Howell Public Library

The Howell Library moved throughout three different places in the district and finalized its location to 1506 Delmar Avenue. It was open for around 50 years before it was no longer a library. It closed altogether in the 90s and became a residential lot much like the rest of the houses on the street.

The Howell library branch first opened in late 1916 in the Old Daniel Wertz school. The library occupied one school room and it started with 2,000 books and different magazines. While here, the library was only open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.^[1] Plans to move the library from the school to the, to be constructed hose house, were in motion as early as 1920. They planned to add in specific quarters inside the hose house separate from the fire station.^[2] There was a meeting held in the community to spark interest about the new library that would be coming to the area that included exhibiting children's books, speeches, and songs.^[3] The library was officially moved from the school to the hose house in August of 1921 and was expected to be open every day Monday through Friday.^[4] While in this new location they held programs for the children and parents in the community to get involved with the library.^[5]

Eventually in July of 1936, the library board of Evansville approved of funds to begin construction of the new Howell Branch Library, $5,000 were given to begin the project.^[6] As the year progressed construction went along quickly, and the building was nearly done by that December.^[7] However, when the new year began there was quite a large setback for the entire community. Evansville flooded in January of 1937 right as the new library was set to open. It was set to open on January 24th of that year [⁸] but was pushed back, and the librarians had to remove all of the materials from the basement that were freshly moved there. ^[9] Despite this, the library opened not much later than its original opening date.

The library ran with no issues up until the late 1970s. In 1978, the library board discovered that the Howell branch library was the most expensive library to run compared to all of the others within the city. When the residents of Howell discovered the library was considering closing, they put up a protest, this caused the library to start up their special programs again. Use of the Howell branch went up 25 percent. [^10] Although this did keep the library in Howell for a bit longer, it would all come to a halt in the early 90s. In 1991, the library was once again the most expensive to run in Evansville.^[11] However, after reviewing, the library board gave the Howell branch one more year to run due to protests from the residents once again. In July of 1992, the board held the meeting that would decide the library's official fate.^[12] It was decided in that meeting that the branch would close on August 22nd of that same year.^[13] Although the branch was closing, the some of the staff were able to rent out space for the children's programs, along with the South Western Indiana Regional Council on Aging who rented the upper floor to make a senior center.^[14] However, it seems as no matter what events occurred in this building they weren't able to keep them running, with low attendance at the senior center the SWIRCA was considering its decision to make the senior center.^[15] This eventually lead to the closing of the senior center by the end of the year, and it was up to the library board to decide what should be done with the building.^[16] It was discussed by the board on whether or not to give it to a non-profit or to sell it in an auction, but ultimately, they decided to put it up for auction.^[17]

On February 6th of 1994, there was a public auction advertisement posted in the newspaper detailing the Howell branch library building and the date it was going to be auctioned (February 11, 1994).^[18] It ended up selling for $20,250 to a married couple who planned to make it into their permanent residence.^[19] Ever since it has been a residential lot and has not been turned into a public structure again. It is still standing and is located at the same address as its original. The current residential status is unknown.

1980 Howell Branch Library, Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library: Digital Archive. Accessed October 25th, 2023. https://digital.evpl.org/digital/collection/evplcent/id/251/rec/5.

1927 Howell Branch Library, Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library: Digital Archive. Accessed November 27th, 2023. https://digital.evpl.org/digital/collection/evplcent/id/18/rec/4.

^[1] "Howell Library to be Opened on Saturday." The Evansville Courier (Evansville) October 10th, 1916. , 5-5.

^[2] "Plan Hose House." The Evansville Press (Evansville) December 8th, 1920. , 14-14.

^[3] "Library Boosters Meet to Stimulate Interest." The Evansville Courier (Evansville) May 21st, 1921. , 1-1.

^[4] "Will Move Howell Library Wednesday." The Evansville Courier (Evansville) August 7th, 1921. , 16-16.

^[5] "Book Week Program at Howell Library." The Evansville Courier (Evansville) May 14th, 1924. , 19-19.

^[6] "Board Approves Funds for New Library." The Evansville Press (Evansville) July 3rd, 1936. , 10-10.

^[7] "New Howell Library Nearing Completion." The Evansville Courier (Evansville) December 20th, 1936. , 23-23.

^[8] "Howell Library Dedication Rite Set for Sunday." The Evansville Courier (Evansville) January 20th, 1937. , 1-1.

^[9] "College is Being Used as Red Cross Base." The Evansville Press (Evansville) January 25th, 1937. , 14-14.

^[10] Swanson, Patricia. "Howell Shows How to Revitalize Neighborhood." The Evansville Press (Evansville) October 9th, 1979. , 9-9.

^[11] Marynell, Herb. "City Closing Howell Library in August." The Evansville Courier (Evansville) June 15th, 1991. , 1-1.

^[12] Marynell, Herb. "West Siders May Learn Fate of Howell Library Friday." The Evansville Courier (Evansville) July 16th, 1992. , 4-4.

^[13] Marynell, Herb. "Howell Branch Library Will Close its Doors Aug. 22." The Evansville Courier (Evansville) July 18th, 1992. , 1-1.

^[14] Johnson, Ella. "Children's Programs Will Survive Howell's Closing." The Evansville Courier (Evansville) August 20th, 1992. , 4-4.

^[15] Swanson, Patricia. "Low Attendance Raises Questions About Howell Senior Center." The Evansville Press (Evansville) August 10th, 1993. , 18-18.

^[16] Swanson, Patricia. "Howell Senior Center to Close After Dec. 31." The Evansville Press (Evansville) December 2nd, 1993. , 15-15.

^[17] Foster, Kyle. "Library Board Votes to Sell Howell Building." The Evansville Press (Evansville) December 31st, 1993. , 1-1.

^[18] "Public Auction." The Evansville Courier (Evansville) February 6th, 1994. , 62-62.

^[19] Whitehead, Betsy. "Howell Library Sells for $20,250." The Evansville Courier (Evansville) February 12th, 1994. , 4-4.

Swanson, Patricia. "Howell Library Buyer to Convert 1936 Facility Into Home, Offices." The Evansville Press (Evansville) February 12th, 1994. , 9-9.