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Beginning Tuesday, March 17, your library account login will require a 4-digit PIN. More information is available here.

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McArthur Library provides access to essential materials, dynamic programs, and cultural resources to enhance the lives of our community members and support a vibrant, informed, and connected society.

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We will open at 11am on Friday, March 6th due to our monthly staff meeting.

We will open at 11am on Friday, March 6th due to our monthly staff meeting.

Mar 4

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Looking for your next winter read? Check out these cozy titles!

Jan 24

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Dying to get your hands on Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid? 🔥 You can get it right now - for FREE with your library card! Watch to learn how to download ebooks and audiobooks from CloudLibrary.

Jan 5

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Just in time for Halloween! Here are some of the scariest stories we have - that just might keep you up at night (;

Oct 30

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162 years ago tomorrow the Biddeford Public Library opened its doors! 🎂 This is the charge book, it was used to track which patron checked out which book before computers. About 120 people checked out books on the first day the library was open, and instead of writing down the title, the librarian wrote down the corresponding shelf placement of the book. At the time a patron would have needed to pay a dollar fee to use the library, as an incentive to return the book. If you wait until the end you will also see the books checked out by Israel Shevenell. He was famously the first Franco-American to settle in Biddeford permanently and had walked all the way from Quebec.

Oct 23

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Today we're going back to 1855! Before the McArthur Library there was the York Mechanic's Institute. When they disbanded their collection was donated to the city of Biddeford to create the Biddeford Public Library. This book was a charge book, it listed who borrowed what book, and referred to each book by a number. And if you turn the book over you will find the original list of patrons for the Biddeford Public Library created in 1863. The top reads, "We the undersigned agree to observe carefully all the existing rules and regulations for the government of the Library, and all rules that may be subsequently prescribed by due authority.” After that list is finished there is another draft of the same agreement from 1877.

Oct 10

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