Evanston Public Library - History

History

The Evanston Library Association was founded in 1870. The library itself was established in 1873 and Thomas J. Kellan was appointed the library's first librarian in 1874. In 1893 the library moved to the second floor of the new Village Hall in 1893 and the library's collection was reorganized according to the new Dewey Decimal Classification system in 1896. In 1908 the library moved to its current location at 1703 Orrington Ave.

Two additional branches were later added – the South Branch (at 926 Chicago Avenue) in 1917 and the North Branch (at 2026 Central Street) in 1952 and in 1958 the City Planning Commission approved a proposal for a new building at Church and Orrington.

In 1980, the library made online public access available to its patrons along with the introduction of two new rental options: the videocassette and duplicates of best selling books.

The library moved into its newly finished building in 1994 and the library celebrated its 125th anniversary in 1998.

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