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History:
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The Mount Carroll Township Public Library is located at the corner of Main and Rapp Streets. The structure is of brick and stone under a tile roof.
After the completion of the library, Miss Hass of Savanna and Mrs. Luverta Emmert classified and catalogued the one thousand two hundred and fifty books with which the library stated operating. The cataloguing and classifying was finished in August 1908, and it was during this month that that the library was opened to the public.
Prior to the building of City Hall, City Council meetings were held in the basement room of the library.
The first floor consists of books for general use and some of the daily and weekly newspapers as well as current magazines. The second floor has a legal library, which at intervals is used by members of the legal professions The law books of the late Judge Shaw are on these shelves. Upon the death of his two daughters, Udise and Effie, sufficient funds were left to the library with which to purchase new law books from time to time. Also on the second floor is a reference room with numerous reference books, which are used frequently by students and others.
The library has increased from one thousand two hundred fifty to nine thousand nine hundred forty seven volumes. These include a selection of fictional, biographical, autobiographical, historical, geographical, and scientific books. Also there are magazines and newspapers, which the library has taken for the benefit of the users of the library. The back issues of the magazines have been kept for reference material.
The library has been used by organizations for different purposes. Among these organizations are the Red Cross, County Medical Association, Girl Scouts, Christian Science Group, and it was the U. S. O. during the second World War.
The first board of directors were Ralph Eaton, Senior President; William Nipe, Vice President; Norman C. Smith and T. A. Wachtel, members; George D. Campbell, Treasurer; and Charles Schalle, Secretary. The present directors are Norman C. Smith, President; Mrs. S. J. Campbell and Mrs. Ward Weidman, board members; Ralph Eaton, Vice President; Francis Weidman, Treasurer; and Mrs. Luverta Emmert, Secretary.
Mrs. Luverta Emmert has been a member of the library board since it first began and served as the first Librarian. Mrs. Emmert has never missed a board meeting. The present librarian is Roberta Williamson.
Whenever librarians and those interested in education would visit the Mount Carroll Township Public Library they would always comment about it being well equipped and up to date. It is maintained by the township tax.
In 1975, the Library was completely redecorated and carpeted throughout. In addition, Librarian Dorothy Caldwell, with assistance, re-catalogued all the books.
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Past Librarians: | Grace Wright Grace Oberheim Esther Clark Floy Orr Ruth Buxton Alice Clark Roberta Williamson Lucille Miller Vera L. Fetterolf Dorothy Caldwell Michel Siblik | 1908 - 1914 1914 - 1915 1915 - 1918 1918 - 1920 1920 - 1922 1922 - 1924 1924 - 1928 1928 - 1959 1959 - 1961 1961 - 1972 1972 - 2001 2000 - 2002 | ||||||||||||||
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History: | Today…2006
The library is still located at the corner of Main and Rapp Streets, but the brick and stone structure no longer boasts its original tile roof. A few years ago, the tile roof was replaced with more conventional roofing material. The years have been kind to the library, but like anything approaching 100 years of age, it has required some costly maintenance projects in the past few years. Thanks to generous bequests from the Vaughn Hungerford and Ethel Weidman estates and the Jane Weissmiller memorial stock donation, these necessary improvements were made. In the autumn of 2003, the heating plant had to be replaced. The summers of 2003-04 bought thermo-pane window replacement. Drainage problems were addressed by circling the foundation with buried pipe. In 2006, the library was wrapped in scaffolding for a month when the original old copper gutters were replaced. The new copper gutters maintain the historic integrity of this handsome Carnegie building. In September, 2006, the trim and diamond paned windows on the second floor will be painted, thus bringing to a close the building maintainance projects for the year 2006. The interior was last redecorated in 1975 with a gift from the Haines estate. There are some changes to the interior: the children’s section is on the second floor. The second floor south room houses overflow mysteries, westerns, science fiction, educational books, and home schooling materials. This room is also used for meetings, testing, tutoring, and story-hour activities. There are four computers for patrons’ use in the north room on the main floor. This room also houses a young adult section, large print books, mysteries as well as newspapers and magazines. Non-fiction books, videos, DVDs, and music CDs are located behind the circulation desk. The south room on the main floor houses adult fiction books and the library director’s office space.
A Friends of the Mt. Carroll Public Library is being organized. The group has a list of several projects to benefit the library and its patrons. Among them are plans for redecorating the library prior to the library centennial celebration in August, 2008. The Friends of the Mt. Carroll Public Library currently holds book sales during Rummage Thru Mt. Carroll during April and again during Brick Street Day in September. The Friends of the Mt. Carroll Public Library welcomes new members. For more information see the Friends of the Mt. Carroll Public Library page on this website. Joan Rush Hough, Director | |||||||||||||||
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Board of Trustees: | Vice President: Treasurer: Secretary: Trustee: Trustee: Trustee: | William Sparboe Anthony Timm Clifton Jacobs Thomas Sorg Penny Bess Mary Bauch Janet McGowan | ||||||||||||||
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Library Admin: | Director: | Joan Rush Hough [ About Joan ] (File Size, 0.34 MB) Pam Naples Janet McGowan | ||||||||||||||
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Mission Statement: | The mission of the Library is to provide a gateway to knowledge and provide opportunities for lifelong learning. | |||||||||||||||
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Board Agenda / Minutes: |
Minutes: |
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Copyright © 2006 - 2008 Mount Carroll Township Public Library Website Design & Maintenance by The Epoch Axiom Group, Inc. | ||||||||||||||||
The library is one of the many libraries in the country built by Andrew Carnegie. Mr. Carnegie gave ten thousand dollars to build the library, but he doubted if a two story library could be built for ten thousand dollars. The Mount Carroll committee of citizens assured him they had secured a site for the library. The library was started in 1907 and was completed in May 1908, within the ten thousand dollar budget. Mr. Carnegie was so pleased that he sent an additional thousand dollars for the purchase of desks, chairs, tables, and book stacks. And it was reported that Mr. Carnegie said “It is one of the few libraries I have given in which there was no graft in building.”
The library is a member of the Prairie Area Library System. This system, PALS, provides Interlibrary Loan Service and many other services at no cost to our library patrons. The library has an outreach program that delivers books, DVDs, videos, and magazines to patrons who cannot access the library. Collections of videos, DVDs, and music CDs have been added. Novelist, a computer readers advisory service, is available to patrons on the computers in the library. A small business resource collection is being developed to assist anyone interested in starting a business. 