Have you seen the secret door by the circulation desk labeled “Treasure Room?” Ever wonder what’s inside?!

The Treasure Room contains the library’s archives–filled with letters, photographs, and mementos from the past. The library houses two major collections–a Town of Wakefield Collection and the Lucius Beebe Memorial Library Collection. The Town of Wakefield Collection includes hundreds of old Wakefield postcards, yearbooks, and town reports. The Lucius Beebe Memorial Library Collection includes library reports and statistics, information regarding the building’s construction and architecture, and photographs of the building throughout the years.

If you are interested in discovering what’s in the Treasure Room, you can browse all cataloged items online (there are 450+ records, so this page may take a moment to load). If you are interested in viewing any of these items in person, please visit the Reference Desk.

Many of the Treasure Room items have been scanned and are available to view online: Browse the Digital Heritage Collections.

Reference librarian, Amanda DeRosa, is currently working on organizing the archives–finding hidden treasures, like these:

If you’re looking for any past articles from the Wakefield Daily Item, you can now view all issues from 1890-2022 online: Wakefield Daily Item Digital Archive.

If you’re interested in historic town maps, there are 50+ available online–including town and zoning maps.

If you’re interested in genealogy research, including Wakefield death records, visit our Local Genealogy page.

P.S. Did you know the Red Room is filled with local history materials? They’re not just old books for decoration! They are organized using the Dewey Decimal Classification System and include old street listings and books related to the history of Wakefield and the surrounding towns (e.g. Lynnfield, Reading).

Want to read more? For recent library news and updates, visit our Summer Buzz page.