Friends
History
The History of Our Organization
Friends of the Kountze Public Library was organized
in September 1998, when it was clear that the need for a new library facility
could no longer be ignored.
Letters were sent out to patrons of the library by the library director to
enlist volunteers interested in helping get a Friends group started. The mission
of the library was to create lifelong readers and learners in the Kountze
community.
The Friends understood that for the library to move forward in this commitment,
new and up to date, technology and services needed to be embraced. To be able to
make that possible, the library would have to move out of the 50 year old
facility in which it was presently housed. The structure was built in 1950 as
the City Hall-Fire Department, enlarged in 1989 to its present square footage of
5,674 sq. ft. The library had functioned initially as a service project of the
Kountze Woman's Club, opened in one room of the City Hall building in 1961.
In 1989, the City of Kountze adopted the library as a department of the city.
However, no active Friends group had ever existed.
After having officially organized, the Friends took on the goal of building a
new library facility that would meet the community's current and future needs.
The group spearheaded the effort to have the Kountze Woman's Club and the City
of Kountze purchase a parcel of land adjacent to the Kirby-Hill House Museum for
$25,000. The property, 800 Redwood Street, is centrally located. It is directly
across the street from the previous library, within walking distance of the
elementary and middle schools, two miles from the high school, five blocks from
the Hardin County courthouse and a half mile from the only grocery store and new
post office.
With this property secured, the task of raising the necessary local funds and
sending grant applications to interested area Foundations for support was begun.
The group obtained their 501c (3) designation in January 2001, and joined the
Friends of Libraries & Archives of Texas in April of 2001.
The original library was housed in
one
room of the old City Hall Building.
Our new facility was dedicated on
December 14, 2002.
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