|
|
|
|
The Crawford County Public Library was organized in 1954 after enough signatures were obtained to petition for a tax rate. The first Crawford County Library budget was published in August, 1954. In 1955, a librarian was hired and a storefront building was used to house the library's collection. The cleaning and repair of the building was accepted in lieu of rent.
In 1956, the library was moved to the Beals' property on East 5th Street in English, IN. The house and lots were purchased for $6800. Three thousand dollars ($3000) was provided by a Building Fund from the State Tax Commission and the Library Board received a loan for the remaining $3800. It was paid for in 1959 and the library remained on East 5th until 1968 when the library moved to 111 West 5th Street.
The library operated without building expansion until moving to the new library, our current location, in the new town of English. In September 1992, April 1993, and September 1993, a Department of Commerce Community Focus Fund Grant in the amount of $500,000 was applied for. The grant application was denied the first two rounds of funding but finally in November 1993, the Library Board was notified that the grant had been awarded. The Library Board of the Crawford County Library proposed to construct a new library in the relocated town of English at the corner of Indiana Avenue and Oak Hill Circle. The old library on 5th Street was destroyed when old English was razed.
The Crawford County Public Library has a Children's Area, Periodicals Area, and Genealogy Section. The library also has a copy machine and fax machine for community use. Patrons are provided with high-speed internet access (using a T-1 line). Thanks to a generous grant from the Gates Foundation in 2002, the library has six public access computers at English and four at BML. The local community Website, www.cccn.net developed by the Crawford County Community Network, is hosted on the Library Server which was also granted from the Gates Foundation.
Branch Library Web Collection Plus Services Programs Trustees Links Site Map
