Blaine County Library

Upon entering I went over to him and asked if he were Mr. Putnam. He replied that he was, so I introduced myself and stated my business. He was quite a large man and I quickly learned that he had a bad speech impediment, which I ignored.

He sat down heavily in an office chair and placing his elbows on the arms of the chair, with fingers interlaced, he looked at me for several minutes without saying anything. I became frightened and wished I could run out of the place; I wished someone else had been the committee of one.

Finally, he began to speak, with difficulty, owing to his speech impediment, and this is what he said, “No, Mrs. Allison, I will not give the Women’s Study Club those lots on the corner.” I thought my mission was a failure, and my heart sank. After more hesitation he said, “But I’ll tell you what I will do; I will make out a deed for the two lots in the middle of the block to the club and put it in the bank. If your club can show a permanent means of support for the library a year from now, you are welcome to the lots and the deed will be transferred accordingly.

My heart came right back to its rightful place, and I have no idea what I said to thank him; I do remember the big smile he gave me as he finished telling me we could have the lots where the library now stands. I know I told him I would convey his message to the Club, and I thanked him. My mission was successful. I was very happy and proud I was able to tell my husband and fellow club members that the so called hard shelled, crusty, woman hating old bachelor was really a misunderstood and lonely man.

I took his message back to the club and then we were confronted with the question of the upkeep of the library when it was established. It was election year, so we conceived the idea of approaching the County Commissioners about the County supporting the library from taxes. Again, I was a member of the committee to interview the Commissioners. We learned that petitions bearing a certain percentage of registered voters must be presented by a certain time to get on the ballot in the fall, getting permission to raise the taxes to pay a Librarian, buy books, pay utilities, etc.

The committee and all club members met and made-up petitions and sent them to all parts of the county, asking the cooperation of all. I had a petition with me at all times and secured many signatures. We called in all the petitions and when we counted the names, we found we had gone way over the required percentage of voters. We were so happy to turn in our petitions to the County Clerk and County Commissioners. We thought we were all finished with what at first looked like an unsurmountable task.

To our dismay, we were soon notified that a great number of signatures were not the same as on the registration rolls, and we had fallen short of the requirements. That meant going over the petitions, checking them against the voting lists, and again interviewing those who signed incorrectly. That was a time consuming, thankless task, but we were still determined to see it through when we were so near our goal. Many with incorrect signatures were hard to contact, living in distant parts of the county, some had changed their minds and we had to replace their names with others, some of the women had been told by their husbands they were already paying too much taxes and refused to sign again, and some just flatly refused to sign without any reason.

I became weary... tired in mind and body; each refusal caused all of us to become depressed and wonder if we would ever be able to make up the list of required names. I wondered if the results would be worth the effort, and would our efforts be appreciated? But we were a determined bunch of women who would not give up. We ended with our percentage of names, this time correct as registered, and we had a few to spare.

In the fall election our measure carried. Our bachelor friend gave us the deed to the lots as promised; we secured plans for the building and construction began.

Mr. Putnam took great pride in watching the progress of construction. With great satisfaction to himself, Mr. Putnam told me that at last he felt that he had been able to do something for his community that would be of lasting benefit to young and old alike. I told him that the community would forever be grateful to him for his generosity in helping the Women’s Study Club make this project come about. The Club acted only as a representative of the community; that we could never have got very far in such a big undertaking without the help of everyone who had assisted in any way…himself, the signers of the petition, the County Commissioners, the voters, the Women’s Study Club, those who made up petitions, and the few who sought signers practically day and night. The community as a whole working together was responsible for our LIBRARY, of which we may all be justly proud.

There have been 8 directors in the 102 years since the library was established. The first librarian was Miss Patience Kemp 1920-1923. Followed by Evelyn Butcher Walters from 1923-1925, Lucile Stineberg Flynn 1925-1927, Mrs. Catherine O’Brien 1927-1967, Leona Jensen 1967-1987, Lee Kuhr 1987-2000, Diane Doughten 2000-2011, and Valerie Frank 2011 to?

The current library was finished in 1975. In the dedication handout it states, “The library has changed, as the community has, over the period since 1920. The book collection has grown, and additional materials have become important to service.” Indeed, a lot has changed since I began working at the library in 1994 as the clerk. We had one computer, and that was used to process books. We got the first public computer in 2000. That was also when we automated the circulation. The biggest changes have occurred in the last 10 years, due in large part to technology and new ways of thinking about what a library can provide its community. We are always open to suggestions for programs, activities, or materials purchases from the public. In fact, some of the most circulated books have been patron requests. We know it is important to have collaboration with other groups in the community to continue to be relevant to the public.