Visiting Acadia National Park and looking for a rainy-day escape? Excited about books, local history, or island art? Even on a sunny day, any of the eight local libraries is worth a visit. Here’s what you’ll find, from historic reading rooms to cozy kids’ nooks, at the libraries in and around Mount Desert Island, Maine.

Bar Harbor: Jesup Memorial Library

Built in 1911, this Colonial Revival structure houses the most historically grand library on the island. Upon its opening, the New York Times said, “the building, a handsome structure of brick, with Indiana sandstone trimmings, is one of the finest library buildings of its size in New England.” Just walk into the central room, and you’ll see why.

Oak-paneled stairs lead up to the wonderful second-story stacks.

Other spaces include a rotunda, a sizable, cheery yellow children’s room, and a magazine reading room (here, cheerfully festooned for the library’s shawl show).

Shawls aside, the art here tends toward the traditional.

The Jesup’s Maine materials are housed in a rather sad but functional basement space. Overall, this library is fantastic, but it could use a bit of spit and polish. That’s part of why they’re engaged in a massive fundraising campaign — this will allow them both to make necessary upgrades and to expand the library facility (from what I can see in the schematics, the resulting construction will nearly double the building’s size).

Want to learn more? Visit the Jesup Memorial Library website.

Bernard: Bass Harbor Memorial Library

Tucked away near the southern tip of Mount Desert Island, the quiet side’s Bass Harbor Memorial Library is actually located in the village of Bernard. It consists of exactly three rooms: the original 1922 main block (a great place to sink into a couch and read in front of the fire on a rainy fall day) …

… a somewhat sparse rear extension …

… and the latest addition, a high-ceilinged children’s room:

This was the only library that I visited that had children’s artwork prominently displayed alongside that of adults.

Want to learn more? Visit the Bass Harbor Memorial Library website.

Great Cranberry Library (on Great Cranberry Island)

You’ll see a large building in the photo above, but only the small section on the left houses the single room of Great Cranberry Island’s tiny library. It’s light, with white paint and tall stacks.

The children’s section is set into its own corner (which is also home to the most comfortable seating for adults).

There’s a cozy but catch-as-catch-can feeling about this library. The walls are decorated with a generous smattering of somewhat random art, and I love that they still have an old-fashioned card catalog with handwritten lettering.

Islesford Library (on Little Cranberry Island)

Attached to the two-story Islesford Neighborhood House, the Islesford Library on Little Cranberry Island has been growing over time. The original 1913 one-room library …

… which still contains some of the institution’s original collection …

… was expanded in the late 20th century to include a history room, a room just for stacks, and a reading room (which has children’s books mixed in alongside everything else).

The small but packed history room includes a fascinating set of historical artifacts from Islesford, including a set of cigar-box picture frames, recordings of interviews with both summer residents and “natives,” and old household goods.

All of this comes with a friendly librarian and the very best book return box I’ve ever seen.

Northeast Harbor Library

Compared to most of the other libraries on Mount Desert Island, Northeast Harbor Library is huge! Coming in at 14,000 square feet, it has two long stories and a full basement. Built in 2002 to serve the town of Mount Desert, it’s also the newest of the MDI library bunch. So it all feels rather grand and fancy. Some of the impressive spaces include a giant lobby, a sprawling children’s room, the Louisa Vaughan Conrad Garden Room (which just has books about gardening!), and a super-comfy reading room with a working fireplace.

This library has an assortment of wonderful collections, both literary and otherwise. The Maine Studies Room houses hundreds of books about Maine, a set of yacht doors, various paintings, a tiny lighthouse diorama, and a life-size Maine lobster carved out of balsa wood (an accompanying letter from the artist says, “some of my soul is in it”).

Other collections at the Northeast Harbor library include a set of sailors’ “woolies,” old trail signs from Acadia National Park, Carroll Tyson’s “Twenty Birds of Mount Desert Island” prints, and maps of Mount Desert Island (the one below lays out the island’s geology by rock units in order of age).

You’ll find all sorts of art — it’s a bit like a local museum.

The Northeast Harbor Library is brimming with resources, including an extensive media room, a downstairs book sale, two pianos (one electric, one baby grand in an otherwise empty meeting space), and a “borrow our telescopes” program. My favorite section of the Northeast Harbor Library, though, had to be the “take a puzzle, leave a puzzle” corner, of which I was a frequent patron.

Want to learn more? Visit the Northeast Harbor Library’s website.

Seal Harbor Library

If the Northeast Harbor Library is all expansiveness and modernity, its down-the-road cousin at Seal Harbor is a perfect jewel box of late 19th-century charm. The Seal Harbor Library has only two rooms: the main room, which includes almost all of the books, the children’s section, and the fireplace …

… and the reading room, which features books about Maine, magazines, exactly four chairs (two comfortable — two not), and a stunning view out over the harbor.

This room also contains a great set of old photographs — you can see a slideshow of many more of them here.

Want to learn more? Visit the Seal Harbor Library website.

Somesville Library

Come for the library, stay for the view. This 1896 beauty sits right on the Millpond and looks out over Somes Sound. It has just three rooms: a central area with most of the books …

… a tiny children’s room …

… and a meeting room with more stacks, two sink-into-them chairs, and a view.

Want to read Doctor Doolittle, Winnie the Pooh, the Hardy Boys, or Nancy Drew in their original (or close-to-original) versions? This is the place to come! And while there’s not much in the way of art here (to be fair, there’s hardly any space), there are a few touches that make the place feel homey.

Want to learn more? Visit the Somesville Library website.

Southwest Harbor Public Library

My notes say, “you’d miss it if you blink.” I’d been to Southwest Harbor many times before, and I’d never noticed this building tucked in among the shops along the main drag. But it’s enormous inside! There are two stories, lots of seating, and tons of art to explore. The library has many different kinds of spaces — you can tell it’s been built over a series of different eras — yet it all seems to hang together in a charming and eclectic way. Walking through the front door, you start out in the Holmes Reading Room …

… and then you come to the start of the stacks, which cleverly have a chair at the end of each row.

There’s an entirely separate children’s room …

… which includes fun additions like this whimsical landscape:

Southwest Harbor has some permanent art pieces, but it also hosts rotating artists’ work. This was one of the only libraries I visited (Jesup being the other) that had art for sale.

Want to learn more? Visit the Southwest Harbor Library website.

Plan Your Visit to the Libraries of Mount Desert Island

• Check each library’s hours carefully — some of the libraries have limited opening times, and they may become even more limited in winter.
• You’ll need the mail boat to reach the Great Cranberry and Islesford libraries. Fortunately, there’s daily, year-round service on the mail boat out of Northeast Harbor.
• Ask about a temporary card if you’re visiting and want borrowing privileges
• You may need multiple cards. Some libraries share lending privileges with each other, but not all.
• Keep an eye out for library events like speakers, concerts, and storytelling time. Check websites and the Mount Desert Islander for details.

Interested in more New England libraries? Be sure to read this post when you’re in Western Massachusetts.

If you love the calm of library days, you’ll also want to read my guide to enjoying a quieter, late-fall Acadia in November.