Editing Ashby, Massachusetts (section)

==Ashby Free Public Library==
The library is a [[public library]], founded in 1874 "largely through the efforts of Rev. George S. Shaw."<ref>[http://mblc.state.ma.us/libraries/directory/index.php Retrieved 05-18-2010]</ref>  In the 1890s it was "kept in a private house" open to the public Tuesday and Friday afternoons.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=LusKAAAAYAAJ Report of the Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts]. 1891.</ref> Around 1890 the Ashby library had "1,584 volumes, with which its inhabitants have a pleasant and profitable acquaintance."<ref>Hurd, ed. [https://books.google.com/books?id=m74TAAAAYAAJ History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts]. J. W. Lewis & co., 1890.</ref>

In 1901 businessman and Civil War veteran Edwin Chapman donated a new building, which opened in 1902.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=u689AAAAYAAJ Report of the Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts]. 1903.</ref>

In the early 2000s, Ashby's historic library received a large expansion and interior renovation,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Past Projects - MBLC|url=https://mblc.state.ma.us/programs-and-support/construction/past-projects.php|access-date=July 24, 2020|website=mblc.state.ma.us}}</ref> utilizing a "[[Passive solar building design|passive solar]]" building technique, and serving as a model library to [[Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners]] (MBLC) on the same.<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 10, 2012|title=Ashby Free Public Library|url=https://architizer.com/projects/ashby-free-public-library/|access-date=July 24, 2020|website=Architizer|language=en-us}}</ref>