The First Library In Grants Pass by Courtney Toch
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January 3, 2000
Back in the olden days there wasn't a lot of entertainment. There
wasn't any television, video games, or movie theaters. There wasn't
even a library.
Sometime in the late 1880s, a small group of women in Grants Pass
wanted a library. In hopes of putting together a library for
themselves, they came together in a building called the "bank block".
The Ladies Association, as they called themselves, met in this
building for a few years while trying to raise funds. One of their
fundraisers was a ball with all entry fees going to the library fund.
After a few of these fundraisers, the ladies moved their miniature
library to Mrs. Stone's drug store, where they operated on a rental
basis.
Apparently, the library was well accepted, because thirteen years
later, the Ladies Association moved into a room in City Hall (later
the Golden Rule building), for two dollars a year.
In 1903, when Andrew Carnegie offered to donate $10,000 to Grants
Pass for a free public library building, it seemed a sure thing.
Grants Pass would finally have a real library. When the citizens of
Grants Pass voted on whether they should be taxed for a library, they
said they were willing. However, on November 12, 1903, a headline in
the Rogue River Courier state: "Don't Want Library, City Council
Votes Down the Proposition." The City Council thought the community
needed a hospital more. Many of the citizens regretted that the City
Council chose to turn down a gift of $10,000 for a library.
Ten years later, on May 20, 1913, Mayor Robert G. Smith appointed a
library board. There were thirteen members on the first board: R.R.
Turner, Reverend Teal, G.H. Carner, Mr. Morgan, Mrs. Mary Hair, Mrs.
A.J. Klocker, Mrs. Ruth Denison, Miss Minnie Tuffs, Mrs. C.L. Hobart,
Mrs. Courtney, Mrs. Arthur Conklin, Mrs. Allie Jennings, and Mrs.
Joseph Moss. This number was soon reduced to seven members, then to
five. The board was appointed to obtain funds to buy books. They
went from house to house asking for money for books as well as asking
for donated books. The City Council agreed to include a half mill
tax in the November budget for support of the library.
On January 19, 1914, the library was opened for people to check out
books. The first librarian was Miss Maude Barnes, with Miss Ethel
Babcock as first assistant. The library was in a room on the second
floor of City Hall. During that first year, there were 952
borrowers, who checked out 12,109 volumes. The new library was
proved successful. But this was not the permanent library.
The Carnegie Foundation offered to build a building at a cost of
$12,500, if the County would furnish the site and guarantee to
provide $1,200 annually toward operation. Negotiations with the
Carnegie Library Corporation of New York went on in 1917, 1918, and
1920. The proposition was defeated by citizens' vote at three
special elections. In 1920, Mayor Charles Demaray was informed by
the Carnegie Library Corporation that the time limit on the offer was
about to expire. Immediate action must be taken or the offer would
be withdrawn. Not wanting to lose the offer, Mayor Demaray wrote a
formal acceptance and signed it himself, since there was no one else
in town who could authorize it. He rushed to meet the evening train
in order to send off the letter immediately. The judge of the County
court, who had arrived on the train, greeted him at the depot. After
briefing the judge on the situation, the train waited while the judge
could also sign the letter.
The library was specifically ordered to be designed and built
according to the County court journal. The public library was
transferred into what was known as the Carnegie Library Building on
April 6, 1922, under joint management of the City of Grants Pass and
the Josephine County Court. The library was known as the Josephine
County Carnegie Library.
The Josephine County Library, as it is now called, didn't just become
a nice, big library; it took years of change. Many of the changes
have to do with Mrs. Florence Moberly, who was the librarian for five
years.
From one building, the library expanded to three substations: Cave
Junction, Williams, and Wolf Creek. Without books, a library might
find it difficult to expand, but books were one thing the library
definitely had plenty of! Josephine County owned 45,661 volumes in
1959, and by 1975, the estimate was 100,000 books. In 1959, the
library looked more like a skating rink than a library. There was
plenty of open space for growth, of course. Since 1959, the library
has added records and paperback books, displayed on easy to read
racks. In 1975, additional shelves and more books made the skating
rink an aisle away.
The library now has computers that can help you locate books,
replacing the old card catalogs. An "Oregon Room" was added so you
can find historical information about Josephine County. There is a
children's section where helpful librarians are eager to show
youngsters good books and sometimes even read to them. A summer
reading program encourages each child to read many different kinds of
books each year for prizes.
The library owes its thanks to many people: the Ladies Association
that was determined to have a library; Mrs. Andrew Carnegie, who
offered the gift of $10,000 to build a library; the mayor of Grants
Pass who didn't let an opportunity slip by; and the library boards
and librarians of the past and the future.
