Southbury Public Library

Library Hours

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General Information

Library Mission: Transforming lives through EDUCATING, INSPIRING, and CONNECTING.

Library Vision: The Heart of the Community.

The Southbury Public Library is dedicated to be the source of information and knowledge for Southbury. The Library is the gateway to life-long education, enrichment and entertainment. As the heart of the community, we provide a welcoming, accessible, comfortable and safe environment that will be flexible and adaptable to changing library services and technology.

On Nov. 26, 1776, an entry in David’s Hicock’s diary provides evidence that South Britain had a library in the 18th century. Other reports indicate that the library was in private homes and moved periodically from house to house. By the late 1800’s the books had been moved to Munson’s Hall, a social hall behind what was, until the 20th century, the South Britain Post Office. In 1891, a diary entry said Abbie Mitchell earned 50 cents for her two-hour stint as librarian. In 1904, Axel Wilson built the South Britain Library on land donated by the Mitchell family. Until 1969, the library was a private association, not a Town function. A library was built at Main Street South in 1969 with an addition added in 1981. As the town continued to grow, it constructed a new state of the art library at 100 Poverty Road in 2006.

The library is a department of the Town of Southbury with its own 6 member Board of Directors (and 3 alternate members) who oversee library policies.

The Library owns almost 100,000 items including large print, audio books, music CDs, DVDs, e-book readers, and a large collection of magazines and newspapers.

The Library offers online services, which allow for direct access to your account. You can search the collection, renew books, place books on hold that are checked out and request from other libraries books not found in our collection.