HR0488 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0488 LRB095 12130 KXB 37229 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Glen Ellyn Public Library is 100 years old this year; it was established in 1907 to provide an invaluable resource to the then small community of Glen Ellyn; and

WHEREAS, In 1881, when Glen Ellyn was called Prospect Park, the Library Association of Prospect Park was organized and twenty people paid five dollars each to purchase 100 books from a Harper Brother's salesman; 100 books were placed in a bookcase and stored in the Congregational Church basement; in 1907, a group of ten women met to begin the Glen Ellyn Library Association, and to raise money they held teas and charged a ten-cent admission fee; the ladies of the Glen Ellyn Library Association met with Bessie Baldwin, the Wheaton Library's librarian, who instructed the committee on the preparation of books for circulation; and

WHEREAS, In May 1907, the library opened to the subscribers and fifty-six membership cards were issued; its collection included those original 100 books plus 40 new books purchased with the proceeds of on-going afternoon teas and donated volumes; on July 23, 1907 the Glen Ellyn Library Association was legally registered with the Secretary of State; and

WHEREAS, The Glen Ellyn Library grew from a small room in the Village Hall to the room above Boyd's Hardware store and, in 1911, the library purchased the Nickerson house on Pennsylvania Avenue; contact was made with Andrew Carnegie about the construction of a library in Glen Ellyn; Mr. Carnegie's grant of $10,000 came with two conditions: the building site must be provided free and clear and the village must assume the maintenance of the facility; the Library Association secured the land at the corner of Park and Crescent from the William Grimshaw family, George Awsumb was chosen as architect, and construction was started on the new building; and

WHEREAS, On September 14, 1914, the Glen Ellyn Free Public Library, which could accommodate 5,000 books, opened to the public; in April 1961, a second addition was added to the front of the original Carnegie building, bringing the total shelf capacity to 50,000 volumes; in 1980 a third addition was added; and

WHEREAS, On December 16, 1995, a new library facility opened to the public at its new location at the corner of Duane and Prospect; the floor space is 52,000 square feet, which is double the size of the old building; it has 210,000 items housed in its collection; this came to be because of an idea from ten women who retrieved 100 books from basement storage in 1907; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the staff and patrons of the Glen Ellyn Public Library on the 100th anniversary of the institution; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the staff of the Glen Ellyn Public Library as a symbol of our respect.