History

At the beginning of the 1930's a group of local women turned a shelf of books in a corner of O.C. Yoakam's feed store into a lending library and volunteered their time to staff it.  Another building owned by Mr. Yoakam soon became home to the library, where donated books helped build the collection.

The group established a local library board in October 1931 and formed the Civic club a year later. Club members served on the board and continued to staff the library into the 1970's.

By the late 1940's members were paid $1 per day for keeping the library open on Saturdays. Thirty years later that special Saturday compensation had increased to $5.

The city allocated $500 a year for library operations at the time, which supporters augmented with local fundraising activities. Always seeking to encourage increased patronage, the board didn't inpose a membership fee until 1957, when they began charging $1 per year per family. Lifetime memberships went for $10.

Today, residents of cities that have libraries receive full library services without charge. Those who live outside the city limits are charged an annual  household fee.