Facilities

The Merrick Library began humbly enough, in 1891, in the hayloft of a stable on the Cammann family farm, where Edward C. Cammann and his good friend Richard P. Kent had put together a collection of 50 books given to them by family and friends.

A few months later, the library was moved to a shack on the William Hewlett farm on Merrick Avenue, between Merrick Road and Kirkwood Avenue. A third move brought the Library to a 15-foot room on the ground floor of the newly-built tower of the Merrick Water Company on Kirkwood Avenue, behind the Church of the Redeemer. Edward's aunt, Katherine L. Cammann, decided to donate some land to the cause, and on May 8, 1897, the first permanent home of the Merrick Library was formally opened.

The charming Victorian cottage was doubled in size by the addition of a picture-window extension built-in 1949, and in 1956 a second wing in the rear was added. Although a new library was built in 1962 on property donated by Mrs. Isaac Narwood at the corner of Merrick and Narwood Avenues, the cottage became the Merrick Library Wing and continued to be used. The Library Wing is still being used by Merrick residents as a meeting place for various organizations, including the Historical Society of the Merricks. It is a link to the heritage which first established the library as the social and cultural center of the community.