Reversing Hall Agrarian Library – Pembroke, Maine - Atlas Obscura
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Reversing Hall Agrarian Library

Pembroke, Maine

An agricultural research library housed in a former Odd Fellows Lodge. 

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The old IOOF hall in Pembroke before restoration Magicpiano (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The old IOOF hall in Pembroke before restoration Magicpiano (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Visitors to the Agrarian Library, photographed summer 2024 by Rinne Allen (rinneallen.com) Greenhorns (Atlas Obscura User)
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The Greenhorns Agrarian Library is a membership-based research library. The collection centers and archives agrarian material culture, and includes books from many disciplines.

The library is housed in a historic Odd Fellows Hall constructed in 1896 once listed as critically endangered by Maine Preservation. In 2017, farm activist Severine von Tscharner Fleming purchased the building to continue her work with Greenhorns, a grassroots organization that supports young farmers.

The building has been renamed Reversing Hall, in honor of the tidal falls at the end of the peninsula. Today, the Greenhorns Agrarian Library contains approximately 9,000 volumes. You can also search the catalog by sub-collections that are of most interest to you such as Food Studies, Marine, or Political Ecology. 

The Agrarian Library project aims to enable historical exploration and contemporary cultural production. As such, the library safeguards agricultural materials and provides tools for land-based and self-directed learning. As a system for circulating materials—books, ideas, conversations, and projects—the library provides the opportunity for unconventional learning paths.

Know Before You Go

The library is open to the public during the summer by appointment.

secret society oddities agriculture libraries books history & culture
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