HR0159 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0159 LRB095 11290 KXB 31890 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, At a town meeting on 4 April 1882, the residents of Batavia Township voted to create a tax-supported public library and elected the library's first six trustees, creating the Batavia Public Library; and

WHEREAS, The origins of the Batavia Public Library can be traced to 1866, when the Batavia Lyceum, an organization of young men, acquired a collection of books for $10 from the Sigournean Society, an organization of young women, which led to the creation of the Batavia Library Association, a membership library; and

WHEREAS, The Batavia Library Association was, upon its incorporation in 1869, the first library in Kane County, and became the first "public library" in Kane County when it adopted a "free library plan" in 1873 and opened its doors to all residents of Batavia Township; and

WHEREAS, Based on recommendations from a committee appointed by the Batavia Library Association, the first six persons to be elected Library trustees were J. Van Nortwick, O. T. Snow, D. C. Newton, N. S. Young, W. H. Burnham, and F. P. Conde; and

WHEREAS, The Batavia Library Association held its last meeting on April 12, 1882, at which it voted to transfer the books and other personal property to the "Batavia Public Library," a township organization; and

WHEREAS, In 1975, the residents of Batavia Township voted to convert the Library to a unit of local government as the first Library District in Kane County; and

WHEREAS, The Batavia Public Library dedicated its beautiful new 54,000 square-foot building in January 2002, and now checks out more than 540,000 books and other materials annually while serving 420,000 annual visitors, leading to the library being featured in Berkshire Publishing Group's 2007 Heart of the Community: The Libraries We Love: Treasured Libraries of the United States and Canada, one of only 80 libraries to receive this honor; and

WHEREAS, On April 4, 2007, the Batavia Public Library celebrates its 125th anniversary and hosts an event to commemorate this milestone in Batavia and Kane County history; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we commend Board President Randall Gibson and Director George Scheetz on the Batavia Library's 125th year of service to its constituents; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Batavia Public Library as an expression of our esteem.