The following is from Guy Baker’s A History of Halifax…
“…In 1876 Dr. Howland Holmes of Lexington, Massachusetts donated the sum of $100.00 to establish a free library in the Town of Halifax. Dr. Holmes was the oldest brother of a resident of Halifax, John Holmes, who is well remembered for his work as a tin peddler.

The old Town Hall, which had been the original meetinghouse, housed the library in a room once used as a drill hall. The building was destroyed by fire in 1907 and the library contents were a total loss. There had been thirty-five books out in circulation when this fire occurred and naturally they were recovered as a nucleus with which to begin again. Following the loss of the library site, the library services were moved to the Congregational Church.

In 1908 the Town appropriated one thousand dollars for the new library, the committee appointed to carry out this project consisted of Henry M. Bosworth, E. Laurence Grover, Fred Simpson, Jabez P. Thompson and Edwin H. Vaughan. A school building, gift of the J.L. Jones Family, was moved to the present library site and remodeled so that it served both as a library and a Post office. In 1910 the deed for the lot was accepted from Mrs. Elizabeth Jones. Once again Halifax had its library…”  In 1994, the Holmes Public Library moved into the same building as the Halifax Elementary School located on Plymouth Street.