Library officials plan centennial celebration

BENTON — A centennial celebration is planned this spring for the Benton Public Library which turns 100 years old this year.
"This is the 100th anniversary of the library after it was established in May 1916 by the Benton City Council," said Doris Heaton, president of the Board of Trustees.
The library has had five locations since it was established. Officials have been in the current location since 2005.
The first Benton Library Assocation was formed by a group of private citizens on Jan. 24, 1879. A private club, Association members met in each other's homes to exchange, read and discuss books. The Association continued as the only library until Feb. 21, 1916, when Mrs. W.H. Hart, president of the Benton Women's Club, Mrs. F.H. Wykes, chairman of the Benton Women's Club's Library Committee, and Judge W.H. Hart presented a petition to the city council to establish a library and reading room in Benton. In May, 1916, the City of Benton passed an ordinance which established a library for the residents of Benton.
In 1917, the city council appointed the first board of directors. The first library director was Helen Dickson. Since 1924, there have been 18 library directors. Susan Stickel, the current director, has been in the position about one year.
In 1929, the Andrew Cleveland home at 502 S. Main St. was donated to the city for use use. For 25 years  the library was in this home.
In 1950, a replica of the Statue of Liberty, one of 26 made, was erected in May — installed by then mayor Virgil Center. Local Boy Scouts purchased the statue following a fundraising campaign. Over 1,000 people attended the dedication ceremony, according to Heaton.
In 1955, a fire destroyed the library. During the time after the fire, books were donated by the State of Illinois and Benton residents. A temporary library location was found and the public used this space until the new library was built. It opened in the spring of 1956.
A referendum was passed by the voters of the Benton Grade School District to become a taxing library to support the business of the library in 1985. The current district include the Benton Grade School district and one precinct in Logan.
"There was another building on the north side of this building. It was built around 1956. Then in 2005 we built this half (south) of this building and tore down the other building and expanded it out," Heaton said.
The new $1.3 million building was constructed in 2004 and opened in November 2005.
Current services of the library are children's service, genealogy and history, reading and tutoring rooms, videos and over 60,000 books and items to check out. The library also has a computer room with Internet access, a study room, a young adult's room and coffee shop.
Officials are planning several events this spring, including a Community Day in May.
"We will have a day full of activities," Heaton said. "This is an old, old library. "We're going to celebrate the whole year, but the community celebration will be in May. We're doing little bits as we go."
As part of the celebration, the library will be selling old chairs and conduct a raffle.
Heaton, who has been on the Board of Trustees since the early 80s, currently has a guessing game contest on the library's website.
More information about the library's 100th anniversary will be reported in future articles.