Mary Wood Weldon Memorial Library
Mary Wood Weldon Memorial Library...Leading provider of the highest quality information, current resources and community programming through the excellent service of a well-trained, innovative staff.
History
The history of the Glasgow, Barren County public library began in 1916 with books in the window of the Orr Drugstore and seven charter members who donated a book and paid a $3.20 annual membership fee. These pioneering members included: Mrs. Dora Terry, Miss Bettie Bybee, Mrs. Ben Myers, Mrs. D.B. Strange, Miss Margaret Pedigo, and Mrs. Powell Barlow. Mrs. Terry donated a room above Folk's Department Store until a fire necessitated a move to West Washington Street. Two years later, there were three hundred books and a location above Tom Dickey's grocery store. By 1924, the yearly fee was $1.00 per year, 100 new members added and a move next door to Third National Bank. Liberty College, and eleven hundred books, became home in 1928, with one final move to the new Glasgow High School prior to the College Street facility. More funds became necessary to run and expand the library. In Glasgow Library History, Mrs. B.F. Myers describes a particularly crucial person in the library's growth: "Mrs. Frank Richardson is the mother of the Glasgow Library. It was her pet child as long as she lived." "She baked as many as 20 hams and served them on the courthouse yard during the Street Fairs...her and other ladies' efforts kept the library open."
The City of Glasgow passed referendums in 1951 for free library service as established by Kentucky Revised Statute 173.310, sec (2). By 1954, the county voted to support bookmobile service, and the Fiscal Court signed a contract with the board for library service on September 20, 1955. In 1957, Cave City requested a branch library, which existed until 1980.
The bookmobile has served rural Barren County since 1952, and was financially assisted by the Rotary Club and Barren County Board of Education until the 1954 referendum granting municipal funding was passed. Under Supervisor Dr. J.W. Weldon, the Barren County Homemakers worked to place a plebiscite to vote on the question of supporting bookmobile service for Barren County. At one point, forty-seven rural schools received bookmobile service. The 1957 report mentions the establishment of book stations ranging from Etoile, Cooktown, Lucas, and Hiseville, to Park City. Miss Verne Martin was the first bookmobile librarian, followed by Lucille Fitzgerald, Marjorie Palmore, Bonnie Curd, Lenora Metcalfe and Martha Nell Thomas.
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