delicious pancakes, lively elves, smiling families, and the big man in red – what better way to kick off the holiday season! Over 100 people attended Breakfast with Santa, the annual fund-raiser hosted by Abington Social Library. 

The Abington Social Library has provided library services to the communities of Abington, Pomfret and neighboring towns for more than 200 years. It served as a women’s library in the early 1800s, more than a century before American women had the right to vote. Established in 1793, it is the oldest continuously operating social library in the U.S. 

The first social library in the U.S. was formed by Benjamin Franklin.  Commonly, social libraries were formed as book clubs.  To become a member, one had to pay dues and a tax was charged annually.  Books were shared amongst members.   Many of the social libraries were funded by contributions from the wealthy.  If times were prosperous, libraries could expand their collections.  In harder economic times, the libraries often were dissolved. Today, the Abington Social Library is still going strong. It is no longer a members only club and is open to the community for book lending at no charge. 

The library hosts a game night from 5 to 7 p.m. every first Thursday of the month with freshly popped popcorn and lemonade. A Book Discussion is held at 6 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month, with refreshments. 

The Abington Social Library houses more than 30,000 books and has catalogued the majority of their fiction hardcover books as well as biographies on an internet program, accessible on: www.abingtonsociallibrary.org .Just click on Search ASL Catalog on the left and follow the prompts.

For more information, contact Library Director, Bonnie Duncan, at (860) 974-1674 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..