On September 1, 1898, the Observer announced that The Thompson Free Library would be dedicated on the ninth of that month, with a dedication ceremony at Central Hall and an open house at the library. The following day, September 10, 1898, was to be the first official day that the library was open.

The September 15th issue of the Observer dedicated two-thirds of the front page to the library’s dedication, which again showed Liston Evan’s devotion to the library. Dr. Thompson spoke, saying “I am here today to perform one of the most pleasant acts of my life–to transfer to you the building that I have erected for a free library for the town of Dover. . . . My only wish is that it may be as gratifying to you to receive it as it is pleasant for me to transfer it.” Anna Boynton Averill, Dover’s resident poet, read her poem entitled “The Thompson Free Library.” Ms. Averill was one of Maine’s most well-known and best-loved poets at the time, called “the most notable, lyrically, of all the singers of Maine living at that time” by Edwin R. Champlin’s Poets of Maine. Dr. Thompson’s gift was declared to be fifty times more generous (per capita) than George Peabody, who donated $8 million during his lifetime throughout the country. Three hearty cheers for Dr. Thompson were given, and then the celebration made its way to the library for inspection, thus ending the first day in the long life of the library.

Anna Boynton Averill (above left) was the poet who read her poem The Thompson Free Library at the library’s dedication. Following the dedication, the library was open for viewing (above right) prior to its official opening the next day.

THE THOMPSON FREE LIBRARY
Among the blessings showered down
Upon this pleasant, prosperous town.
Is not this thoughtful gift the crown?
A bond of faith for you who keep
Secure and high the trust and reap
Its rich rewards–a heritage
To hold with honest pride–a pledge
Of love too pure for jealous fears,
Growing and ripening with the years

To us who love the quiet street,
How like a dream it seems to see
On this familiar site a neat
And solid pile of masonry,
Holding a free town library.
As in a dream we seem to see
The throngs who come in days to be
For help and pleasure, peace and rest
To this retreat. These shall attest
The far felt good of this bequest.

Long may the donors’ sight be cheered
By this memorial he has reared
Of her whose life of truth and worth
Makes glad for us this spot of earth.

This treasure house its wealth shall yield
To all who call dear Dover home.
Egypt and India, Greece and Rome,
The orient and the occident,
Stars, seas, rocks, mountain, wood and
Within these walls shall be revealed.

If so you choose you here may bring
The best of every age and clime
Homer and Virgil here may sing
With Dante, Goethe and the ring
Of noble English bards whose chime
With all earth’s sweetest echoes blent
Goes echoing down the shores of time.

Cervantes, Aristophanes,
Holmes, Hunt and Lamb your cares may ease
With ripe and mellow pleasantries.
The gentle nature lovers, too,
Old Izaak Walton, White, Thoreau,
From sweet retreats of fern and dew
Shall lead you where still waters flow.

Here may the eager student pore
O’er tomes of scientific lore
That bears his soaring thoughts afar
To sweep the heavens from star to star,
Or aids his quickened sight to view
The wonders of a drop of dew.

The legacies of ages wait
To drop into your favored hands;
The wise and witty, good and great
Shall gather here from many lands,
The stores of human thoughts amassed,
Tho tales of human deeds that last
Are garnered here for you and yours
To have and hold while life endures.

Be thankful. Bless the generous thought
That gave this goodly gift, and keep
The trust reposed in you with deep
And sacred care. Let nothing blot
The wise design the giver traced.
field So shall your unborn children bless
With glad and heartfelt thankfulness
The name above this portal placed.

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