June 1, 1898--1949
Bartlesville’s first Reading Room was established by the Fortnightly Club in Mrs. Filkin’s Millinery Store on East 2nd Street. In 1908 it was renamed Tuesday Club Reading Room and was open on Fridays 2:00 P.M—5:30 P.M. Also during this year the City Commission considered a library maintenance fund of $2,000. In November the Bartlesville City Commission and Tuesday Club decided to request a $20,000 grant from the Carnegie Foundation for a library building. In January 1909 a new library site was selected at 7th and Osage and owners of the land donated 2/3 of the 1,800 foot lot.
Funding for the new library building was secured in 1912 and contracts were signed for the construction of the new building; $12,800 came from the Carnegie Grant. March 13, 1913 was the grand opening day of Bartlesville’s Carnegie Library. The library contained 1, 250 books and Miss Mable Blakeslee was Librarian. During the years of 1916-1919 Miss Myrtle Weatherhold assumed the position. The annual report to the Board on March 29, 1919 reported a circulation of 14,229 of the over 2,000 books owned and 1500 registered borrowers. In November Miss Ruth Brown was hired as Librarian, a position she would hold until 1950.
By 1927 the Library had grown to 10,000 volumes. Bonds were voted for a $25,000 addition to the Carnegie Library building in April of that year but the vote was voided due to a technicality. A new election was held in May and even though it passed, technicalities again invalidated the vote. In September the Bartlesville City Commission and the Library Board decided to move the Library to the north wing of the Civic Center. An addition to the east side of the wing was approved by the City Commission in 1931. By 1936 the library contained 25,000 volumes.
1950--Current
1950-1952 were tumultuous years. Librarian Ruth Brown was accused of purchasing communist materials for the library which was untrue. In actuality a group of citizens opposed her practice and promotion of integration. The City Commission asked the Library Board to fire Miss Brown. When they refused, the City Council changed the city ordinance which governed the library and dismissed the Board. The new Library Board appointed was made up of supporters of the opposition group. Two weeks later on July 25, 1950 the City Commissioners fired Miss Brown on the grounds of insubordination, yet when publicly questioned for specifics, they could give none.
As a result of this accusation, the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee became involved, and in addition, the Oklahoma Chapter of that committee was created as a direct result of Brown’s case. Miss Brown and former Library Board member, Darleen Anderson Essary, Phillips attorney, filed a suit against the city commission, the new library board, and the temporary librarian. Partially due to its timing (during the height of the McCarthy era) the case received national attention, however, it was argued on censorship, not intellectual freedom or civil rights and the final judgment by the Oklahoma Supreme Court was in favor of the City Commissioners.
On September 1, 1953 Herbert “Gene” Winn assumed the position of Head Librarian; his hiring helped calm the emotional uproar that had been dividing the city for the past three years. He served until 1983.
After failing twice, in 1957 and 1959, a bond election finally passed in May 1960 for the rebuilding and enlargement of the Library. Also in 1960 and 1961 grants were received from two local foundations for the establishment of a “Self-Development Center” aka Fine Arts Room, Reading Lounge and a Periodical Room; and the refurbishment of the American Legion Room above the Library for use as a Community History room. In March of 1964 the Bartlesville City Commission appointed a Historical Commission to establish the History Room. In November the room was open to the public for research purposes and the viewing of exhibits.
Upon the retirement of Mr. Winn, Cynthia Pulliam became Library Director in 1983 and served until 1987. The Library’s first automated catalog and circulation system was installed in 1987, and that fall, Library Director Denise Peterson was hired. Plans were underway for a new library facility. In July of the following year the city appointed The Bartlesville Library Trust Authority took. Their charge was to design, build, equip, and maintain a public library. The summer of 1989 was the kick off of the “Build a Brighter Tomorrow” campaign; this campaign’s goal was to raise enough private donations to pay for 2/3 of the new library building. In September a bond election was held for the new library facility. The bond called for the demolition of the old library and Civic Center, and the construction of a new library on the existing site. The total project cost was $4 million. Of the total costs, over $1.5 million consisted of private donations. The election passed with the following vote: Yes: 5,161 No: 4,061. On November 8, the library closed for the last time in the Civic Center building. The Library staff and volunteers moved the Library’s collection to a temporary location where it remained until December 1991. In the summer of 1990, the Library received the national John Cotton Dana Public Relations Award for the “Build a Brighter Tomorrow” Campaign, and in September, Denise Peterson resigned.
In January 1992, Jan Sanders assumed responsibility as Library Director. February 28, 1991 groundbreaking ceremonies took place for the new library facility; January 1992 the
Library was opened to the public. Items in the collection numbered over 80,000. The Local History and Genealogy departments were merged to create the Local and Family History area, and the Youth Services department was expanded. During that year, the Consulting Engineers Council of Oklahoma awarded their “Public Improvement Award” to the city of Bartlesville for the Bartlesville Public Library and History Museum.
Youth Services Librarian Beth DeGeer receives the “Outstanding New Librarian of the Year” Award from the Oklahoma Library Association in the spring of 1994. 1997 was a landmark year with access to the Internet and full graphic interface to the World Wide Web made available at six public terminals.
The Library was awarded the 2nd Annual Ruth Brown Memorial Award by the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the Oklahoma Library Association March 26, 1999.
The Library was awarded the Highsmith Library Innovative Award for the “library’s leadership and creativity in planning and implementing a multi-year program on 1st Amendment freedoms” at ALA’s annual conference June 18, 2001. In August, Director Jan Sanders resigned.
Joan Singleton named Library Director in October 2001. The library now held over 110,000 items, and had more than 25,000 registered users. A “Books @ Home” delivery service to the homebound and elderly was established in 2002 and in the spring of 2003 the One Book, One Bartlesville program was established. In 2005 the Friends of the Library group provided for a new audio/video projection system for the meeting room. The Library also became a wi-fi hotspot, offering wireless internet access to the public. During 2006, the Library became one of the first in the state to offer mp3 players for checkout for use with downloadable audio books. In the annual report to the Oklahoma Department of Libraries, the Bartlesville Public Library listed Circulation for Fiscal Year 2006: 453,635; Total Registered Borrowers: 29,407; Total Programming Attendance: 11,324 and Total Collection Size: 124,547.
In March 2007 The Bartlesville Women’s Network will present a memorial bust of Ruth Brown in honor of her ground-breaking efforts in civil rights, censorship, and library service to the entire community.
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