Celebrate 120 Years!

Celebrate 120 Years of the Downtown Library on December 15

Rock Island, IL Rock Island’s first permanent library building opened with enthusiastic fanfare from the Rock Island community on December 15, 1903. To celebrate 120 years of continuous operation, the Rock Island Public Library will host an open house and reception for the building on Friday, December 15 from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

The free drop-in open house is on on the 2^nd floor of the historic Downtown Library building, 401 19^th Street, Rock Island. The public is invited to stop by for refreshments, library history displays, building tours, a scavenger hunt, and opportunities to share your memories by taking a photo with the library photo frame or leaving stories on “I Love My Library” cards. The event is also a final opportunity to donate items or memories for the Library’s 150^th anniversary time “capsule.” After the year ends, the box will be sealed and placed in the library’s special collections room for opening in 25 years.

"Although the library has been in existence for 150 years, owning a permanent space for 120 years is also significant. Even today, the library is the "third place" where people go outside of home and work. We are, and have always been, the trusted source in the community. Help us celebrate this milestone by showing support for our historic location,” said Angela Campbell, Rock Island Library Director.

The Downtown Library serves as the primary center for housing library collections, services, and administrative offices. The Rock Island Public Library also operates from the Southwest Branch at 9010 Ridgewood Road and the newly-opened Watts-Midtown Branch at 2715 30^th Street, offers outreach services through homebound delivery and a seasonal Library2Go bookmobile , and digital services through its “online branch” website at www.rockislandlibrary.org.

Library History: When the downtown Main Library building first opened, the Rock Island Public Library had already been operating for 31 years out of rented, and increasingly cramped, space in the former Mitchell and Lynde Building at the corner of what is now 2^nd Avenue and 17^th Street. Rock Island was the first Illinois public library to actually open after the Illinois Local Library Act made tax-supported libraries possible. Thanks to a donation of collections and equipment by the Young Men’s Literary Association (a private subscription library) the Rock Island Library first opened to the public on Nov. 25, 1872.

Construction on the Downtown (Main Library) began in 1901 after purchase of the lot and a $50,000 advance and $10,000 outright gift for furnishings from former Rock Island businessman Frederick Weyerhauser. As construction proceeded, Weyerhauser would eventually give $17,869.32 of the building’s total cost of $90,448.20. When the Main Library opened Dec. 15, 1903, the Rock Island Argus dubbed it as “Rock Island’s new Temple of Literature,” calling it “one of the handsomest appointed [libraries] in the State outside Chicago.” The building’s canyon gray sandstone has now weathered to a warm gold, due to natural oxidation.

For more information about library events and services, visit www.rockislandlibrary.org, call 309-732-7323 (READ,) or follow library social media pages.

###

History of the Downtown Library Building:

Construction Began: September 1901

Opening Day: Tuesday, Dec. 15, 1903

Architect: L.M. Drack, of Drack and Kerns

Design: Classic Ionic, with Italian Renaissance finishes

Builders: Collins Brothers, of Rock Island

Exterior: Berea Sandstone, quarried out of Amherst Township, Ohio

Other Design Features: Carthage Marble base and steps, oak, brass, and marble interiors, frieze around top of building featuring 12 authors considered worthy of engraving in stone.

First director: Miss Ellen Gale (who served from 1872-1937!)

https://www.rockislandlibrary.org/mission-history

Media Contacts: Lisa Lockheart, Rock Island Public Library, Publicity and Outreach Liaison, 401 19^th Street, Rock Island, 309-732-7303, Lockheart.lisa@rigov.org

Day of Event: Angela Campbell, Rock Island Public Library director, 309-732-7300, Campbell.Angela@rigov.org

-------------------------------------------------------------------