Stillwater Public Library is committed to providing an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming space where all members of our community can explore, learn, and connect.
Our Objectives
- Bolster the library’s position in the community as an accessible, free, safe, and welcoming destination for everyone.
- Anchor the library’s role as a connector within the larger social and economic fabric of the community.
- Preserve and honor the unique character of the historic Carnegie library.
- Protect the library’s people, property, and information.
- Maintain and improve library spaces and amenities to enhance the user experience.
The library is a bridge from our history to the future.
We evolve to meet changing needs while honoring our past and strengthening our legacy of public service.
Our 2023 Successes
- The library was honored with an award from the Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission for the library’s contributions to preservation, preservation education, and good stewardship of our historic Carnegie building.
- Masonry restoration continued with caulking and tuckpointing completed on the west side, the terrace, and half of the south face of the building.
- Preservation work occurred throughout the library, including interior wall repairs and repainting, installation of a metal cap over a joint in the gallery floor to protect tiles from damage, retaining wall repairs, and restoration of wood tables by a past trustee.
- Grant money was awarded to the library to update signage to help patrons better navigate the building and find resources.
- Building security was enhanced with the addition of a new exterior security camera providing coverage of the staff entrance and the replacement of four interior analog security cameras with digital models.
- Volunteers from the Ivy Garden Club and the Board of Trustees brought vibrancy and color to the library with their careful planting and tending of flowering pots and seasonal greens.
- With visitors to the library often asking about its history, a research volunteer dug into archives for articles and artifacts highlighting key library events. A history of the library display was installed on the mezzanine level and updated in both a brochure format as well as on the website’s history of library page.
- The library is a founding member of a collective effort called the Stillwater Area Historic Newspaper Initiative that undertook a project to digitize and make searchable more than 77,000 pages of the Stillwater Gazette (1870–1926) and the Stillwater Messenger (1911–1926).