The Ghost in the Stacks at the New Haven Free Public Library

The New Haven Free Public Library, at the northeast corner of 133 Elm and Temple streets, began in 1887 in a leased location but quickly outgrew its space.  The Ives Memorial Library, located on the New Haven Green, is the main branch of the system.  The neo-Georgian building was designed by Cass Gilbert and finished in 1911 at 133 Elm and Temple Street.

A Yale student decided to study at the public library which he found to be more congenial than any Yale campus library. He noticed a red-haired girl who seemed to be always looking for a book. He was a shy lad who fell in love with her but lacked the courage to ask her for a date. Finally, when he graduated, he simply decided to ask her to marry him. He proposed to her. Sadly, the girl, silent as ever, escorted him to the newspaper collection where she opened a newspaper from the 1920s. It showed her picture with the headline:  “Girl murdered in the library!”

Ghosts of New Haven Blog 23 The Ghost in the Stacks at the New Haven Free Public Library © 2019 by Dr. Philip Ernest Schoenberg, Ghost with a Blog # Ghost