Experience 150 Years of Gail Borden Library - Exhibit and Train

Main Library | June 4 - August 25

This library has been serving this community for 150 years! We will feature fascinating stories and interactive activities about how the Library changed to meet the needs of the community. This exhibit will also highlight the role that the library has played in children’s reading and will include “Storyland: A Trip Through Childhood Favorites™“ from the Minnesota Children’s Museum.

Storyland

Children ages birth to 8 years with their families will step into the world of their favorite storybooks and engage in interactive activities to discover the joy and power of reading.

This engaging exhibit uses three beloved children’s books to stimulate early literacy:

• The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
• Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill

Storyland: A Trip Through Childhood Favorites™ was created by Minnesota Children’s Museum with support from the State of Minnesota Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. © 2024 Minnesota Children’s Museum. All rights reserved.

Events

Happy 150^th Birthday Gail Borden Library at Rakow Branch!

Rakow Branch Outside - Wednesday, 7/24 | 11 am - Noon

Join us for an old-fashioned birthday party! Enjoy games, cupcake decorating and more at this drop-in event.

Click to see photos from our 150th Birthday Party

Gail Borden Library Celebrates 150 Years

Check out the videos below to see more.

News

Shown here Courtesy of the Daily Herald

Daily Herald

Gail Borden Library celebrates 150th birthday

By: Rick West   Published: March 19, 2024 at 7:06 pm

Hundreds of people crowded the atrium of the Gail Borden Library in Elgin Tuesday to celebrate the local institution’s 150th birthday.

“We have the greatest library probably in the state of Illinois and maybe in the country,” Elgin Mayor David Kaptain said before declaring 2024 as Gail Borden Library Year in the city. “This is so important for this community.”

Read More...

Shown here Courtesy of the Elgin Courier News

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$1.50 Deals for our 150th Anniversary! Library officials are pleased that partners will be offering $1.50 specials in honor of the Library’s 150th Anniversary this year. Library Piggy Bank KCT Credit Union is offering its iconic piggy bank* for $1.50. People may purchase these banks at any of the KCT Branches. Longtime Library supporter, KCT helps people live better lives financially. KCT believes in the principle of serving their member-owners with financial literacy and education. *While supplies last. We appreciate our partners for supporting the Library and library initiatives throughout the years and even more this year for our momentous occasion. Check back see more local deals!

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Please join us in celebrating the Gail Borden Public Library District's 150^th birthday

 

After the Illinois State legislature passed the "Free Library Act," this community was the first in the state to vote yes to create a public library. The library doors opened in 1874 in a building located where the Tower Building now stands.

 

Please visit this page often, as we create a timeline detailing how the Church brothers' donation of the Scofield mansion to be used as a library was predicated on it being named "Gail Borden" after their beloved stepfather,  the move to new buildings as library usage and the local population grew and how service to this community has changed from users not being able to enter the stacks to select their books to now, where users can download books from wherever they are in the world.

 

The library has always carried books in different languages starting with German.  As the population grew more diverse, so did the books, with the library now carrying books in 10 languages, including Spanish.

 

In the last twenty years, the services and presentations include branches, a bookmobile, world-class exhibits and so much more.

 

Throughout the years, we have been honored to serve this community.  Please check here often as we collect memories and so much more.

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Dear Community,

The Gail Borden Public Library District Board of Trustees and Staff are honored to serve this community as we recognize 150 years of service. 

We are asking all of you to help us celebrate this monumental milestone in 2024.

This community holds the distinct honor of being the first in the state to establish a public library by vote on April 2, 1872, after the State of Illinois passed the “Free Library Act” in March 1872. Much of the impetus for this act followed the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and the gift of books from England with bookplates that were inscribed with “Her Majesty the Queen Victoria.”

While this community was first to vote on establishing a public library in Illinois, the doors of our first library opened in 1874 on the third floor of the Home Bank block that once stood where the Tower Building now stands.

Please plan to celebrate throughout 2024 with us at many 150^th-themed programs, presentations, exhibits, and more.

From all the Board of Trustees, staff, volunteers, Foundation Directors and many more from this library district both past and present, we thank you for your many years of support.  It means the world to us.

Jean Bednar                                                 Carole Medal      

President Board of Trustees                       Chief Executive Officer

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