The Ayer Town Seal

Ayer Library depicted on the Ayer Town Seal

Having recently shared our new logo and debuted our Library of Things as a valentine/birthday present to the Town, we thought we’d re-share this post from the Town of Ayer Facebook Page regarding the history of the Ayer Library’s inclusion on the Ayer Town Seal...

“The Town of Ayer, MA was chartered on February 14, 1871—however, the then new Town of Ayer did not have an official ‘Town Seal’ and did not have one, for 28-years, until the Commonwealth of Massachusetts legislatively required each and every town in Massachusetts to design/create a Town Seal by 1899.

“In 1898, the Town of Ayer selected the Ayer Library Building (built in 1893) as the ‘object’ on the new Town Seal—not the Ayer Town Hall Building, not a Locomotive Engine—they chose the glorious Romanesque Revival Ayer Library Building as the image of the Town.

“The Town of Ayer may be one of few New England Towns that have their Library Building as their Town Seal—most interesting and wonderful.”

An article from the December 24, 1898 issue of Turner’s Public Spirit is pictured in the original post and is also available on our Ayer Community Archive, our collection of digitized local newspapers from 1869 to present. It reads:

“The Ayer Library seemed to the selectmen, and, so far as they could learn, to nearly everyone who evinced any interest in the matter, the most suitable object connected with the town to be incorporated in its seal, not only for what the library itself stands for, but also as a graceful means of showing Mr. F.F. Ayer our appreciation of his generous gift to our town.”

We are honored to be depicted on the Town Seal, and we’re grateful to the Town and its residents for your support of the Ayer Library over the decades.