Poplar Bluff Public Library

Poplar Bluff’s initial library was organized in the April of 1915, when Mrs. M. C. Horton, president of the local reading club, invited two-hundred-fifty individuals to gather at her home and donate books which could be used for a public library. The new library collected one-hundred-fifty books at the meeting at Mrs. Horton’s home and its services relied solely upon the assistance of local volunteers and community support. In December 1915, a Library Association Board was established, and one dollar membership fees were sold to purchase new books and supplies. William N. Barron, a local business owner, offered space in the Criterion Building on Pine Street at no cost to the public facility. The community donated furniture and the St. Louis Library provided an additional one-thousand-two-hundred books. Consisting of a single room, the library soon outgrew its limited space in the Criterion Building. In 1917, a library tax was voted in by the city establishing the Poplar Bluff Library and a permanent addition to the community. Local fundraising and donations increased holdings to thirteen-thousand books by 1930, at which time the library relocated to a former Elks Lodge at the corner of Poplar and Second Streets. The institution remained at this location until the building it occupied was sold and services were moved to the Fraternal Building at the corner of Broadway and Poplar. 

The need for a permanent library facility was apparent by the early 1930s and in 1935, the city backed a bond issue of $30,000 for the construction of a new library. A site was purchased at the corner of West Elm and North Main Streets and the firm of Pleitsch and Price Architects of St. Louis was selected to design the building. The design for the building was in the popular Colonial Revival style which was used for many public and government buildings during the 1920s and 1930s.  

The Poplar Bluff Public Library was officially opened on September 11, 1936 and over one-thousand residents attended the opening reception. The building has continued to serve as the city’s public library since its construction. In the late 1960s the auditorium was removed, and a children’s library area was added in its place. With the exception of a handicapped access ramp added to the north façade, the exterior of the library has not been altered since its construction.  

Poplar Bluff Public Library, National Register of Historic Places. Accessed December 16th 2020. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63817060.

Poplar Bluff Public Library, Wikipedia. Accessed January 21st 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poplar_Bluff_Public_Library.