Library History

A HISTORY OF WAUCONDA AREA LIBRARY

Part I: 1939 - 1980

Wauconda Area Library had its beginning in 1939, when the Wauconda Woman’s Club allocated $35 to the purchase of enough books to fill one Shelf at the Wauconda High School Library. As more books were added and donations received, this space became inadequate and in 1948, the library was moved to upstairs rooms on Main Street, at which time there were about 300 persons with library cards, and the library had about 1200 volumes available to readers, plus 500 books borrowed from the State Library.

About this time, the American Legion Auxiliary presented the library with a Webster's Unabridged Dictionary with a revolving stand; also, for every Wauconda boy killed in World War II, a book as a memorial.

The burden of paying rent was overtaxing the budget of the Woman’s Club.

In the spring of 1950, the Village board, under Mr. Frank Dickson, president, granted the library a room in the Village Hall. For eight years the library was housed in this one room, until April, 1958, when under President Melvin Stone, it was moved into a front room of the same building.

On June 20, 1962, a referendum was passed creating the Wauconda Township Library, and in September,.·1962, Mrs. Dorothy Mers, president of the Woman’s Club at that time, presented the Library Board the necessary papers giving title to their library, from the Wauconda Woman’s Club entitled "A Gift of Deed." This ceremony took place so that the appreciation of the community could be properly expressed to the Wauconda Woman’s Club.

The members of the first library board were Don Badders, Ardith Ellis, Lillian Marsh, Chesney Brooks, Russell Marks, and William Green. Myrtle Fink was appointed as the first Head Librarian.

In 1963 the library moved to 212 Osage Street renting the front part of the building from Mrs. Louise Derer who retained the back half or the building, for her living quarters.

In 1968 the library became a member of Northern Illinois Library System. The library continued to grow, being open six days a week, with a constant increase in number of volumes and also number of patrons as the population of our Village increased until it became necessary to again expand the amount of space. In 1971 the property, .including building and adjoining lot was purchased from Mrs. Derer.

In 1971 Mrs. Fink retired and Clara Bogle became librarian. In 1973, with a grant from Revenue Sharing Funds, the garage was torn down and a room addition erected to alleviate crowded conditions. About this time the hours were increased to 42Y, hours per week.

In addition to thousands more books and hundreds more borrowers, the library had also added audio-visual materials, records, cassettes, filmstrips, slides, and activities and programs had also increased until it became necessary to again add more space. A mobile classroom was purchased in 1979 and attached to the present building, which increased the floor space by thirty percent. Tentative plans were for this new addition to be used for children's books and programs and audio-visual materials. The staff in 1979 consisted of seven persons.

Wauconda Township Library in 1979 housed approximately 30,000 books, 850 records, 300 cassettes, and subscribed to 97 periodicals and six newspapers. The library was a member of', the Northern Illinois Library System and van deliveries were made from Rockford four days a week. Any book of information not available in the local library could be requested through the System and thereby procured from another library.

Clara Bogle retired as head librarian May 1, 1979 and Joan Stewart served as acting librarian until August 1, 1979 when David Erickson accepted the position of head librarian.   On September 15, 1979 Sharon Nicola was hired as children's and young people's librarian. Erickson and Nicola were the first degreed librarians to serve the library. Meanwhile, the newly added Young People's Room was furnished and materials throughout the building were shifted accordingly. On December l, 1979, a formal grand opening of the new addition was held. Also on this date the library hours were increased to 49 and a half.

In January of 1980 the board voted unanimously to start proceedings for a transfer to North Suburban Library System (NSLS) -- a move which had been considered periodically since the systems were formed in 1967. NSLS is a consortium of 650 academic, public, school, and special libraries in north suburban Cook, Kane, Lake and McHenry Counties.  The reasons for this move were mainly to have reciprocal borrowing with our neighboring suburban libraries and to draw on the greater professional expertise offered by the staff and members of NSLS. The request for transfer was met with inordinate resistance by the administration of Northern Illinois Library System which put every obstacle in the way, and forced the action to become a withdrawal from NILS and joining of NSLS instead of a simple transfer. Nevertheless, through the persistence of board president Marian Wight, and by ruling of Kathryn Gesterfield, then the Director of Illinois State Library, the withdrawal/joining became effective July 1, 1980.

Part II: 1981 - Present

PLEASE NOTE: THIS PART OF THE HISTORY IS IN PROCESS

A new 10,000 square-foot facility located next to Wauconda High School was dedicated in 1987, and the conversion to a public library district occurred a year later.

In November 1995, voters approved a $4.5 million expansion and remodeling project, and the new 27,500 square foot building opened in 1997.  The library received the prestigious Distinguished Building Award  in 1998 from the American Institute of Architects because of the building's lively, animated quality.

In April, 2001, voters approved a .5 percent tax rate increase to increase the library's operating funds. This enabled the library to make the improvements in services necessary to accommodate a growing population

The Wauconda Area Library was named Library of the Year in 2005 by the North Suburban Library System (NSLS). The NSLS announcement stated, "The Library of the Year Award is presented to one library in NSLS in recognition of its contributions to the development of the NSLS library community.  The Wauconda Area Public Library District has won this award because, while it has long been a good example in the community, this year the library has taken its unique mix of community focus, creativity, and collaboration to the next level of service excellence. The Wauconda Area Public Library District is 'the little library that DOES!'  The staff and administration are active contributors to system-wide and statewide projects."

in 2008, the library added a self-serve café and coffee bar called the Cozy Corner Café. The café features bistro-style furnishings and comfortable seating.

The library also added a new teen area, known as "The Zone," Teen-oriented books, magazines, and multimedia materials, including video games for checkout, can be found here. The fun, comfortable seating and special displays make this an inviting place for teens to study together or just hang out. Other new services include a self-service checkout station, free wireless high-speed Internet access for laptop computers, downloadable eBooks and eAudiobooks using MyMediaMall, and pre-loaded audiobook iPods and Playaways. The library’s extensive DVD collection now includes TV series and Blu-ray discs.

Also in 2008, the library increased its hour of operation by being open on Sundays throughout the summer. The library is now open every day of the year except for several major holidays.