{{Short description|Library in Easton, Massachusetts}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox library | name = Ames Free Library | logo = | image = Ames Free Library (North Easton, MA) - oblique view.JPG | caption = | location = | coordinates = | established = 1883 | num_branches = | collection_size = | annual_circulation = | pop_served = <!--Population of area the library provides service to.--> | members = <!--Cardholders--> | budget = | director = Ian Dunbar | num_employees = | website = [http://www.amesfreelibrary.org/ AmesFreeLibrary.org] | module = {{Infobox NRHP | embed = yes | nocat = yes | name = Ames Free Library | nrhp_type = nhldcp | nrhp_type2 = cp | image = | caption = | locmapin = Massachusetts#USA | coordinates = {{coord|42|4|2|N|71|6|18|W|display=inline,title}} | location = North Easton, Massachusetts | nearest_city = | area = | built = 1883 | architect = Henry Hobson Richardson | architecture = Richardsonian Romanesque | designated = | designated_nrhp_type = December 23, 1987 | designated_nrhp_type2 = November 3, 1972 | established = | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | partof_refnum = 87002598 | partof = H. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton | mpsub = }} }}
The '''Ames Free Library''' is a public library designed by noted American architect Henry Hobson Richardson. It is located at 53 Main Street, Easton, Massachusetts, immediately adjacent to another Richardson building, Oakes Ames Memorial Hall.
In 2016 the Ames Free Library won the Best Small Library in America award from the Library Journal. This award was created in 2005 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to encourage and showcase outstanding libraries serving populations of fewer than 25,000.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Weinstein|first1=Susan|title=Easton's Ames Free Library named Best Small Library in America – again|url=http://easton.wickedlocal.com/news/20160421/eastons-ames-free-library-named-best-small-library-in-america----again|accessdate=September 19, 2017|agency=Wicked Local – Easton|date=April 21, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Berry III|first1=John N.|title=Culture Convener – Best Small Library in America 2016|url=http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2016/01/lj-in-print/culture-convener-best-small-library-in-america-2016/|accessdate=September 19, 2017|agency=Library Journal|date=January 28, 2016|archive-date=December 31, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231204114/http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2016/01/lj-in-print/culture-convener-best-small-library-in-america-2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> This marks the second time the library has won this award.
==History== On the death of Oliver Ames Jr., he left $50,000 for the construction of a library.<ref name="Ochsner"/> The will stipulated that it was to be a private institution, not owned by the town, but operated in trust for the public.<ref name="Ochsner"/> The request was carried out by Ames' children, Frederick Lothrop Ames and Helen Angier Ames. They hired Henry Hobson Richardson to design the building.<ref name="Ochsner"/> The final cost of the building came to at least $80,000.<ref name="Ochsner">{{cite book |title=H. H. Richardson: Complete Architectural Works |last=Ochsner |first=Jeffrey Karl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gBDXfLHsnc4C |publisher=MIT Press |date=1984 |pages=68, 183 |isbn=0-262-65015-0}}</ref>
The library was built from 1877 to 1879, although it did not open until March 10, 1883. It is generally rectangular, with broad gable projecting from its north end and a rectangular tower rising where the gable meets the main mass. The gable's front facade contains a heavily arched entry on the first floor and a row of five arched windows separated by pairs of short columns above. The facade is light-brown Milford granite laid in random ashlar with reddish-brown Longmeadow brownstone trim. Its roof is red-orange tile. A children's wing (red brick) was added in 1931, eliminating the original lavatory and document room.
Within, the library's major rooms, stack wing, hall, and reading room are laid out longitudinally. The reading room's fireplace is primarily by Stanford White, and the stone and bronze medallions of Oliver Ames Jr. were designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
==Gallery== <gallery> Image:RichardsonNEatonLibrary.jpg|Ames Free Library Image:Ames Free Library (North Easton, MA) - front facade.JPG|Front facade Image:Ames Free Library (North Easton, MA) - interior fireplace.JPG|Fireplace Image:Ames Free Library (North Easton, MA) - interior stacks.JPG|Stacks File:amesfreelibrary.jpg|Ames Free Library, ca. 1879-1895 File:EAST FRONT ELEVATION - Oliver Ames Free Library, 53 Main Street, North Easton, Bristol County, MA.tif </gallery>
==See also== * H. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton * North Easton Historic District
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category-inline|Ames Free Library}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.amesfreelibrary.org/history/ |title=History |work=About the Library |publisher=Ames Free Library}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Ames_Free_Library.html |title=Oaks Ames Memorial Library |work=Great Buildings |publisher=Artifice, Inc.}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Ames_Free_Library |title=Ames Free Library |work=Archiplanet |publisher=Artifice, Inc. |access-date=April 29, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927192708/http://www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Ames_Free_Library |archive-date=September 27, 2007 |url-status=dead }}
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Category:1883 establishments in Massachusetts Category:Butler–Ames family Category:Henry Hobson Richardson buildings Category:Historic district contributing properties in Bristol County, Massachusetts Category:Libraries in Bristol County, Massachusetts Category:Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Category:Library buildings completed in 1883 Category:Public libraries in Massachusetts Category:Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Massachusetts