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A Public Library for Victoria

Dedicated to the sunshine of truth,

the moonshine of meeting deadlines,

and the starshine of Victoria.

8661 Deer Run Dr. * Victoria

952-443-2351

The Victoria GAZETTE

Victoria’s Corner Bar.  Nightly Specials and Menus.  952-443-9944

by Sue Orsen

         It's not the first library in Victoria, but it is the first public library in Victoria.  It is one of six branch libraries in the Carver County Library System.

         As defined today, a public library 1) provides all residents free access to information, 2) provides programs and resources such as computers and story times, and 3) provides a site for community meetings and resident gatherings.

         Victoria also has two academic libraries, one at Holy Family Catholic High School and the other at the Victoria Elementary School.

         Victoria has an express library at the Victoria Recreation Center that provides for deliveries and pickups through the Carver County Library System.

         And Victoria has special libraries such as the Archbishop Harry J. Flynn Library at the St. Victoria Catholic Church.

***

         According to online references, the first public library in Minnesota was founded in the City of Zumbrota in 1879, which is well over 100 years ago and just over 20 years after Minnesota became a state.  It is noteworthy that a public library was opened in the City of Victoria during the city's Centennial Year.  The City of Victoria was incorporated in 1915.

         Communities much smaller than Victoria have a public library.  For example, the City of Minneota, from which my husband and I graduated high school, has had a public library since 1891.  Allan's mother was a frequent visitor to that library and anxiously awaited new book arrivals.  The population of Minneota hovers around 1,300.  The population of Victoria is over 8,000.  The smallest town in Minnesota that has a public library is Longville, population 150.

         Hennepin County Library is the state's largest public library, serving 1.1 million residents with 41 branch libraries.  It was only five years ago (2008) that the Hennepin County Library was formed by the merger of the Minneapolis Public Library and the suburban Hennepin County Library.

         In following up on a side note, I found an interesting connection between Victoria and the Minneapolis Public Library, which was founded in 1885.  A founder and first member of the Minneapolis Library Board  was Thomas Lowry.  And, yes, Thomas Lowry (1843-1909) is related to the founder of the Lowry Nature Center in Victoria.

         The Lowry Nature Center, which was completed in 1969, is named after Goodrich and Louisa Lowry.  Goodrich Lowry (1912-1988) was a grandson of Thomas Lowry and was named after his grandmother (Thomas' wife) Beatrice Goodrich Lowry.  Small world.

***

         In every other respect, however, the new Victoria Library is connected to the Carver County Library System.  According to online information, there were libraries in Carver County since 1858.  However, if I'm reading things correctly, these were collections of books  owned by literary societies, reading circles,  culture clubs, and churches.

         Although there was a free lending library in Chaska in 1902, it seems that 1929 marks the founding of the first public library in Carver County when the City of Chaska provided public money to support the Chaska Library. 

         Other public libraries in the county arrived in this order:  Waconia (1935), Watertown (1939), Young America (1975), Chanhassen (1979), Norwood Young America (1994, when the two cities merged), and Victoria (2015). 

 

Click here to continue “A Public Library for Victoria.”

        

April 2015