Noyes Children’s Library

Walking along Montgomery Avenue toward the Warner Park surrounding the Manor on Carroll Place, you see a modest size building on a small triangular island. A wise old owl sits above the entrance, beckoning visitors to come in.

Noyes Library opened in 1893 to serve the 80 or so residents of Kensington. The town grew, bigger public libraries entered the picture, and Noyes became a children’s library and early literacy center in 1970. This one-room library exclusively for children offers storytimes, Penny Theater performances, and a large collection of board books, picture books, and chapter books. Look up at the front gable and you can see the Noyes owl, a symbol of wisdom and learning, and the NoYes Library sign. Children learning to read call this the “No Yes” library. This simple shingled building has undergone several renovations including enclosing the front porch, the addition of a vestibule, and a handicap access ramp.

Brainard Warner donated the triangle of land near his house and built the library. His friend, Crosby Noyes, provided the books, many of which he had reviewed as editor and publisher of the Washington Evening Star. Noyes is the oldest public library building in the Washington, D.C. area. It quickly became the social, cultural, and intellectual center of the community since it was the largest public building in Kensington, except for the schoolhouse. Town meetings were held here before there was a town hall and the Presbyterian Church met here before their own building was constructed. An association was formed to run the library, and funds were raised from activities such as musical entertainment, lawn parties, Halloween parties, and “book evenings” with candy sales. Subscriptions to the library were $1.00, and use of the reading room was free.

Since 1951 the library has been part of the Montgomery County Library system, but The Noyes Children’s Library Foundation was founded in 1991 to raise funds to pay the operating expenses to keep the library during county budget cuts. Their outreach and fundraising efforts have included storybook parades, silent auctions, and children’s dance parties. See https://www.noyeslibraryfoundation.org/ for more detailed information.