1922-2002
A
Brief History of the Morton
County Library
"A
little library, growing
larger every year, is an
honorable part of
a man's history. It is a
man's duty to have
books. A library is not
a luxury, but one of the
necessaries of
life."
Henry Ward Beecher |
Our library,
like so many libraries in the
smaller southwest communities
had a struggle for survival
because of lack of funding,
depression years, dustbowl, etc.
Quoted from a
Tri-State News Article:
"The Elkhart Public Library
was formed under the auspices of
the Ladies Coterie Club of
Elkhart, as a part of its
educational work. Although the
Coterie Club was instigator of
the library, it is not a Coterie
library, but a public library.
The present Association was
formed in 1922. The library was
first located in a small,
one-room building (Doerr
Building) located on Main
Street.
The library at present consists
of books donated by individuals
of Elkhart, numbering about 250;
a set of books from the Kansas
State Traveling Library; a set
of fiction books donated by the
Coterie Club and a good
dictionary donated by the
Working Girl's Club. The
treasury holds about $75.00 to
be invested in additional books.
Although the beginning is small
the association expects to
advance with the town and in a
few years own its own building
and several thousand volumes.
This can be accomplished only by
the aid and cooperation of the
Citizens of Elkhart.
The purpose of the library is to
help make Elkhart a better town
in which to live. Elkhart is one
of the best towns in Kansas but
"day by day" in every
way, it is growing better and
better and the library will be a
great help. The library is for
the use of every man, woman and
child in Elkhart and if it does
not contain the books you need
or want, tell the association
and they will be purchased as
soon as possible.
We hope that after reading this
article, every family will
enroll voluntarily as a member
of the association and start
reading the books and be a
booster."
The library moved from
place to place until the 1930's
when W.P.A. work project built
the Adobe City Hall. The library
occupied a room at the South end
of the City Hall.
Quoting from Zinnia Frieholtz,
librarian for 25 years, book, "Memories From a Long
Life":
|
"The ladies of
Coterie and P.E.O.
cooperated in forming a
revolving book fund for
the library, whereby
each club bought one
book to be displayed on
the pay shelf to be
rented our for a small
fee which averaged one
book per month from the
income. Each club
selected books to
represent their own club
as their turn revolved
around alphabetically." |
In 1968,
the city board began to
investigate the library becoming
a county library and joining the
Southwest Kansas Library System.
An evaluation was made and the
library was moved from the City
Hall into the former post office
building.
The Morton County Library with
branches in Rolla and Richfield
has grown into one of the best
Kansas libraries of it's size
serving readers from all over
the area.
In 1984, the library moved into
a brand new 6,500 sq. ft. modern
library building next to the
city park. A Dedication
Ceremony was held for the new
library on October 12, 1984.
Through the years, the
dedication of the librarians
have made our library into one
to be proud of by providing the
public with many services.
Former
librarians include: Thelma Nason,
Georgia Scofield, Irene Kuder,
Zinnia Frieholtz, Helen
Thompson, Lee Romig, Phyllis
Clair, Katharine Commerford,
Karen Leopp
Morton County
Library Staff:
Elkhart:
Virginia Johnson-Director, Linda
Mitchell, Carrie Williams,
Barbara Luck,
Brenda Cromer and Helen Reimer
Pages: Ali Boone, Shelley Wallace, Victoria Tidwell and Savanna
Kern
Rolla:
Cindy Hittle-Director, Mandy
Dunn
Richfield:
Methodist Church Women and
volunteers
