Ames Free Library
U.S. National Historic Landmark District Contributing Property
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
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Location	North Easton, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°4′2″N 71°6′18″W / 42.06722°N 71.10500°W / 42.06722; -71.10500
Built	1883
Architect	Henry Hobson Richardson
Architectural style	Richardsonian Romanesque
Part of	H. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton (ID87002598)
Significant dates
Designated NHLDCP	December 23, 1987
Designated CP	November 3, 1972

Ames Free Library
Established	1883
Other information
Director	Donna P. Richman
Website	AmesFreeLibrary.org

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.^[1][2] 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.^[3] The will stipulated that it was to be a private institution, not owned by the town, but operated in trust for the public.^[3] The request was carried out by Ames' children, Frederick Lothrop Ames and Helen Angier Ames. They hired Henry Hobson Richardson to design the building.^[3] The final cost of the building came to at least $80,000.^[3]

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.