Eagle Bend Library celebrates 25 years
History and future are tied together
by Karin L. Nauber
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| Great River Regional Library Director Kristy Smith visited with Carol Becker who helped get the library/museum started in Eagle Bend. |
This November 8 will mark a historical notch in the city of Eagle Bend's belt as the Great River Regional Library Eagle Bend Branch celebrates 25 years in service.
Many local residents lobbied the Todd County Board of Commissioners and members of the Eagle Bend City Council to have the new library located in Eagle Bend.
At that time only Long Prairie had a branch of the GRRL headquartered in St. Cloud. The location was narrowed down to Clarissa, Eagle Bend or Bertha. The stipulation was that whichever city hosted the library, that city would have to provide and maintain the building.
The old post office building in Eagle Bend was vacant and under the leadership of Mayor Dale Rachuy, the building was secured, remodeled and the library moved in to the upstairs of the building.
A short time later, the Eagle Bend Historical Society moved into the basement hosting the city museum.
It didn't take very long for the library to begin to outgrow its meager somewhat inaccessible space and community members banded together and formed the Eagle Bend Area Community Development Corporation, Inc.
According to an article written by former Independent News Herald reporter Carol Becker, this group held fundraisers of "every shape, form and color" until enough money was raised to build the present 42x72 building which continues to house the library and museum all on the ground level. They worked for three years to raise the money for the building.
Members of the group were: Carolynne Bisel, Gladyce Henrickson, Liz Westergren, Diane Silbernagel, Kevin Mann, Kevin Hess, Dale Olson, Ernie Silbernagel and Carrol Peterson.
Volunteers cleared away an old vacant building and did a majority of the finishing work once the building was in place. Over 400 volunteer hours went into the project.
The library opened its doors at its new location on May 25, 1989.
There are now 32 libraries in the 12 regions served by the GRRL system.
In Todd County, 62% of the people have a library card.
In 2006 there were 675 regular users borrowing an average of 37 items per person for a total of 25,030 items borrowed.
The Eagle Bend Library also has ten youth and four adult programs.
The recently formed Friends of the Library group helps with programs. There is also a book club that meets monthly.
Last week on Wednesday, October 24, a special open house was held at the library to celebrate the history of the building and the impact it has had on the community and area.
Kristy Smith, the GRRL director, as well as other members of the GRRL staff were on hand to present information about the library.
Kay Lundgren served as the librarian until recently when Ellen Peters took over the task.
Since the inception of the library in Eagle Bend, the county has added two other branches in Staples and in Grey Eagle.