Willow Springs Public Library History

“Formal opening of the Willow Springs new public library will be held next Thursday evening in the library’s rooms at the City Hall. Open House will be held from 6:30 until 10 o’clock that evening and the committee invites the general public to attend.” So read the official announcement of the library’s opening in the May 25th edition of the Willow Springs News in 1939. 

Other news clips from that year promote children’s books for summer reading, magazines available for perusal in the library, and a list of new books that includes The Grapes of Wrath, published in April of 1939. Another article announces the arrival of Miss Reva Jane Hagar as the new librarian. Miss Hager, a bright 22-year-old, was secured through the cooperation of the W.P.A. Reva later married Clell Creagor. She passed away in 1993 and is buried at Pine Grove Cemetery. The W.P.A. also secured a clerk for the library, Mrs. Jane Lamb. One headline reads: “556 Books Now At Local Public Library.” How shocked would they be to know that the collection now holds a total of 28,000 items? 

One news article from the library includes this quote from President Theodore Roosevelt. “After the church and the school, the free public library is the most effective influence for good in America. The moral, mental, and material benefits to be derived from a carefully selected collection of good books, free for the use of all the people, cannot be overestimated. No community can afford to be without a library.”

To further borrow from that August 10, 1939 article, “Have you become a member of the Willow Springs Public Library? Have you become a reader?” It is open for your use Tuesday through Friday 9:30am to 5:30pm and Saturday 9am to noon. And open 24/7 at willowspringslibrary.org. We encourage you to visit.