the greenville public library was originally founded in 1882 and was located on the greenville common near st. thomas church and greenville baptist church and served smithfield and the surrounding towns. in 1883 william winsor, one of the original library incorporators, donated the library collection of the lapham institute, a former free baptist school founded in 1839, to the greenville public library. in 1956 the library moved up the hill from its original location into a new building onto which two large additions were constructed in the late twentieth century.