The North Of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE) is a cooperative effort of 28 libraries in Boston's northern suburbs to improve library service through automation. Seventeen public library members, nine college libraries and one special library are members of NOBLE.
NOBLE was the first automated resource sharing network in Massachusetts and the first Massachusetts library network on the Internet.
It was established in 1980 by five libraries sharing their circulation system. By 1995, NOBLE served 32,000 college students, 522,000 residents and kept a database that featured more than 2.3 million items.
NOBLE is governed by its member libraries who approve the annual budget, establish NOBLE policies and elect officers. An Executive Board, composed of the four officers and five at-large library directors more closely oversee NOBLE operations. A professional staff manages operations. NOBLE is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, and is recognized as a charitable organization by the Mass. Attorney General's office.
NOBLE Member Libraries
Public Libraries:
- Beverly Public Library
- Peabody Institute Library of Danvers
- Everett Public Libraries
- Sawyer Free Library, Gloucester
- Lynn Public Library
- Lynnfield Public Library
- Abbot Public Library, Marblehead
- Melrose Public Library
- Peabody Institute Library, Peabody
- Reading Public Library
- Revere Public Library
- Salem Public Library
- Saugus Public Library
- Stoneham Public Library
- Swampscott Public Library
- Beebe Memorial Library, Wakefield
- Winthrop Public Library and Museum
Special Library
- Mass. Board of Library Commissioners Professional Library, Boston
Academic Libraries:
- Bunker Hill Community College Library, Charlestown
- Endicott College, Halle Library, Beverly
- Gordon College, Jenks Library, Wenham
- Merrimack College, McQuade Library, North Andover
- Middlesex Community College, Learning Resources, Bedford and Lowell
- Montserrat College of Art, Scott Library, Beverly
- North Shore Community College Library, Danvers and Lynn
- Northern Essex Community College, Bentley Library, Haverhill and Lawrence
- Phillips Academy, Oliver Wendell Holmes Library, Andover
- Salem State College Library, Salem
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—Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894–1961)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I view askance a book that remains undisturbed for a year. Oughtn’t it to have a ticket of leave? I think I may safely say no book in my library remains unopened a year at a time, except my own works and Tennyson’s.”
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—William Morris (1834–1896)