Library services in Marlborough began in 1795 when the Marlborough Society Library was opened in the "Nellie Harding" house on Frost Hill Road. One of the first purchases was "Belknap's History of New Hampshire," which still circulated in the Library almost two hundred years later.

Members paid two dollars a share, and the Society Library was disbanded soon after a move in 1843 to be closer to the new center of town.

The current Library, the Frost Free Library, was established on August 26, 1867, when the town formally accepted a gift from Rufus S. Frost which he had offered in 1865. On the date in 1867, Rufus S. Frost gave the town the current Library building, the grounds, and a collection of 2000 books, which was celebrated with a procession led by the Keene Brass Band, fireworks, and a "most bountiful and tastefully arranged collation provided by the ladies of Marlborough."

The Frost Free Library was opened as a free public library with its income at the time of establishment drawn from a $5000 trust fund from Mr. Frost, with the principal to remain intact and the interest to be used to run the Library. At first, the Library operated on a $300 budget and served a town population of 915. Elijah Boyden, Esq. was chosen as the first Librarian, and served until 1872, when Charles A. Bemis, author of the famous "History of Marlborough," became the Librarian.

The current "handsome, substantial" building was constructed from granite from the Webb Quarry in Marlborough and is quite unusual -- a trip to the basement shows that the floor too is constructed entirely of granite. A wood-structure addition was put on in 1968. It is through this addition that present-day patrons enter the building.

The Library obtained a card catalog in 1902, "electric lights" in 1911, a heating system in 1959, a telephone in 1961, and running water in 1962.

In the 1968 Frost Free Library manual, it was written that "as I look around at other small libraries and talk to other librarians I find that we in Marlborough are most fortunate: First, because our building was meant to be a library and is of good sound construction; Second, the lot is attractive and of good size; Third, we have a good location; Fourth, we have had trustees and librarians though the years who have given many hours of service to maintain and organize the library; Fifth, we have had appreciative patrons who realized the value of the library not only for themselves but for the community." These points that made the Library fortunate in the past continue to be the case today.

Information for this history drawn from "The history of Marlborough" by Charles A. Bemis, reprints of which are available for sale at the Library for a cost of $15. The section on the Frost Free Library is quite interesting! Other sources include a paper on the Frost Free Library by Gloria Jean Williams in 1974 and the history report from the 1968 Library Manual.