23. Solicitation of Local Materials for the Concord Free Public Library

In its handbill of June 26, 1873, the Library Committee solicited gifts of Concord-related materials for the new library. Its stated goal was to bring together “a complete collection of the literary, historical, municipal, religious, educational and other … works of Concord men and women, to be placed in one Alcove … If they could be gathered and placed in the new building, where they would be safe and accessible, they would be an appropriate gift of the present generation to posterity.” This marks the beginning of what would develop into the Concord Free Public Library’s William Munroe Special Collections, a first-rate research resource with a local, regional, national, and international research clientele.