Elgin Public Library

Elgin is home to much more than Texas’ most famous hot sausage.  It is the home of a group of tenacious citizens who banded together in 1985 to create a very special library.  As part of the City of Elgin’s  Sequecentennial celebration, these individuals created the momentum that, a short year later, resulted in the establishment of a temporary library on Elgin’s historic Main Street in a former fabric shop.  During that inaugural year a diverse number of community groups and individuals made contributions that made this first little library possible.  On March 13, 1986 the storefront location opened its doors and held an open house sponsored by its newly formed Friends of the Elgin Library group.  Elgin High School’s retired librarian, Katie Knowles, was recruited into service as the first librarian and accepted a salary at the generous rate of $1.00 a year.  The library held a collection of about 5,000 volumes.  Within six months the library had registered over 600 cardholders and was checking out 300 to 400 books a month.  The library moved to it’s present location of 404 North Main Street because of the forward thinking and hard work of the Elgin Memorial Society.  The building had been, among various uses, a doctor’s office, manufacturing company, car dealership, and junk shop.  In 1994 the library became an official department of the city and was principally supported by public funds.    In 2002 the library  moved temporarily to 1002 North Avenue C in the original high school location.  The old site was torn down and a new 13,000 sq. ft. building created.   Today the library has  over 9,000 cardholders and is checking out over 8,000 items a month on average.  The growth could not have occurred without the generous contributions of the Elgin community – who prove once again that Elgin truly is the home of “hot guts and warm hearts.”

The Elgin Public Library  is located in downtown Elgin at 404 North Main Street, next door to City Hall. The Elgin Public Library provides free services to all residents living within the state of Texas.  The library  holds over 38,000 items including books, music CDs, videos, CD-Roms  and audiobooks.  Over 2700 videos are available for check-out.    Material that is needed but not in our collection can be borrowed through Interlibrary Loan for the price of the return postage.In total, almost 98,000 items were checked out of the library during fiscal year 2014! In addition to these items, thousands of people entered the library to utilize print and electronic reference resources, access the Internet through the Library’s Internet connection, enjoy state-of-the-art Wi-fi service, peruse 72 subscriptions including  local newspapers, view a Library exhibit, or attend one of the Library’s many events, programs or classes.

Our friendly and professional staff is eager to serve you.

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