Wood Memorial Library and Museum

Mission:

Wood Memorial Library & Museum is where history, nature and the arts come alive… and community thrives!

About Us:

Wood Memorial Library & Museum is located on South Windsor’s Main Street, first an Indian trail, then a busy colonial thoroughfare, today a reminder of Connecticut’s heritage, lined with historic houses of every era.

South Windsor philanthropist, William R. Wood, proposed building a library for the town as a memorial to his parents, Dr. William Wood and Mary Ellsworth Wood.  In 1926 he chose Hartford architect William Marchant, who designed the Colonial Revival building, reflecting elements of Wood’s own house.  It served as South Windsor’s public library for forty years, from its dedication in 1928 until the need for a larger facility in a more central location required the town to cease operation of the library.

A grassroots effort to keep book lending available at The Wood as a branch of the public library was abandoned after two years, but not willing to accept defeat, the group incorporated as The Friends of Wood Memorial Library in 1971.  Since then they have overseen the management of the library as a privately funded institution, which has flourished under the guidance of a small part-time staff and a corps of dedicated volunteers.  Keeping in mind the original charter, the Friends provide, in addition to the library, an environment where history, nature and the arts come alive.