Rockport Public Library: longer hours, a food pantry and the busiest shelves on Cape Ann

This profile is part of our look at why Cape Ann still needs its libraries, which started with a reader's question.

How Rockport's library is changing

More hours. In a 2021 survey, Rockport residents said their top wish was more library hours. In January 2023, the library added morning and Friday hours. It is now open 48 hours a week. The library said in its 2023 town report that visits went up, "particularly from families with young children and seniors." The library was open about 770 more hours in the year ending June 2025 than it was in 2019.

A food pantry. In summer 2025, the library worked with The Open Door to offer breakfast and lunch to kids. That grew into a food pantry at the entrance to the library's large upstairs meeting room, with canned, fresh and refrigerated food. Anyone can take what they need, "no questions asked," the library says. It has brought "lots of new people" into the library, the trustees' July 2026 minutes say. A regional public health social worker also holds free office hours there.

More to borrow. The library's "Library of Things" now includes a telescope, a metal detector, a sewing machine, a cassette-to-MP3 converter, colorblind glasses, a light therapy lamp and lawn games. In the past few years it has also added Kindles and sensory kits, the trustees' minutes show.

Fixing the building. The granite building on School Street dates to 1864. In September 2025, Fall Town Meeting voted unanimously to spend $150,000 in Community Preservation money on an engineering study of its stone walls, outside and windows. The trustees have also been dealing with mold and radon concerns in the basement. Cleaning it out took away the Friends' book storage, and the Friends have not held a book sale since 2024.

New supporters. A new Rockport Community Library Foundation was approved as a charity in 2025 and began taking donations to support the library.

A new plan. The library is writing its next five-year plan. A survey for residents went up in September 2026, and the plan is due in November.

The library "remains one of the most heavily used public services in the Town," Grove wrote in the 2025 town report.

How it started

Rockport's library began with a lecture series. Mark Twain was one of the speakers. The talks raised $250 to start a town library. In 1871, the town took the money, added its own and opened a library in Town Hall. Borrowers paid a fee until 1892. In 1893, an elected board of three trustees took over.

In 1903, Rockport accepted Andrew Carnegie's offer of $10,000 for a library building. The granite Carnegie Library opened in 1907. It served the town until 1993 and is now a private home.

Sculptor Franz Denghausen left the library $1 million in his will. The money arrived in 1990. In December 1993, the library opened at 17 School St., in a granite building from 1864 that was once a mill and later the Tarr School.

By the numbers

Source: Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners public library data for fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2025. Dollars are not adjusted for inflation. Loans per resident include items lent to people from other towns. We left out program counts because the library has told its trustees some were counted twice. The state did not report library cards, Wi-Fi use or website visits for 2025.

The library lent about 18 items per resident last year, counting loans to people from other towns. At the typical Massachusetts library it was about 10. Borrowing is up 32% since before the pandemic, and printed book loans went up too, not just e-books. Some of the extra use came from Gloucester residents while their own library was rebuilt, the trustees' minutes say.

People used the library's meeting rooms 1,290 times last year, more than any other Cape Ann library. In a typical week, 462 people used its 14 public computers.

Where the money comes from

The library is a town department, run by three trustees elected by Rockport voters. Town meeting sets its budget. Last year the town paid $817,633, about 92% of the library's operating income. That is about $117 per resident, more than twice the state median. Rockport's town support has gone up about 42% since 2019.

The library also reported spending more than its operating income last year. Director Cindy Grove told the Current that state aid and donations to the library cover the difference.

The state sent Rockport $16,310 in library aid for fiscal 2026. Money is tight this year: the trustees' minutes show a spending freeze by June 2026.

In their words

Trustee Joe Dapper called Cape Ann's libraries "truly instruments of learning and true community centers."

What's on at Rockport Public Library

Programs, classes and events coming up at the Rockport Public Library, from the library's own calendar.

How to get involved

• Get a card. It is free for anyone who lives in Massachusetts.
• Take the survey. The library wants residents' ideas for its next five-year plan. The survey is on the library's website.
• Join the Friends or the foundation. Both raise money for the library.
• Vote and speak up. Library trustees are elected at the town election, and the library budget is voted at town meeting. Read our guide to Rockport's budget.