History of Colorado Libraries
Garfield County Public Library - New Castle
Georgetown - The John Tomay Memorial Library
[now part of Clear Creek County Library District]
Grand Junction Public Library [now Mesa County
Public Library District]
Grand County Public Library - Hot Sulphur Springs
[now part of Grand County Library District]
Greeley Public Library
[now Weld Library District]
Gypsum Community Library [now part of Eagle Valley
Library District]
GARFIELD COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY - NEW CASTLE
The Garfield County Public Library was established in 1938 as a Works Progress
Administration project at New Castle, Colorado. When WPA was discontinued the
Garfield county commissioners agreed to take over the sponsorship, and finance
it from the county's general fund.
A library board of four members was appointed and served for several years. It
was succeeded by a new board of six members, chosen, with the approval of the
commissioners from three areas of the county. Their tenure is staggered. The
county superintendent of schools is an ex-officio member.
Mrs. Harriett Stewart was the first librarian and was very efficient in
organizing the library. Mrs. John W. Hess succeeded Mrs. Stewart. Mrs. James
Conto was appointed next, and is still serving.
The library has been located in attractive quarters in the New Castle school
building since the time of its inception. New Castle is the most centrally
located town in the county and the quarters in the school are rent-free. The
library serves the entire county, both rural and urban areas, as well as all of
the school districts.
Many enthusiastic patrons from all over the county not only use the full
resources of the library, but are always ready to say a good word for it. The
collection now consists of around 14,000 books and has a yearly circulation of
75,000. The bookstock is augmented by generous loans from the Colorado State
Library.
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GEORGETOWN - THE JOHN TOMAY MEMORIAL LIBRARY
In 1900 Mrs. Henry Seifred, wife of the president of the Bank of Georgetown
organized the Georgetown Library Association. According to a clipping from the
Georgetown Courier Mrs. Seifred met with the town board of selectmen and the
mayor, urging them to assist in the project. In a letter to the association the
town board promised "to furnish and procure a site for a library building within
the corporate limits of the town and to give other moral and substantial
support.provided the Georgetown Library Association can provide the necessary
funds for the erection of a suitable building.
The Association did not "erect a building," but they found an old building,
formerly a tailor shop on Taos Street quite suitable for a library. The members
donated and bought many books, equipped the library with the necessary furniture
and opened the building to the public. They took turns acting as librarians and
kept the library open every afternoon and evening. Later they hired a librarian
for $6.00 a month! To earn funds for this munificent salary, to pay for coal and
lights and to buy new books and library supplies, the Association members gave
teas, suppers, dinners, minstrel shows, musicales and dances. The library was
housed in the old building for 24 years.
In 1920, John Tomay, a public-spirited resident of the town, died, leaving $15,
000 to the Georgetown Library Association for a library building. The chosen
site was on Sixth Street between Rose and Argentine streets. Several vacant
buildings owned by people who had long since gone out of business and moved from
Georgetown stood on the desired location. George Criley of the Clear Creek
County Abstract Company, contacted the absent families and all of them
generously gave their land to the Association. Mr. Criley searched the records
and made the abstracts free of charge.
In 1924 the cornerstone of the new building was laid and it was named the John
Tomay Memorial Library.
When Mr. James Grafton Rogers became mayor of Georgetown in 1956, the library
was taken over by the city of Georgetown, but retained the name of its founder.
It is now supported by a municipal tax levy. The city clerk, who is also the
librarian, has an office in the library building.
The building is a modern brick structure, well-equipped, with many stacks for
books, a well-lighted reading room on the ground floor and a recreation room in
the basement, which is used frequently for town gatherings, young people's
square dances and community suppers.
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GRAND JUNCTION PUBLIC LIBRARY
In 1897 a subscription library was organized in Grand Junction by two
enterprising clubs. The "ladies' library" as it was called, was located in
rented quarters, and "anyone whose morals were unquestionably good was
encouraged to maintain a subscription." In 1900 when the city boasted of a
population of 3,500 people, the council agreed to provide tax monies to cover
operation expenses if Carnegie funds were made available to erect a building at
7th and Grand on the ground designated as Courthouse Square by George A.
Crawford, commonly known as "Father of Grand Junction.
Mr. Carnegie protested mildly at paying for the foundation and porch of the
library, insisting that he had agreed to provide the building only, and by the
time dedication day arrived in 1901, library board minutes were not as
reverential as at first, and some members doubted the wisdom of paying $75 for a
heavy bronze plaque commemorating the donor.
The library chopped the Carnegie from its name and in November 1938 moved into
the new building which it occupies today. Basically, the policies of the library
were sound from the beginning, with, for example, the librarian serving as
secretary of the board of directors.
Considerably more than half of the 50,000 volume book collection is non-fiction,
documents and pamphlets excluded. The two last-mentioned types of materials and
the clipping collection are being used a great deal to supplement the book and
periodical collections. The percentage of non-fiction circulation from the Grand
Junction Public Library in 1958-59 has been steadily increasing with between 40%
and 50% of the total book circulation represented by non-fiction. Reference use
of the library is high, and hundreds of young people use the collection every
day. Business and professional people consult the library in ever-increasing
numbers, also.
The Grand Junction Public Library is supported by city taxation in an amount
which falls far short of the minimum standards set by the American Library
Association. The quality of service is high, however, with staff members
maintaining excellent standards of performance. In the years to come when the
population on the Western Slope shows the phenomenal growth which is predicted,
the library will become one of the strongest educational agencies of its kind in
western Colorado and the surrounding country.
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GRAND COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY - HOT SULPHUR SPRINGS
The idea of a public library grew out of a search for a worthy project by the
Hot Sulphur Springs Woman's Club in 1933. At first the books were kept in the
homes of volunteers among the members, but since no formal hours were set, the
interruption to social and family life proved too great a sacrifice. The library
was then moved to a vacant room in the church.
It was found that books discarded by the Denver Public Library were to be had
for the asking and transportation, and many fiction books were added to the
collection in this way. Mrs. A. G. Fish, then president of the Colorado
Federation of Woman's Clubs, donated several boxes of reference books from her
own library.
Other towns in the county had started small libraries at about the same time.
When the County Library bill was passed by the Colorado General Assembly in
1947, plans were under way at once to form a Grand County Library. Interested
women from different parts of the county attended an organization meeting with
the result that Mrs. J. P. Schilz of Granby was elected president; Mrs. Brice
Sheriff of Hot Sulphur Springs, vice-president and Mrs. M. W. Baumgarten of
Kremmling, secretary-treasurer. Mrs. Harley Bryant of West Portal and Mrs.
Carrie D. Schnoor, county superintendent of schools who lived at Grand Lake,
completed the board for the new county library. Mrs. Schnoor offered her outer
office in the new courthouse as a library location. A one-tenth mill levy was
suggested which would provide approximately $500 per year. Shelves were built to
accommodate the 500 books now collected.
The book collection kept growing until new quarters had to be found. The Pioneer
Society had moved the hand-hewn log building from Main Street to the courthouse
grounds. It had been used for a county building from 1888 to 1902. The intention
was to remodel it for a museum. The library board asked the commissioners for
$200 to complete the repairs so that the old building would be suitable for both
a library and a museum. The board agreed to install a lighting system, an oil
heater and to keep the building in good repair. The book stock was moved in
October 1941.
From time to time the annual budget has been raised to meet increasing operating
expenses. New book stacks have been added and old books weeded out to make room
for the growing collection, which numbered 5,550 books in January 1959.
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GREELEY PUBLIC LIBRARY
The beginning of the Greeley Public Library was a set of encyclopedias kept
for public use in Mansfield's Drug Store.
In 1879 and again in 1880 Captain David Boyd, a member of the school board, made
business trips back east and bought $400 worth of books. These volumes consisted
of history, poetry, fiction, science and translations of the classics. The money
was obtained by the sale of lots belonging to the school district. The books
were kept on a few shelves of the tower room of the Meeker school building and
were in the charge of W. H. Brockway, janitor of the building.
In the summer of 1885 a public meeting was held at the courthouse and the
subject of a public library was discussed. On August 20, 1885 the Greeley
Library Association was formed. Under the chairmanship of Judge J. M. Wallace,
money was raised through subscriptions, subscribers to have free use of the
library. A stock company was formed and stocks sold at $10 a share. Two thousand
dollars was collected. A committee was chosen to select books. Two rooms were
obtained in the First National Bank block. The library was open two days and two
evenings a week.
In 1890 the stockholders gave the library to the city of Greeley. Four hundred
dollars was set aside annually by the city for running expenses, with an
additional $100 to be used for the purchase of books. In 1896 the library was
moved to the semicircular wing of the Central School which was then the high
school. Library hours were increased to four days a week.
In 1906 the library had three staff members. Women's clubs were contributing
books, the Greeley Club and a neighborhood Magazine Club had established files
of magazines, and a fund for new fiction was adding books to already crowded
shelves.
In the spring of 1906 the various women's clubs joined forces and started to
raise money for a library building. They were offered money by Andrew Carnegie,
but their civic pride and desire for independence led them to decide to raise
the money themselves.
Mr. J. Max Clark deserves mention for his efforts in persuading citizens of
Greeley to contribute to the fund. School children gave their small earnings.
One boy gave the entire $10 he had earned for painting a barn.
By the time the $17,000 library was completed all of the money had been raised
to pay for it. No money was left for books, book shelves and furniture, so more
had to be raised for this purpose. The city was appropriating about $1,800 a
year, and there was a self-perpetuating board of six members, with the mayor an
ex-officio member.
The original $1.00 fee for a life membership has continued through the years
from the days when $1.00 paid for a brick in the new building. Some of the
present library patrons were the children who sacrificed their small earnings to
build the library in 1907. Their cards are still being used after more than
fifty years.
The library now has five board members who serve terms of five years each. The
city manager attends board meetings as a non-voting member. In 1959 the holdings
of the library totaled approximately 57,000 volumes. There are nine staff
members.
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GYPSUM COMMUNITY LIBRARY
The Gypsum Community Library was opened May 1, 1940 in the Gypsum Grade
School with approximately 800 books, most of which were donated by people in the
community, on its shelves. It was sponsored by the WSCS Club, but funds were
also contributed by the Town of Gypsum, the Lions Club, Lutheran Ladies,
Rebekah, and other organizations.
The library was first located in the elementary school, but it was obliged to
move because the space it occupied was needed for a classroom. It was then moved
to another school building, and finally into the town hall in 1948.
The library receives no tax support, but headquarters is rent free. Funds to
operate the program are raised through benefits of all kinds, and members of the
library board serve as volunteer workers. Organizations and individuals
frequently present new books to the library in memory of friends and relatives,
and occasionally the budget permits the purchase of new materials.
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For additional information, E-Mail: Gene Hainer, hainer_g@cde.state.co.us, or phone 303.866.6900