Banner Journal (Black River Falls, Jackson Co., WI.) November 21, 2007, Page B-1 Transcribed by: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
The oldest with the latest The Black River Falls Public Library is celebrating its 135th anniversary By Pat McKnight
The current Black River Falls Public Library building
The Black River Falls Public Library (BRFPL) has a right to celebrate. As the oldest public library in the state, it will be celebrating its 135th anniversary this fall.
After the state passed legislation authorizing the establishment of free public libraries in 1872, the constitution and by-laws of the Black River Falls Public Library and Reading Room Association were adopted Nov. 25 of that same year.
The public library evolved from the Reading Room Association. Begun in 1867 as a private library, it was housed in the county courthouse for three years. In 1871, the Young Men’s Literary Association (YMLA) was created as the successor to the Reading Room Association.
The books were moved to the second floor of the Masonic block that year and then later in the same year were moved to a new home in the Bowman Humbird and Bothers Bank.
The following year, a law providing the establishment of Free Public Libraries and Reading Rooms allowed the town board of Black River Falls to pay the debt of YMLA of $53.35 to acquire the collection for a lending library. While the books remained at the bank, the town set up a board of trustees and hired Erastus Dilabo as librarian for $8 a month.
The following year, the collection was moved to the O. F. Clapps News Depot building and a new librarian was hired. The library had 240 volumes with about 15 or 20 books checked out each day. The library subscribed to daily news-papers from Milwaukee, St. Paul and Chicago as well as four to five monthly magazines.
During the years of 1878 and 1898, the library had a number of different homes and librarians.
In 1900, librarians Mary Jane Gunn and assistant Geda Severtson were faced with repairs at the library and resorted to begging for funds to be able to spend $100 on new books.
When the city’s school offered to combine the city’s library with its own in 1900, the city quickly agreed. The offer included “a room with heat, lights and janitor services.”
By 1901, the library became too crowded, so a committee was formed to look into finding a new location for its materials.
A new place was found and bought for $200. Anna Wylie became the librarian, serving in that capacity for 38 years.
A fundraising campaign was held in 1908 to raise funds to buy children’s books. The door-to-door effort allowed the library to raise its budge from $350 to $500. By 1910, it had a total of 2,338 books.
In April 1914, the library board voted to accept a $10,000 donation from the Andrew Carnegie Commission for a library building. The city council approved an ordinance to provide for buying a site and for raising the funds needed for maintaining the library.
The new library was built on Main Street in Black River Falls and furnished at a total cost of $10,502 and was dedicated Nov. 1, 1915.
The funds provided by the city were barely enough to cover the operating costs, sot he collection received few additions. In 1945, the building was damaged in a fire caused by the aged furnace.
The library joined the Winding Rivers Library System (WRLS) in 1978. Its association with the library system allowed the library to provide many more services to its patrons. With membership in the WRLS, library cardholders had access to the collections from all the public libraries in the state, as well as from around the country.
A children’s library section was set up in 1976.
In 1986, the library began the project to enter its titles into the statewide database after it bought its first computer. Soon after, the library changed from the alphabetized card catalog to a computerized automated circulation system.
By the 1980s, it was apparent the Carnegie Library building was not big enough to house new additions to the collections and the new technology. The library board decided to build a new building in 1992.
The new building, finished in 1992, included a Youth Department and the Jackson County History Room.
In 1995, the library’s materials were moved into the new building. Patrons wee able to access the Internet, and in 2000, BRFPL was the first library to initiate a shared catalog in WRLS. This means patrons in BRF could access the database in La Crosse as well as that available at the BRFPL.
By 1997, the library had 11 computers, 29,264 pieces available for checkout, which included audio books and videos, and a circulation of more than 75,000 items.
In 2004, the library got an address on the World Wide Web at www.blackriverfallslibrary.org. The web site allows Internet access to general library information as well as the card catalog to anyone with an Internet-connected computer. Patrons can check on the items they have borrowed, or browse, request and renew materials from home or other computers connected to the World Wide Web.
For the price of a library card (it is free), library patrons can see what materials are available from 35 other libraries. Those materials can be requested from those libraries and the material can be picked up at the BRFPL through interlibrary loan.
Because of the Internet access, patrons can find information on just about any topic. Some of the reference sites include Badger Link. The Web site is a project of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to provide access to articles in periodicals and other reference materials.
Net Library provides access to the digital versions of books, journals and databases. Some of the databases include Chilton Library, a source for information on auto parts and repair; Price IT! Antiques & Collectibles is a source for information on antiques and collectibles and their value; Testing & Education Reference Center is a source for information on colleges, scholarships and entrance exams; and Thomson Gale Legal Forms is a resource for legal forms, terminology and a directory of attorneys.
Ask Away! Is another Internet reference service available at any time. The service connects library patrons with a librarian within the system who can help with finding the information needed.
Learning Express Library is an online service to help students with testing. Practice tests and tutorial lessons are available for licensing as well as academic subjects.
Wireless computer access is also available at BRFPL.
The staff at the Black River Falls Public Library is available to serve its patrons. Pictured are (l-r) KayLee Bradt, library aide; Mary Lent, library director; Vicki Fisher, library assistant; Nancy Oldham, youth services librarian; Eileen Gutknecht, library aide; and Mary Woods, historian in the Jackson County History Room. Not pictured, Diane Skoug, library assistant. (Photo by Pat McKnight/Banner Journal)
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