History

The local Montevideo Public Library was established in 1879 by nine individuals.  Each member contributed three dollars.  Annual dues were $1.00.  In 1892, this early private library was taken over by the city of Montevideo. A one mill tax was levied producing an operating budget of $250.

Around 1902, a movement was started for a Carnegie Library.  This became a reality in 1907 when Andrew Carnegie donated $10,000 to construct a new Carnegie Public Library.  Total construction costs were $8,960.  This building served the Montevideo area for over sixty years.  In 1960, the Chippewa County Library System was created.  Charter members were the cities of Maynard, Clara CIty, and Montevideo, along with all rural residents.  The city of Milan joined in 1968.

During the 1960's, it became obvious that our community was outgrowing the Carnegie building, and that a new building was needed.  In 1968, a joint project was undertaken by the city of Montevideo and Chippewa County to build a new combined city-county library.  Total cost of this twelve thousand plus square foot facility was $200,000. A public library grant of $100,000 provided half of the needed money.  The city and county each raised $50,000.

The current library building features an attractive Spanish flair.  It has a tiled roof and a striking Spanish-inspired peak, along with a warm, dark wood interior utilizing heavy wooden beams.  The inviting front features three beautiful arches.

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Library Services

The Montevideo/Chippewa County Public Library offers a variety of services to the public.  These include:

• Interlibrary Loan - If the library doesn't have what you need, we can get it from almost anywhere.
• Two meeting rooms - Large meeting room seats 40, small meeting room seats 8
• Computer Database Searching
• Children's storyhour
• Reference services
• Summer Reading Program - Encourages children to read during the summer

As well as services, the library also has a variety of equipment for use by the public.  These include:
 

Typewriter Overhead projector Opaque projector VCR VCR/TV combination Movie screens Slide projector Fax machine Photo Copier Color Copier Video Projector Digital Projector Computers High quality laser and injet printers

 
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Materials

Like most libraries, the most important part of the Montevideo/Chippewa County Public Library's collection is books.  We house over 50,000 cataloged books, plus thousands of paperbacks.  But, unlike some libraries, there are more than just books availible.  There are also:

Genealogy resources - how-to books, newspaper index, and naturalization census records Large print books Magazines - Various magazines, many available on-line Newspapers - 15 different newspapers, including local, regional, state-wide, and national Pamphlets - concise information on a broad range of topics Audio Books - A wide variety of abridged and unabridged titles on audio cassette Video cassettes - a growing collection of over 1,500 instructional, informational, and recreational VHS videos Internet access - Six public access terminals povide WWW, FTP, Telnet, and other Internet services. Quality word processing and spread sheet suite software is available on all terminals.

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Schedule of Fees and Fines
 

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