Natrona County WY Archives History - Books .....Natrona County's Public Library 1923 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wy/wyfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com May 5, 2005, 6:59 pm Book Title: History Of Natrona County, Wyoming NATRONA COUNTY'S PUBLIC LIBRARY Natrona County's Public Library ranks with the public schools as being an institution that is indispensable and of untold benefit, and although it is very liberally patronized and no doubt greatly appreciated by the general public, it does not receive the financial support that it deserves. While it is conducted along economical lines that are not equaled by the county or city governments, or even by the schools of the county, the annual appropriations made for its support and maintenance are very meager, compared with the enlightenment, entertainment and benefit it returns. Donations, appropriations and "drives" are continually being made in the county for the support of some worthy cause, but never yet has the public library of this county received any consideration except the annual appropriation made by the board of county commissioners, which is provided by the statutes of the state. A public library was first established in Casper late in the fall of 1902, by the local Women's Christian Temperance Union. The books were few and they occupied some shelves in a small building located on the east side of Center street, between Second and First. Although the number of books was limited, there was a sufficient number at that time to supply the demand. This library was conducted by the ladies of the organization above named for about a year, when, on November 3, 1903, the Natrona County Public Library association was organized, and F. E. Matheny, N. S. Bristol and W. S. Kimball were appointed trustees. An annual levy of not less than one-eighth of a mill and not more than one-half of a mill of the assessed valuation of the county for the establishment and maintenance of such a library was provided by the state statutes, which also provided that the county must own its own building and books. The statutes further provided that "the board of trustees must keep a strict account of all the association's property and make a complete report to the board of county commissioners at the end of each year. The books of the library must be non-political, non- sectarian and only twenty-five per cent of them fiction. All the books must be of a character that would inform the mind and improve the character of the reader. The library must be free to the residents of the county." The library association at that time did not own a building, but arrangements were made for the use of the building and books owned by the Women's Christian Temperance Union. But little interest was taken in the institution and probably not a dozen books were borrowed in a month's time, and the board of trustees and the association in a short time became inactive. The annual appropriations were made regularly and a fund of several hundred dollars was accumulated, no part of which was used for several years. In the summer of 1906 some of the county's enterprising citizens conceived the idea that there should be a public library building in the city of Casper, not that there was at that time any particular need or demand for such a building or a library, but if some outside philanthropist would furnish the money it would give to the town a building to which we could point with pride. Accordingly Andrew Carnegie was appealed to for the money, and he agreed to give $10,000 toward the erection of a building, provided the town of Casper would agree to make an annual appropriation of $l,000 for its maintenance. The agreement was entered into between the town of Casper and Mr. Carnegie. C. A. Randall was then Casper's only architect, and he drew the plans and specifications for the building, which were approved by the town council and were then forwarded to Mr. Carnegie for his approval. They were returned with Mr. Carnegie's approval, and on September 30, 1906, Charles Galusha was awarded the contract for the erection of the building, the price being $10,375. Work was commenced upon the building at once, but on account of the many changes that were necessarily made in the plans and specifications there was considerable additional expense to the original contract and much delay in completing the building. For more than two years the contractor was hampered by changes and additional expense, and by this time the appropriation of $10,000 was exhausted and the building far from being finished. An appeal was made to Mr. Carnegie for more funds, and under certain conditions he agreed to donate $3,000 more with which to complete the building, and at a meeting of the Casper town council, held January 23, 1909, a resolution was adopted to the effect that "Andrew Carnegie has offered to donate to the town of Casper, Wyoming, an additional sum of three thousand dollars for the purpose of completing the Carnegie library, upon condition that the town annually raise three hundred dollars, in addition to that already pledged, for the support and maintenance of the said library, therefore, we do hereby pledge the said town of Casper to raise three hundred dollars, in addition to the amount already pledged, for the support and maintenance of the said public library, to be raised annually, and expended for that purpose." Work on the building was resumed and there were encouraging prospects that it would be completed without delay. On April 8, 1909, the board of county commissioners appointed C. H. Townsend, C. C. P. Webel and J. E. Schulte as the board of directors of the Natrona County Library association, giving them charge of the library fund, and directing them to purchase furniture, fix the salary for the librarian and hire a librarian. This board was organized July i, 1909, with J. E. Schulte, chairman; C. H. Town-send, treasurer; C. C. P. Webel, secretary. In August Mr. Webel resigned as secretary and member of the board, and Harold Banner was appointed to fill the vacancy. It was discovered by this time that the town of Casper could not fulfill its part of the agreement in raising funds for the maintenance of the institution, and on the first of November, 1909, the town of Casper, by a resolution adopted by the town council, presented to Natrona county the Carnegie library building, which even at that time was still far from being completed and ready for occupancy. Natrona county, through its board of county commissioners, accepted the gift from the town, and on the third of November the members of the board of directors of the library were instructed to furnish the building and have it in condition for occupancy as soon as possible and appoint a librarian. To some people living in Casper this did not appear to be legal, nor did they deem it just to Mr. Carnegie, and the matter of finishing, furnishing and occupying the building was in status quo until February 2, 1910, when a resolution was adopted by the board of county commissioners "authorizing the Natrona County Public Library association to take charge of and assume control of the Carnegie Public Library building, situated in the town of Casper, and to open and manage the same as provided by law," and it was further ordered that the "Natrona County Public Library association, as soon as practicable, take charge of, open and maintain the said Carnegie Public Library building as the free public library of Natrona county, Wyoming, and that said association cause to be placed in said library building all library property and books belonging to Natrona county." The thirteen thousand dollars donated by Mr. Carnegie for the building had by this time been expended, and the building was yet a long way from being completed, and of course could not be opened for public use. Complaint had been made by Casper's "Trouble Makers' Club," of which the membership consisted of about a half a dozen men who on numerous occasions had previously attempted to thwart movements that would add to the progress and upbuilding of the town, and one of the men even appealed to Mr. Carnegie to "send an attorney here and enforce your contract, and cause the library to be opened." Mr. Carnegie paid no attention to the complaint. The library board could not, under the Wyoming statutes, expend tax funds to complete the building, but the attorney general of Wyoming advised the trustees that they could legally expend such funds as were at their command for repairs on the building, but, he advised, "If the sentiment of the community is in favor of using the tax funds for completing the building, I would not suppose there would be any serious objections." The work of "repairing" the building was then commenced, under the supervision of the county library trustees, but it was not in condition to be occupied until the middle of May. On the evening of May 20, 1910, the trustees of the association and the ladies of the Casper Civic Club were hosts and hostesses at the formal opening of the building, the reception to the public being held from 8:30 until 9:30, after which there was dancing until midnight. The next day, Saturday, May 21, the library was opened to the public, with Mrs. Sarah Place as librarian. There were but a few books on the shelves, and there were but few calls for those on hand. Many fixtures were to be added to the interior of the building and a heating plant had not yet been installed; there was no sidewalk in front of the building and the grounds had not yet been cleared of the rubbish, but with the aid of the Civic Club, the town council, the library trustees and some of the public-spirited citizens, all these things were accomplished before the cold weather in the fall approached. During the six months ending December 31, 1910, the trustees expended $776 for furniture; $300 for plumbing; $309 for books, and $500 for a heating plant. During the same period the librarian had let out 2,805 books, and $16.45 in fines had been collected. During the year 1915, 16,218 books were loaned, and the receipts from all sources were $2,657.88, with $2,192.76 expended. In 1918, 18,632 books were loaned, and 1,180 new books were purchased. The fines amounted to $75.25. During 1921, there were 63,331 books loaned and 2,338 new books purchased. The daily average attendance at the library, including active borrowers of books and reading room visitors, was 396. Books were sent to the schools of Salt Creek, Kasoming, Ohio Camp, Poison Spider, Alcova, and other schools in the county, which were not included in the number reported loaned during the year. A children's room has been established in the library where there are many carefully selected books and pictures, with stereopticon views. The children's story hour is made most interesting and instructive by well-trained story tellers. The hours have been extended to the public and an assistant and an apprentice are required in addition to the librarian. It is noted with satisfaction that no changes have been made either in the personnel of the board of trustees or the librarian except m cases of death or their departure from the county. On January 1, 1922, the trustees were C. H. Townsend, J. W. Johnson and Miss May Hamilton. Mrs. Effie C. Rogers was appointed librarian June 1, 1919, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mrs. Place. Mrs. Rogers is assisted in her work by Clara C. Douds, assistant librarian; Frances Giblin, children's librarian; Floyd Mann, page; Cathryn Cole, apprentice. In his report to the board of county commissioners in January, 1922, Mr. Townsend, the treasurer of the library board, said: "When the library was accepted from the town of Casper by Natrona county, there was scarcely an armful of books, and the building was unfinished. At the present time this library has very comfortable quarters, although it is somewhat limited in space for the rapidly growing community. The number of books has been increased from almost nothing to nearly 12,000 volumes. During the past twelve years the library association has had an average of $3,000 per annum to meet the expenses, but the expenses have always been kept within the limit of the receipts. With the coming year we hope the funds will be increased which will enable us to increase our service by giving the public longer hours and the purchase of a greater number of books than we have heretofore been able to buy. The trustees have always conducted the library on an economical basis and have spent only the money that seemed necessary. On account of the increased patronage of the library, it will be but a short time until the building must be enlarged which will be in keeping with the rapidly growing community." During the year 1922 new steel bookcases were installed, which allowed a much closer classification of the books and better arrangement on the shelves. On January 1, 1923, the library had 14,413 books accessioned, an increase of 3,785 during the year. The daily attendance at the library, including active borrowers and reading room visitors, averaged 398. The number of books loaned during the year was 74,162, an increase of 10,831 over the previous year. In contrast to the above report, these figures are taken from the report of 1910: 1910 1922 Number of books in library 850 14,413 Largest daily circulation 50 651 Books checked during year 1,000 74,162 Number of books purchased 100 3,785 Fines and damages collected $20.00 $621.11 Additional Comments: History of NATRONA COUNTY WYOMING 1888-1922 True Portrayal of the Yesterdays of a New County and a Typical Frontier Town of the Middle West. Fortunes and Misfortunes, Tragedies and Comedies, Struggles and Triumphs of the Pioneers and Illustrations BY ALFRED JAMES MOKLER Publisher of the Natrona County Tribune from June 1, 1897, to October 15, 1914 R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY CHICAGO (1923) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wy/natrona/history/1923/historyo/natronac6gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wyfiles/ File size: 14.7 Kb