Magness Library
Library Cards
Your first card is free. Children over the age of five may have their own card if a parent is with the child when he/she applies for a card and they can write their own name.
We require your driver's license number when issuing new library cards, plus printed proof of your address (voter's registration, utility bill, checkbook imprint, etc.) Parents must present their own I.D. for their children and agree to pay for any materials damaged or lost.
You may check out one item the first time you use your card. After 24 hours and the first item has been returned, you may check out as many items as you wish up to a limit of 20 items being checked out by you at any time. The following limits apply:
- 3 non-fiction books with the same call number (Example: books within the 610 series)
- 3 books by the same author
- 3 videos (vhs, dvd)
- all persons are limited to 5 books in the children's department
History
The Magness Library had it origin in a very unlikely event in 1913. The "McMinnville Women's Civic League" was looking for that seminal civic project that would perpetuate the young organization. To these civic minded women who spent time in downtown McMinnville there was an obvious societal need seeking a solution. When most rural families came to town it was an all day excursion and most trying on women, particularly those with small children. When the woman finished her shopping there was no place to rest and wait for her husband to finish whatever the business that brought them to town. Thus on July 18, 1913 "The Women's Civic League" opened a Women's Rest Room in the Walling Flats building on the south side of Court Square. Mrs. Mary Cunningham, a charter member of the civic league, and her family lived in the building and she agreed to establish, operate and maintain the facility. Sufficient supplies and materials to open were received as donation and the county and city agreed to pay the $10 per month rent and maybe contribute $5 per month for expenses.
From the beginning Mrs. Cunningham considered her role as a clarion call to Christian service that she unfailingly pursued every day until her death in 1954.
The library experience began the day after the restrooms opened. Mrs. Cunningham looked out the front door and saw a young boy, about 10 years old, sitting on the dark curb throwing rocks at anything that moved. As a distraction Mrs. Cunningham offered the boy a magazine with pictures which he declined saying he liked books. Mrs. Cunningham returned to her apartment and selected one of her sons books and took it back to the boy. He sat quietly on the curb and read the entire book before his father returned to pick him up. He returned the book and thanked Mrs. Cunningham, whereupon she offered him another book, told him he could take it home and return it the next time his father brought to town. The McMinnville Free Lending Library was born.
Mrs. Cunningham related her experience to other members of the Civic League and immediately, the Women's Rest Room became a repository for lots of good reading material. Patrons who took materials home were asked to return the books in a reasonable time but they could keep the magazines. It was several months before a loaned book was not returned.
Explore Related Categories
