The first Williamstown public library was organized in 1874 and housed in Cole’s Store on the corner of Water Street and Main Street (Route 2).
By 1941, the Elizabeth Sanford Botsford Memorial Building, across Main Street, had become the library’s home.In 1989, a committee of library supporters came together to form a Friends group to raise additional private funds to help the library. These funds came primarily from two sources: an annual used book sale and a membership drive. Both fundraisers have been highly successful. Starting in 2018, the used books donated to the Friends have been sold through a year-round store, Chapter Two Books, in the center of town.
In 1996, the library moved to the former Pine Cobble School building and became the David and Joyce Milne Public Library we know today. The Friends also took on a new name: Friends of the David and Joyce Milne Public Library, Inc..
In its ongoing mission to support the library, the Friends continues to supplement town, state, and Trustee funding for the library to pay for library programming, equipment, materials, and professional development, as well as raising public awareness and advocating for public library support.