The Needham Free Public Library was founded in 1888. The current building was constructed in 1915 and has had two additions, one in 1961 that more than doubled the size of the library and a smaller one in 1981 that provided accessibility for the physically challenged. It is located between the town center and Needham Heights and is in close proximity to the town's high school. The library is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Trustees and is a member of the Metrowest Massachusetts Regional Library System and the Minuteman Library Network, which provides computerized availability of materials from many other libraries throughout the Greater Boston area.

We have had many inquiries about how the town of Needham got its name. This has been a matter of speculation since 1811 when the Rev. Stephen Palmer, the town’s third minister, delivered a sermon on the occasion of the town’s hundredth birthday. In a footnote to the published version of this “Century Sermon” the Rev. Mr. Palmer says that he was informed by a descendant of a member of the legislature of the time the town was incorporated (1711) that the town was “named Needham at the request of Governor Dudley, after Needham in England; and because that town is near to Dedham though in a different county.”