Windom Public Library

Windom’s first library was organized in 1883 and was at the local school. To become a member of the library, you had to donate $5.00 worth of books or

pay $2.00. This fee included the whole family. If you didn’t belong, you had to pay 10 cents a book to use the library. The library was maintained for the community by the local Tourist Club, whose members volunteered to do the work. The Club had plays, lectures, lawn parties, and open meetings to raise money for the library. In 1900, the Tourist Club made it possible to secure a traveling library of 50 volumes.

In 1928, The Windom Library Association was organized and ran the library. The City of Windom established the Windom Public Library in 1954. In January of 1955, the Library Association turned the library over to the new directors of the public library.

The library has had many homes. It was organized at the school, had a home for many years in the basement of the County Courthouse, and went back to the school in 1932. In 1958, the library was housed at the Johnson Garage Building on 4th Avenue. The library moved to the new municipal building in 1963. With both the City and the Library needing more space, the library moved to it’s present location on 4th Ave., in August of 1985.

In 1932, the library served 784 patrons and in 1962, it served 2,049 patrons. Today it serves between 26,000 and 30,000 people a year. In 1955 the library had 4,600 volumes and in 1963 the library had 5,840 volumes. In 1970, the library had expanded to over 9,000 volumes. Today the library has over 36,000 items