Westford's Library Is Spread Across Town This Winter. Here's Where to Find It.

On a weekday in November, Westford's public library is open in at least four places. The books are on the second floor of 515 Groton Road. Children's storytimes are on the third floor of the Roudenbush Community Center. A family concert and an author talk are booked into First Parish Church United on Main Street. A program on owls is set for the gym at Abbot Elementary. The building that held all of this since 1896 is still under construction at 50 Main Street. Its third-level glass went in on October 21.

This is the J.V. Fletcher Library's second winter away from Main Street. On the current schedule it will be the last. The spread-out arrangement is also a preview. Every program that had to find a borrowed room this season is the kind of program the new building is designed to hold.

The Branch on Groton Road

The temporary library opened on April 22, 2025, on the second floor of 515 Groton Road. The posted hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday, 1 to 5 p.m.; and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Those hours come from the library's temporary-location FAQ, posted in October 2025, so check the library's website before a Friday afternoon trip.

The branch is smaller than the old building, but it covers the basics:

• Separate children's, young adult, and adult areas with browsing collections
• Study and lounge seating, a public computer and copier, and free Wi-Fi
• A walk-up book drop
• Closed stacks: items not on the floor are kept in storage, and staff retrieve them on request
• Holds from other libraries, which still arrive on weekday deliveries
• Curbside pickup, arranged by calling the main desk

The branch has no meeting rooms. Instead, the library's meeting rooms page links to other places in town where groups can book space. That missing room explains how the rest of this season's calendar is laid out.

Why the Calendar Lives on Main Street

Without its own program space, the library has been booking rooms elsewhere. Recurring children's storytimes meet on the third floor of the Roudenbush Community Center at 65 Main Street. Some book clubs still meet at Groton Road. The bigger events are spread around town, and most of them are on Main Street, within a short walk of the construction site.

Here is what's on the library's calendar for the rest of the year:

At the November 14 annual meeting, Moore is scheduled to speak at 2:30 p.m. about her novel Down with the Shipmans. The Friends of the J.V. Fletcher Library are also planning a book signing and a raffle. According to WestfordCAT's weekly library column, the Friends make most of these programs possible.

Only one event on that list happens at the branch itself, and it's the Stuffie Sleepover. The rest are in a school gym, a church, and a community center. Those are the rooms the library is renting this year, and the new building is meant to replace them.

The Rooms Being Built to Bring It Home

The finished library will grow from 22,456 to 35,159 square feet. According to the library's project FAQ, children's space doubles, young adult space triples, and the plan adds more meeting and study options, a Reading Patio, and a Library of Things. The historic Main Street façade stays.

Set those plans next to this winter's calendar. The floor plans from Finegold Alexander Architects label a 1,476-square-foot meeting room and an 838-square-foot Story Hour & Program Room. Those are the rooms the storytimes, author talks, and teen painting workshops have been borrowing. The library's foundation also lists naming opportunities for a children's area, a young adult area, five study rooms, and a silent study room. The Library of Things already exists as a service, and its catalog lists a telescope, Wi-Fi hotspots, and a Kill A Watt energy meter. In the new building it gets its own labeled space on the plan.

Some of the old building is being kept on purpose. In August, the joint committee of the Board of Library Trustees and the Permanent Town Building Committee voted to restore a historic chimney on the roof, according to WestfordCAT's report on the monthly construction meeting.

Where Construction Stands at 50 Main Street

The library's building project updates page posts dated photos, and the recent ones show a building close to fully enclosed. Brick veneer went up on the east side in early August. By late August, the synthetic slate roofs on the east and west wings were in place. Metal window frames went into the north side on September 18. Glass panels were placed on the third level on October 21, and concrete was poured for the rear parking lot pavers on October 22.

The opening has moved since the project started. According to WestfordCAT, the target was pushed from November 2026 to March 2027 because of scheduling delays with the library's contractor. The most recent published schedule, dated May 27, 2026, lays out the steps. Construction finishes Monday, February 15, 2027. The move back to 50 Main Street runs from February 16 through March 31. Saturday, April 3, 2027, holds the grand opening slot as a placeholder, with the exact date still to be set.

From early November, that leaves about three and a half months of construction and six weeks of moving. Treat the spring dates as targets, not promises.

Who Is Paying for the Finish

Westford voters approved the $32.5 million expansion and renovation 436 to 141 at Special Town Meeting in October 2022. In September, Sen. John Cronin and Rep. Jim Arciero brought $50,000 in state funding from the Fiscal Year 2027 budget to library director Ellen Rainville for physical upgrades. In WestfordCAT's coverage of that visit, Rainville described the design this way:

"This particular design is going to be flexible, versatile and usher us through the 21st century."

Town money builds the shell, and private giving pays for much of what goes inside. The Library Foundation has committed to raising $1.5 million, mostly for furnishings. Its 1,000 Homes Campaign asks 1,000 Westford households for $1,000 each, and donors will be recognized on a "Wall for All" in the new building. The Friends support the day-to-day side, including programs and performers, digital collections, and discounted museum passes. Their money comes from book sales, memberships, and an annual Fall Appeal. Museum passes can still be reserved online, in both physical and digital versions. For a physical pass, ask the Groton Road desk how pickup works.

For now, the library you use this winter is the one on the table above. It runs out of a second-floor branch on Groton Road, two rooms at the Roudenbush, the church on Main Street, and one night in the Abbot gym. Next spring, if the schedule holds, those programs move into rooms built for them at 50 Main Street.

Westford Center will change once the library is back on Main Street, and we'll keep following it. At Colleen Murphy and The St. Martin Team, we have watched this town for more than three decades. When you'd like to know what a home near the center is worth as the reopening gets closer, request your complimentary home valuation and we'll take you through it.