Click on the hours below if you are planning to visit the library.
Or see our digital collection for 24/7 access to Howe Library.
Howe & Etna Hours
Howe Library Hours:
Monday – Thursday: 9 am – 7 pm
Friday: 12 pm – 5 pm
Saturday: 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday: 12 pm – 5 pm
Etna Library Hours: For questions about the Etna Library please call 603-643-3116
Monday: 9 am – 5 pm
Tuesday: 12 pm – 6 pm
Wednesday 9 am – 5 pm
Thursday 12 pm – 6 pm
Friday 9 am – 5 pm
Saturday 10 am – 2 pm
2026 Holiday Closings:
January 1 – New Year’s Day
January 19 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
February 16 – President’s Day
April 5 – Easter
May 24 & 25 – Memorial Day
July 3 & 4 – Independence Day
September 6 & 7 – Labor Day
October 12 – Staff In-Service Day
November 11 – Veterans’ Day
November 26 & 27 – Thanksgiving
December 24 & 25 – Christmas
How to find us
Take Exit 13 (Norwich) from I-91 in Vermont. Cross the river and follow
West Wheelock Street to Main Street in Hanover. Turn right on Main Street
and go south two blocks to South Street. Turn left and go one block.
From East and South on I-89 in New Hampshire, take Exit 18 (Lebanon-Hanover) and follow Rte 120 north to Hanover. In Hanover, bear left on Lebanon Street where it intersects with Rte 120. (Hanover Food Coop and Ledyard Bank are at this intersection.). From Lebanon Street, turn left on Sanborn Place (at St. Denis Church) and go one block.
Parking is available in the lot across from the main entrance, in the side lot along Currier Place, and in the Town of Hanover Parking Garage diagonally across from the library.
Howe History
The Howe Library was established as Hanover, New Hampshire’s public library in 1900 through a gift from Emily Howe to the newly-formed non-profit Howe Library Corporation. Miss Howe dedicated the first Howe Library in her former family home on West Wheelock Street with “a prayer that this library may prove a blessing to this community to the remotest generation.”
The Howe Library Corporation managed the library and its operating budget until 1973 when Hanover residents voted to assume responsibility for the operating budget and the library became a department of the town. At the same time, the library was outgrowing its home on West Wheelock Street and plans began for a new building. Constructed on town land in 1973, this new facility was financed by The Howe Library Corporation with a loan from the town and donations. A large addition was completed in 2005, almost doubling the size.
The Howe Library continues to be a partnership between the Howe Library Corporation and the Town of Hanover.
Note: Howe & Etna Libraries are 2 separate libraries with reciprocal borrowing privileges for all card holders. For questions about Etna Library policies and services please call the Etna Library at 603-643-3116.
We are grateful to the Hanover Garden Club for managing the beautiful gardens in our front entry way. For more information on the plants in the garden beds, check out: Howe Library Boxes Plant List 2026
