Dillon City Library

In March 1890, a citizens meeting was held in Dillon for the purpose of forming a library association to plan for a public library. Although it had a modest beginning, the effort to create a library was spurred by the civic pride of the citizens of Dillon who responded by contributing books, money, and time. Theatrical performances under the direction of Mrs. Sidney Hooker helped to raise funds for the free library. This spirit has been repeated over the years with various benefits to assist in the operation of the library. In the early 1960s, for example, the local Jaycees worked to raise necessary funds to repair and improve the facilities through a style show and a “Library Day” drive. 

The first library in Dillon was housed in a room donated by the Masonic Lodge. From 1890 through 1894 the growing collection of books was housed successively in a grocery store, a bank, and the Episcopal Church Parish House. In March 1896, the Reverend Hooker circulated a petition requesting the City Council to assess city property for the operation of a library. The proposition was favorably passed at a public election on April 6, 1896. The first trustees of the Dillon Public Library appointed by the town’s mayor, Charles H. Padley, were Mrs. W. C. Orr Sr., Mrs. S. D. Hooker, and Mr. Robert T. Wing.  

By 1901, the collection of over two thousand volumes had overgrown the Episcopal Church Parish House facilities. Records of the library indicate that early in that year the secretary of the Board of Trustees, the Reverend Henry Cope, began correspondence with the Andrew Carnegie Endowment Fund requesting money to build a new library. A sum of $7,500 was granted with the provisions that Dillon would obtain the building site and pledge its support to the library. 

A lot at the corner of Idaho and Glendale Streets was obtained and the architectural firm of C. S. Haire of Helena was employed to design the building. The striking medieval-appearance structure, almost churchlike in design, was completed on December 22, 1901, and the entire book collection was moved into the building that day. The new library opened its doors to the public on December 27, 1902.  

In May 1902, Mary L. Innes was hired as chief librarian to replace Mrs. S. D. Hooker who retired due to ill health. In 1930 Mrs. Innes applied to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace for books on international understanding. The library began to receive these books in 1934 and continued to until 1941 when the one-hundred-volume collection was finished. Other donations and special collections have been received from the 1930s to the present, including a fine collection of Shakespeare’s plays and poetry. The daughter of former Mayor White, Miss Carolyn White, left $10,000 to the library in memory of her father. She specified that the money was to be invested with the interest to be used solely for the purchase of books. 

Dillon City Library, National Register of Historic Places. Accessed December 17th 2020. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71975609.

About, Dillon City Library. Accessed January 22nd 2021. https://dillonpubliclibrary.org/about/.