It is named for Sudbury-native John Goodnow II, who died in 1851 and left to the town of Sudbury a 3-acre (1.2 ha) site for a library, $2,500 to build it, and $20,000 to buy books and to maintain it.

[2] Construction of the two-story octagon-shaped building began in 1862 and was finished in 1863.

In the 1990s, the library was expanded to its present size, but the original octagon survives as a reading room.

[1][3][4] On May 22, 2002, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

This article about a National Register of Historic Places listing in Middlesex County Massachusetts is a stub.