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Mission Statement:
The mission of the Friends of the Marble Falls Library is to
promote, improve, and enhance services, operations and facilities of the marble falls
public library in order to provide state of the art library services for the citizens of
the highland lakes area.
History:
Rumor has it that the first books that were
"loaned" in Marble Falls were distributed from cardboard boxes on a corner in
downtown Marble Falls on Saturday mornings!
The recorded history of the Marble Falls Library
begins with a small shelf of books in the back of the Boxell and Hartzell Department
Store. Led by local resident Lois Anderson, a group of volunteers operated the library and
became the core of what developed into the Friends organization.
The Marble Falls Library affiliated with the Burnet
County Library System in 1948 when the county board provided for branch libraries in
Bertram, Briggs and Marble Falls. As the Marble Falls collection grew and patrons
increased, the library moved to larger quarters at Barnes Lumber Company, then to the
Masonic Lodge.
By 1950, the volunteers had officially formed the
Marble Falls Library Board and in 1968 incorporated as the Friends of the Marble Falls
Library, Inc., a non-profit organization. At this time they decided they needed a
"building of their own" and proceeded to raise funds through numerous
fundraisers. With the addition of grants and donations, the $126,313 building on the
corner of Main and Fourth was paid for at the time of completion in 1974.
By 1989, the Friends Board realized they
desperately needed more space and once again set about raising funds for a new library.
The fifteen-member board raised funds to purchase the site, hire an architect,
create a model, and gain the support of the city, the county and the citizens of the
Highland Lakes Area. After $750,000 had been raised, the Council of the City of
Marble Falls offered to borrow $770,000 through Certificates of Obligation for the
Friends. The Friends agreed to repay this loan over a 20-year period and
groundbreaking for the new $1.5 million library took place in November of 1996. With
500+ citizens participating in a Book Brigade, books were moved from the old library to
the new on October 4, 1997 for the opening of the new Marble Falls Public Library at 101
Main Street.
The Friends continue to repay the loan from the
City and proudly point out that no public funds were used in constructing this beautiful
library. First Lady Laura Bush participated in the official dedication of the
library on September 15, 1998. |
