This photograph of the Norfolk Library with empty shelves was probably taken just
before the Library opened its doors for the first time in 1889. Isabella Eldridge, one of the
five daughters of the Rev. Joseph and Sarah Battell Eldridge, built the Library both as a
memorial to her parents and as a gift to the town. The grand opening of the Library was
held on March 6, 1889. Coming exactly one year after the historic blizzard of March
1888, Isabella may have wondered if snow would postpone the celebration. Librarian
Henry H. Eddy wrote: “All the people of the village of every nationality, creed, and color
were invited, and from four until eight o’clock the building was filled with visitors. As
over one thousand invitations had been issued, the number of guests present must have
been close to that number.”
–Ann Havemeyer