Stacyville Public Library

Read how this library was established and how it has evolved to become such an important part of our community. The Stacyville Public Library opened on Tuesday, May 14, 1968 in the Stacyville City Hall building. After 52 years of service as a jail area, the wall between two jail cells had been torn down and bookshelves were added to prepare the space for its new service as a community library. A c

ommittee of volunteers had donated time, energy and books since a city council decision in late 1967 approved making the area available for a library. Zola Mullenbach was chosen to be librarian and the hours open were Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 2:00 to 5:30 and Friday evening from 7:00 to 9:00. The original board of trustees was organized December 4, 1967 with five members: Bev Hatten, Barb Thome, Phyllis Schmidt, Ann Theobald and Christine Staudt. By February 4, 1969, Librarian Zola Mullenbach reported 257 patrons registered. The largest daily circulation was 28, with an overall average of 20. In May of 1969, members of the library board presented the problem of shortage of space to the Stacyville City Council. Discussion centered around the Jail Cell and the idea of using the entire City Hall area for library purposes. Planning for expansion of the facilities was approved in November. With the help of a $10,000 grant from the Kinney-Lindstrom Foundation of Mason City, remodeling began. Books and periodicals were kept in the beauty shop area next to Durben Clothing Store and the library operated out of that temporary location until the City Hall interior remodeling,with a project cost of $17,647, was completed in March 1970. The "new" building with 1,050 square feet of space opened in April 1970. In 1984, Sydney Heimer began working as the Director of Stacyville Public Library. In 1995, the Stacyville Public Library board determined that more space was needed and began fundraising efforts for a new library building. The largest fundraiser was the Cows in the Corn Maze which was operated with a large community volunteer workforce in the summer of 1999 and 2000 and a Haunted Corn Maze in the Fall 2000, 2001, and 2002. Carver Charitable Trust FoundationOld Building provided a $60,000 grant and a $25,000 donation in memory of Elizabeth Halvorson provided additional funds for the $285,000 project. The new building with 4,800 square feet of space was completed in 2004 with a large crew of volunteer labor assisting during construction. On December 4, 2004 another crew of volunteers from the community assisted in the move from the old building to the new building one block away using shopping carts to transport the books and materials. Average daily circulation is 100 with the largest daily circulation at over 300. Barb Klapperich began working as the library director with Beth Levan as assistant librarian.