The Fred & Harriett Taylor Memorial Library was founded as the Hammondsport Public Library in 1876. Library membership cost $1 per year and entitled the card holder to borrow one book per week. The library had 388 books and was located in H.L. Moore’s Drug Store. Over the years the library has moved five times: in 1883 to what is now the Post Office parking lot; in 1896 to the basement of the school at Lake and Main; in the 1930’s to the Conderman Block (Opera House), in 1962 to the old stone School building and in 2007 to its present location on William Street. The library was established by an association, with the school district taking over in 1896, and was chartered in 1938 by the Town of Urbana as a town public library.
The collection has grown to some 30,000+ items. The first book, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, remains in the collection.
In 2022 the library was able to dedicate a bronze statue by artist Dexter Benedict in honor of Katherine Meade, a community servant who dedicated her life to Hammondsport and raised the money for our beautiful library building.