Where it all began
Hill Library in memory of the Hill Families.
During the Town Meeting of 1893, the citizens voted to start a library, and $25 was appropriated. The first three library trustees were Daniel S. Woodman, Frank Faye, and Frank E. Scruton. A couple named Hiram S. Hill and Hattie Daniels Hill were the first librarians, charged with overseeing books kept in private homes. Over the years, new books were added to the collection with the support of the NH State Library, the Strafford Women’s Club, and the Ladies Circle of Center Strafford. The collection was moved to Austin-Cate Academy Building, the Town Hall, and a few private homes.
At Town Meeting in 1970, the Strafford Library Study Committee was appointed and offered a $10,000 donation from Bernice Hill and her brother, Kenneth. Their cousin, Gordon Hill, in memory of his parents, offered a plot of land, on which his mother had envisioned just such a building. The Committee became the Strafford Library Association (SLA) and undertook fundraising and oversight of a new library building. On July 15, 1973, a dedication ceremony was held, at which time the new building became the Hill Library in memory of the Hill families.
In 1988, a new wing was added to the existing building.
Bernice Hill again offered a substantial financial contribution, and other funds were raised by the SLA. This room was dedicated as the Bernice Hill Room and houses an ever-growing nonfiction section as well as shelving for several personal collections of historic relevance to Strafford.
In 1999, the library doubled in size with a generous donation from Herb Cilley. Mr. Cilley was a self-taught ornithologist who became known as the “Loon Ranger” for his dedicated and pioneering work in the protection and rehabilitation of loons on Strafford’s Bow Lake and elsewhere in New England. Herb’s outstanding ornithology collection and scientific materials are available for public reference at the Hill Library to this day and the room named in his honor is our busy children’s room.
