Hours:
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Monday
Tuesday
Thursday
Friday
9:00
a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
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Saturday
9:00
a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
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Sunday
& Wednesday
Closed
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2010 Holiday Closings:
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New
Year's Day: Jan 1
****
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Jan 18
******
Memorial Day: May 31
******
Independence Day: July 4
******
Labor Day: Sept 6
******
Veterans Day: Nov 11
******
Thanksgiving: Nov 25 & 26
******
Christmas Day: Dec 25
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Contact Us:
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Email
the Librarian
******
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Phone:
417-548-2736
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Sarcoxie
Public Library
506 Center St
Sarcoxie Mo 64862
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| Map |
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"Our
Thanks to those who came Before!"
The
township of Sarcoxie, Missouri, was organized as the first
town in Jasper
County in the 1830s
after being settled by Thacker Vivian of Tennessee in
1831. He was quickly followed by other families.
The first store was started in 1833 by Abner Wilson.
Previously, a group of Delaware Indians had camped at the springs just
off today’s town square. After much discussion of a name, the
first settlers in Jasper County selected “Sarcoxie”
after the Delaware Indian leader. Years later a movement for public
libraries in America began which was spearheaded by Andrew Carnegie.
By 1900 Carthage, Webb City, and Joplin had grown large enough in
Jasper County to seek donations from the Carnegie Trust for their new
libraries.
From
the 1870s onwards, Sarcoxie’s population hovered around 1,000
residents. About 1960, we find the beginnings of the Sarcoxie Public
Library. That was the year that the Business and Professional
Women’s Club (BPW) saw a need for a library facility. They
conducted a drive for new and used books and asked Virginia Adams, a
BPW member, to provide this small collection to the public at her
insurance company office on Center Streetduring
business hours.
In
the early 1970s, the library collection moved to City Hall on the West
side of the Sarcoxie square. Bessie Burks became the librarian and
served the public two hours a week on Saturday afternoons.
In
the summer of 1976,
The Missouri Green
Thumb Program for
older workers hired Bessie Burks for 10 weeks to reorganize the library
and process books. At this time the library was moved to a
new location on 9th
Street where it
shared room in the ambulance building. Jeannine Wormington
became a volunteer in this project. At the end of the summer, the
Sarcoxie City Council hired Bessie and Jeannine to keep the library
open fourteen hours a week. When Bessie Burks passed away in 1981,
Jeannine Wormington became the librarian. She obtained her
librarian's degree from Pittsburg State.
Use
of the library continued to grow so that in 1983 the Friends of the
Library was established. In 1984, an enlarged library was moved to the
former Fire Department building on the West side of the square through
a generous donation in the will of John Swanson. The Summer
Reading Program began with Story Hour for the younger children.
In
1993, through private donations and money from the Stebbins Memorial
Fund, volunteers remodeled, moved, and set-up the library in its
current location in the “Red Front Building” on the
South side of the square. Television crews came to video this
huge community effort as a chain of citizens was strung across the
square moving books hand-to-hand to our current address. This
location is the largest the Sarcoxie Public Library has ever enjoyed
with 1600 square feet.
In
May 2001, a permanent
museum-quality exhibit for V.E.
Lynch was dedicated. Mr. Lynch was a famous
outdoorsman and author who is buried in Sarcoxie. Today
visitors can still view his antique typewriter and mementos from a
by-gone era.
The
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2002 donated two computers,
a scanner and a laser printer to the library. These are very
popular with all ages and include many programs like Microsoft
Publisher, Photoshop, PowerPoint, and Excel.
The
future looks bright as goals include an Online Catalog and color laser
printing and scanning.
So
ask about joining the Friends of the Library and visiting the “Old Red
Front” library, first built prior to 1878 as a
department store.
You
will find the Sarcoxie Public Library collection totals
14,000 volumes and offers videos, books on tape, large print books,
free internet access, and genealogy services.
Old Photos of the Sarcoxie Square: Photo 1 | Photo 2
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