Most of East Haven knows the brick building with the arched entrance at 227 Main St. Fewer people know it started in a coatroom, was paid for by a man the newspapers called a wealthy recluse, and spent more than a year closed after a flood before reopening this spring with new floors, new lighting and a room teens can call their own.
Here is the story of Hagaman Memorial Library: the volunteer who started it, the will that built it, the people who run it now, what locals say and what to see when you walk in.
It started in a coatroom
In 1909, East Haven was one of 15 Connecticut towns without a library. The state offered to send a case of books if someone responsible would take charge of them, according to the library’s history page. Lottie Street volunteered. On July 1, 1909, she opened East Haven’s first library in a coatroom of the old Town Hall.
A history of the library kept in Hagaman’s local history archive, written by Mrs. Howard Doolittle, fills in the rest. That first library was a few boxes of loaned state books on rough shelves, open two afternoons a week. That fall, Street went to the annual Town Meeting and asked the town to fund a free public library. “Alone in a hall of men, for women had not yet been given the general voting franchise,” Doolittle wrote, she won a $25 appropriation and a board of nine directors. The same history says she was the first woman elected to public office in town.
The library outgrew the coatroom within two years. It moved to a rented three-room building where one room was sublet to a shoemaker and another to a barber, and the books got a 12-by-14-foot room heated by a parlor stove. In 1917 it moved again, into the old post office building near Winchester Place. Boy Scouts moved the books with wheelbarrows and small wagons.
The recluse who left his fortune to a library
Isaac Hagaman lived at his family’s homestead on Main Street. A 1925 newspaper item copied into the library’s archive says he was born in Pleasant Valley, N.Y., in 1843, came to East Haven at age 12 and later ran the Hotel Albemarle in New York City before retiring to East Haven. It describes him as “a wealthy recluse” who spent his last years in seclusion. He died in February 1925.
He left his estate, then thought to be worth about $300,000, to the town for a public library. Relatives in New York contested the will, and the fight went to trial in New Haven Superior Court in 1926. According to Doolittle’s history, the heirs were paid $70,000 in 1927 to end the case. That left about $110,000 to build the library and $70,000 in trust for its upkeep.
The library was built on the site of the Hagaman homestead itself, which was jacked up on timbers and moved back from Main Street. Ground was broken in November 1927, and the cornerstone was laid on Feb. 10, 1928, with Lottie Street placing the contents of the box. The new Hagaman Memorial Library opened on the evening of Sept. 22, 1928, according to the library’s list of significant dates. Doolittle’s history says the first floor had an elliptical circulation room, an adult reading room in the east wing and a children’s room in the west wing, each with its own large fireplace.
Street stayed on as librarian until 1937. An addition was completed in 1975. The library’s history page also points to murals by the artist Charles D. Hubbard, and its archive lists 1929 board minutes on commissioning them, along with a note on the woman who posed for the figure of Circe in the children’s mural.
The flood, and the comeback
In April 2025, water flooded the building and closed it. A failed water line installed and maintained by an outside vendor caused the damage, according to a September 2025 statement from Mayor Joseph Carfora’s office. The town said it worked with the insurance carriers so the responsible party would cover the cost.
Staff packed more than 72,000 books, in alphabetical order, for safekeeping, Library Director Sarah Mallory wrote in one of her updates to patrons. While the building was closed, staff ran a Popup Library at the East Haven Senior Center, 91 Taylor Ave., and moved programs to partners around town. One 81-year-old patron wrote to Mallory that during the closure, “the world for me has shrunk and gotten smaller, less interesting, less accessible.”
The library reopened with a ribbon-cutting on Saturday, May 2, 2026. The town’s announcement said more than 90% of the building was renovated, with new flooring, walls and ceilings, upgraded electrical systems, LED lighting, new fire and security systems, new public computers and more meeting space. Familiar furniture was kept alongside new pieces.
“Hagaman is more than a place to borrow books, it’s a place to connect,” Mallory said in that announcement. “Whether you’re here to read, to meet friends over a cup of coffee, or to take part in free programs, there’s something here for everyone.”
The people behind the desk
Mallory leads a small staff, listed on the library’s contact page: Community Services Librarian Cynthia Gwiazda, Reference Librarian Christopher Hemingway, Teen Services Librarian Emily Kalotai, Youth Services Librarian Caitlin Riccitelli and Head of Technical Services Wahid Nabiz. Hemingway hosts the library’s game nights. Gwiazda takes registrations for many of the movie nights and speaker programs, Kalotai signs teens up for programs like ATMOS-Fear, and Riccitelli leads youth programs such as STEM Club.
What locals say
Hagaman has a 4.4-star average from 31 Google reviews, and “helpful staff” is one of the review topics Google highlights. One line Google pulls out of the reviews: “Absolutely wonderful, friendly and informative staff.”
The newest reviews came after the reopening. Amy went the day of the grand reopening and wrote that the new “thought bubble” and “cove” meeting and study spaces are unique. “I love the video gaming console and fabulous furniture for teens, the leaves and comfy furniture for kids,” she wrote. “The newly renovated space is friendly, bright and welcoming.”
Tracy wrote that she was “so Happy and Proud of what everyone has done to make our Town Library Beautiful,” adding that her kids “were so excited to look at everything.”
Longtime patrons point to the free extras. Zeliha praised the book and DVD selection and the speakers and called the monthly free movie and pizza night “a real treat,” though she said the library didn’t always have the titles she was looking for. Yumac mentioned the big DVD collection and programs for teenagers, including movie nights and a talent show.
Not every review is glowing. Six years ago, before the renovation, Catherine called the library “pretty dated and basic” and said the kids’ section was just OK, though she added, “we love books so we will be back.” Nearly all of the building has been renovated since.
What to see when you go
The rotunda
Walk through the front doors into the oval rotunda, the elliptical room described in the 1928 opening reports. Look up at the balcony railing, then look around at the glass display cases.
The storybook display case
Near the stairs, a display case was turned into a scene from Where the Wild Things Are, the book the library read at its reopening storytime. Two leather chairs sit right in front of it.
The children’s department
The children’s department has shelving built like giant alphabet blocks and a pond-themed rug with numbered stepping stones.
The reading nook and play corner
Little ones get a corner of their own with a cushy armchair and a Lego table, next to shelves of wooden puzzles, toys and board books.
The local history archive
Ask a reference librarian about the local history collection. It includes old East Haven histories, the 19th-century journals of Comfort Prout, scrapbooks, fire and police department histories, and the library’s own records going back to 1909. Some of it is online, and the rest can be viewed at the library.
Coming up for Halloween
All from the library’s own calendar. Some require registration, as noted.
- Tuesday, Oct. 20, 6 p.m.: Book Talk with “Mr. Haunted.” Hemingway talks with his cousin, local author and paranormal researcher Jimmy Petonito. No RSVP needed.
- Wednesday, Oct. 21, 4:30 p.m.: STEM Club makes gummy worms from scratch.
- Thursday, Oct. 22, 5:30 p.m.: ATMOS-Fear Teen Game Night for ages 12 to 18, with a vintage VHS board game. Space is limited; sign up with Kalotai at ekalotai@hagamanlibrary.org.
- Thursday, Oct. 22, 6:30 p.m.: Halloween Family Movie Night, with crafts, snacks and The Nightmare Before Christmas (PG). Costumes welcome.
- Saturday, Oct. 24, 2 p.m.: “Who Stole the Missing Book?” mystery for kids 6 to 11 and their families, with the East Haven School District.
- Tuesday, Oct. 27, 5:30 p.m.: All-ages Halloween Game Night.
- Wednesday, Oct. 28, 6 p.m.: Psychic medium Patti Griffin. Registration required: 203-468-3890, ext. 106.
- Thursday, Oct. 29, 5 p.m.: Movie night with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (PG-13). Pizza at 5, film at 5:30, sponsored by Tweed New Haven Airport. Registration required: ext. 106.
- Thursday, Oct. 29, 6 p.m.: 18th-century chocolate-making demonstration. RSVP to Hemingway at chemingway@hagamanlibrary.org.
- Saturday, Oct. 31, 2 p.m.: “Spirits of New England” with paranormal researcher Dustin Pari. Registration required.
If you go
- Where: Hagaman Memorial Library, 227 Main St., East Haven
- Phone: 203-468-3890
- Hours: Monday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Saturdays in July and August); closed Sunday
- Wi-Fi: The library says its Wi-Fi reaches the front, back, sides and parking lot 24 hours a day.
- Online: hagamanlibrary.org
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