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Dr. Anthony W. Rollins, a self-made man, upon his death, left his set of Reese's Encyclopedia and $10,00 with the county, wanting the trustees of Columbia, MO to found with it the Columbia and Rollins Library. Nothing came of this request or his bequest.
(Browning, 1969, 2)
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The executor of Dr. Rollin's estate offered his bequeathment again to Columbia at a meeting of citizens, spurring the "founding" of the Columbia Library Association that night. However, no other record of this particular group of individuals or their library doings were found.
(Browing, 1969, 3) -
An organization is formed by a group of men called the Columbia Library Association.
4 classes of members:
Honorary - Admitted by vote of the association and admitted without charge.
Life - Admitted with the charge of $25
General - Admittance granted to either the organizers of the Columbia Library Association or by vote of the rest of the General Membership with the charge of $10.
Reading - Charged $3/year and could not remove books from the Reading Room.
(Browning, 1969, 3) -
After dissolving in 1875 despite some initial success, the roughly $1,000 in books the Columbia Library Association had aquired were, after passing through several hands, destroyed in the Missouri University Library in the fire of 1892 suffered by the campus.
(Browning, 1969, 4)
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A group of townspeople, largely a well-off womens organization called the Tuesday Club, took over support for the library. It secured 100 rotating books whose first home was in the O'Rear building, no longer standing, then moved to the Normal Academy, then to a room in the Whittle Buildilng.
(Browning, 1969, 6)
(Browning, 1969, 6) -
The first librarian, Miss Leila Willias, is hired and works until her retirement in 1939 after some concerns about her competence, a demotion and a paycut, except for a brief dismissal "because of a lack of funds" shortly after the move to Whittle until 1912 or 1913. Her salary was $50/wmonth and raised to $75/month in 1923. The collection moved to two more locations around the time of her hire; a room in the Gordon building and one on the third floor of the court house.
(Browning, 1969, 6,16). -
The Columbia Library Union was formed by women to help raise funds for the library, and appears to have been absorbed into the Tuesday Club.
(Browning, 1969, 7) -
Despite an enthusiastic attempt to get the vote out supporting a tax levy to raise money for property for a Carnegie library by the women active in the organization, ironically not allowed to vote themselves, the levy was defeated 606-470.
(Browning, 1969, 11) -
This time the levy passed, yielding roughly $5,000 a year for the maintance of a public library. Despite the passage of the levy, this time also saw a movement for a Boone County Library, saying that a city library was "too expensive to support."
(Browning, 1969, 14) -
A Miss Mary Mitchell from the Webb City Library, with experience at the Los Angeles Public Library, was brought to the CPL. Her salary was $100/month and from then on was listed as "Librarian" with Miss Willis listed as "Assistant Librarian." She resigned the next year as was replaced by Miss Pearl Clarkson of Carthage, MO.
(Browning, 1969, 17) -
The CPL was in the Guitar building at this time, but desperately needed more space.
(Browning, 1969, 17) -
The collection had reached approximately 8,200 items; fiction was being read the most; the most popular non-fiction reading material was biographies. A special shelf for the most popular biographies, currently, was made with a sign that said "Why Not Take One of These?"
(Browning, 1969, 18) -
The CPL moved to the Old Post Office Building, owned by the City of Columbia who paid $1,200/year for upkeep. It remained here until 1971.
(Browning, 1969, 20)
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Miss Edna Botha, Director of Field Services of the State Library, submitted a report a survey she conducted at the bequest of City Manager Mr. Leo Hill to the Board of Trustees after they begin having regular cash shortages and noticing a failure in financial record keeping and poor organization of the basement and other such parts of the library. It was unfavorable, saying the collection was unbalanced in favor of fiction, buliding needed remodeling, dated reference, etc.
(Browning, 1969, 25) -
The trustees read the report at a meeting, that went on to say the basement was so unorganized that if there was somethng useful there nobody would be able to find it, there was no AV materials, there was no interlibrary loan system in place, and the staff was underpaid but at the same time, not properly educated nor properly guided by the Board.
(Browning, 1969, 26-27) -
Mrs. Susanna Alexander was hired as Administrative Librarian to help solve these problems. She had graduated from Stephens Junior College, Northwestern University and had a Master of Arts from Denver University School of Librarianship. She made a long list of programs available, a wider variety of materials available, organized outreach, was a one-woman PR machine and arranged for the library to become part of a non-profit cooperative.
(Browning, 1969, 31). -
The League of Women Voters secured a call for an election to form a regional library system to secure a federally funded bookmobile for the citizens outside of Columbia, even though Columbia citizens themselves could not use it because grant stipulations stated the places receiving the service had to have less than 10,000 citizens. It passed.
(Browning, 1969, 32-33) -
The City of Columbia, Boone, Howard and Calloway counties formed the Daniel Boone Regional Library system, covering roughly 1,980 square miles. Centralia, though in Boone County, did not join and neither did Howard County.
(Browning, 1969, 33) -
The two mill tax to be levied over a ten year period passed for the construction of a new library building for Columbia.
(Browning, 1969, 36) -
A public meeting of the board was held to discuss the location of the new library, a topic being hotly debated in many corners. It was eventually suggested that, because the building was not going to be built for ten years, why force an issue that does not need to be forced, which wound the meeting down until Board member Mr. Mansur said, "It is a board decision in my opinion and you can't please everybody. I don't care what you say about it. Especially some of you."
(Browning, 1969, 44) -
Tensions between where the library would go, who was paying for what privileges being used where, whether or not Board members were acting legally or at least appropriately, angry petitions, editorials, letters to the editor, etc. raged, even caputuring national attention.
(Browning, 1969, 44- -
In a semi-secret, surprise move, the Board bought a site on Locust Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets for $127,000. This move caused much tension among Board members, as there had been some shrouded secrecy exclusing some.
(Browning, 1969, 66) -
The expansion of the University of Missouri and the lack of size really needed for a library serving a place the size of Columbia and as headquarters of a Regional system rendered the Locust property pretty useless. On March 28 the Board sold the Locust lot for a profit and bought a site on Broadway and Garth.
(Browning, 1969, 75) -
The new Columbia Public Library opens on the corner of Garth and Broadway, where it is currently located, but in a completely overhauled and remodeled building.
(Columbia Public Library, 2012)
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I am jesting, but the times between library building and funding decisions being made really seems to pass pretty swimmingly.
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Board members, the community, architects and regional trustees had mixed feelings, but the current library's plan was approved by the board.
Columbia Tribune Article -
Even though Columbia voted both for the new building and to raise the tax for the library, not all the regions did. The vote got sent back to the community.
Tribune Article (Source) -
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Columbia Tribune ArticleWhile there was some criticism that the voting language had been misleading, as this wasn't so much a remodel and plopping a new building down on the old building's basement, Columbia warmed up to the new building. Slowly.
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The very (to the point of criticism) remodeled Columbia Public Library re-opened at the same location; the corner of Garth and Broadway.
(Columbia Public Library, 2012)
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Despite some surpingly aggressive responses to the sculptures outside of the new building, the renovated library has been embraced by Columbia. I know this because I work there, and patrons tell me almost every day.
DBRL.org
Columbia Tribune
Columbia Tribune
