Jacksonville Public Library

The library's collection now contains more than 61,000 items, with an annual circulation in 2002 of over 118,000. More than 75,000 people visited the library in 2002; approximately 9,500 children attended events at the library. The library also maintains a Web site that receives over 21,000 visits annually.

Library History

"Above all things, talk the library up -- not down; be a booster for this organization that means so much to you, your children, and your town."

This was an admonition in a library report of February 1913, published in a newspaper article concerning the library.

"Talking the library" began not long after the arrival, in 1909, of a young Christian church minister, the Reverend Tom Dean. Finding no library facility in Jacksonville, his enthusiasm for one spread and a room above Tucker Furniture Company (at 207 East Commerce Street) housed the first public library. In November 1912, the Jacksonville Library Association was formed.

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