WLA 125

Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame member Charles Bunge made an excellent presentation about the creation of Wisconsin’s public library systems law on February 8. In the open discussion period following his presentation Bunge recounted meeting S.  Read More

 
On this date 125 years ago a group of individuals gathered in the office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (located in Wisconsin’s second Capitol, shown above) for the purpose of establishing a state library association.  At that meeting,  Read More

 
A public kick-off of the celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Wisconsin Library Association took place on February 9th at the State Capitol. The celebration event took place in conjunction with Wisconsin Library Legislative Day. The ceremony at the Capitol included presentations by Plumer Lovelace,  Read More

In 1836 when the United States Congress created the Territory of Wisconsin it appropriated $5,000 for a library. This was the origin of the Wisconsin State Library (now the Wisconsin State Law Library) making it Wisconsin’s first and oldest library.  Read More

WLA’s Library Legislative Day for 2016 will occur next week on February 9th. Library legislation like everything else connected to Wisconsin libraries also has a heritage. In his 1966 history of the Wisconsin Library Association Benton H. Wilcox wrote about WLA’s first legislative victory.

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In December of 1971, the Governor signed into law SB 47.  This bill substantially revised the laws related to public libraries in Wisconsin and enabled the creation of single-county and multi-county public library systems in Wisconsin. It was largely responsible for ensuring that every citizen in Wisconsin not only has access to public library service but has access to the shared resources of all public libraries in Wisconsin.    Read More

The American Library Association was founded in 1876, fifteen years before the Wisconsin Library Association was established. In 1882 Theresa West (later Theresa West Elmendorf), assistant librarian of the Milwaukee Public Library, became the first member of ALA from Wisconsin.  Read More

 
The first public library established under Wisconsin’s 1872 public library law was the Black River Falls Public Library which was established in the fall of 1872.  This library met the three criteria for being defined as a public library under Wisconsin law: 1) it was established by a governmental unit (the Village of Black River Falls);  Read More

Wisconsin’s original public library law was introduced as Assembly Bill no. 87, 1872 on January 26, 1872 by Assemblyman Alexander Graham of Janesville, Wisconsin. It was approved by the Governor on March 22, 1872. The  Graham Bill was remarkably similar to a bill introduced in the Illinois Legislature on March 23,  Read More

One of Wisconsin’s earliest and most unusual libraries was that of Territorial Governor James Duane Doty (1799-1865). While serving as Territorial Governor (1841-1844) in Madison, Doty made his own personal library of about 500 volumes available for use by the general public.  Read More