At a meeting of a number of young men inhabitants of Tiverton, convened for the purpose of establishing a social Library, Simeon Borden was appointed chairman and Adoniram Brown, Secretary of the Meeting. Adoniram Brown, Simeon Borden and Pardon Gray Seabury were appointed a committee to draft a constitution which at a subsequent meeting was adopted. The Society then went into operation and the meeting was adjourned to 24 March 1820 for the purpose of choosing officers.
On March 24th, the Union Society members elected the following gentlemen as officers to serve until the last Saturday in February of 1821: Simeon Borden, President; Adoniram Brown, Vice President; Pardon G. Seabury, Secretary; Frederick Almy, Treasurer; William Almy, Librarian; Cyrus Gray, Robert Gray, and Abraham Brown, Managers. Alprus F. Borden and Adam Brown were appointed a committee to draft a code of laws for the Society.
The two paragraphs above were taken from the original minutes of the first meetings of the Union Society. Members paid $5 for a share in the Society, and ten gentlemen were present at this first meeting in March. The first library of 144 books (all non-fiction) was housed in the Seabury Store, on the northeast corner of the Tiverton Four Corners intersection, next to what is now known as the Soule-Seabury House. William Almy was appointed Librarian.
In 1830, 26 more books were added, for a total of 170 books. Novels were added to the all non-fiction library in 1837.
In 1860, the name of the Union Society was changed to Tiverton Union Library, the books were moved from the Seabury Store to the Benjamin Seabury House on the north side of the Soule-Seabury House, and Benjamin Seabury was appointed Librarian.
Eight years later, the Union Society moved their library to the old wheelwright shop south of Tiverton Four Corners, with Mrs. Preserved Tripp, who lived upstairs, as Librarian until 1888. There were 500 books at this point. The library was entirely reorganized and a new constitution was drawn up, establishing a public library to be called Union Public Library.
Late in that same year, the library moved to the building next to the A.P. White store (aka the former Provender), now known as the Wilcox-Davol House, with Mrs. Ralph Wilcox as the Librarian.
The next move for the library was to the John Almy House in 1890, with Miss Ethel Wilcox as Librarian until 1894, when Miss Esther J. Manchester took over. This house was located where Gray’s Ice Cream parking lot is now.
[artwork by Jason C. Eckhardt] In 1896, the library made its last move. In that year, the association rented the Templars Hall, and in 1914, the surviving members of Pocasset Lodge, Independent Order of Good Templars, sold the building to the Union Public Library for one dollar. In May of 1923, the lot on which the library now stands was given to the association by Joseph and Lillian Potter, and the building was moved from its original position close to the road to its present site. That same year, the library was registered as a “non-business corporation”.
Esther J. Manchester served as Librarian from 1894 until 1941 when she retired. 
Mrs. Frank Snell served as librarian from 1941 to 1964, and from 1964 to 1969, Mrs. Robert Lake became the librarian. After Mrs. Lake left Tiverton in 1969, Mrs. Snell became librarian once more. The sidewalk to the library was put in for Mrs. Snell to walk from her house to her job at Union.
Union Public Library affiliated with Essex Library in 1965, and all three libraries (there was one in North Tiverton until 1974) consolidated in 1971.
The Children’s Room and the restroom were added in 1985.
At the close of 1929, there were 7,868 books. In 1976, there were approximately 10,000 books. Currently there are around 13,500 books, not including electronic media.
In 2013, the Union Public Library Association received its 501(c)(3) designation.
Note: Highlights of UPL’s history, as well as that of Tiverton, Rhode Island, the United States, and the World, including the most popular books during the period, have been compiled in a Bicentennial Timeline book available for sale at UPL. Another version is also on display at the Tiverton Town Hall during the months of March and April of 2020.