Essex's T.O.H.P. Burnham Library: a small library in Town Hall that keeps adding more

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

How the Essex library is changing

A new director and a new plan. Carla Christensen, an Essex resident and former library trustee, became director in January 2024. That fall, the library asked residents what they wanted, through surveys (including one for kids) and small group talks. The trustees approved a new five-year plan in December 2024. "We updated our collection, services, and programs based on this feedback," the library wrote in the 2024 town report.

Longer Saturdays. Residents asked for more weekend hours. In January 2025 the library added an hour on Saturdays, staying open until 1 p.m., without cutting hours on other days. It kept the change.

More than books. The library's "Library of Things" lends Wi-Fi hotspots, Kindles, Chromebooks, a power washer and lawn games such as bocce, cornhole and giant Jenga. Hotspots are the most popular item. It also lends museum passes, 323 times in 2024.

Summer reading. In summer 2025, 159 children and teens signed up for summer reading, up from 100 the summer before, the trustees' minutes show.

A ramp and a garden. In April 2026, work started on a new ramp, parking lot and garden patio outside the library. It is paid for by gifts, including bricks sold by the Friends of the Library.

A gift from a son of Essex

The letters stand for Thomas Oliver Hazard Perry Burnham. He was born in Essex in 1814 and later lived in Boston. When he died in 1891, he left money to his hometown for a library. The library says he gave $20,000 for a building and $20,000 more, held in trust, to buy books.

A building was put up to hold both Town Hall and the library. Frank W. Weston designed it. It was dedicated on Feb. 15, 1894.

A big renovation began in 2016 and finished in 2017, the library says. It added an elevator to all four floors, sprinklers, heating and cooling, an accessible entrance and a third floor hall that seats more than 100 people. The old windows, clock faces and shingles were restored. The state's historical commission gave the project a preservation award in 2018.

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 visits: Essex reported about 3,000 visits last year, which looks far too low for a library that lent more than 43,000 items, so the count is likely incomplete. The state did not report library cards, Wi-Fi use or website visits for 2025.

Essex lends more per resident than the typical Massachusetts library, and borrowing is up 29% since before the pandemic. E-book and audiobook loans have more than doubled.

It does this with a very small staff, about two and a half full-time workers in all. The library is open about 30 hours a week most of the year. It ran 91 programs for young children last year.

Where the money comes from

The library is a town department, run by three elected trustees. Town meeting sets its budget. Last year the town paid $202,022, about 95% of the library's operating income. That is about $55 per resident, a little above the state median.

The state also sent Essex $8,820 in library aid for fiscal 2026.

The state's budget cuts reached Essex readers too. The library's website still lists HeritageQuest, a family history database. The state stopped paying for it on July 1, 2025, after federal library funding was cut. We asked the library whether it still offers it.

In the director's words

We asked Director Carla Christensen to answer the reader's question. She had not responded by press time.

What's on at T.O.H.P. Burnham Library

Programs, classes and events coming up at the T.O.H.P. Burnham Library, from the library's own calendar.

How to get involved

• Get a card. It is free for anyone who lives in Massachusetts.
• Join the Friends. The Friends of the Library helped pay for the new garden and patio by selling engraved bricks.
• 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 Essex's budget.