A personalized stamp depicting the Eager Free Library in Evansville
The Eager Free Library in Evansville is one of several Wisconsin libraries celebrating significant anniversaries this year. The building in which the Eager Free Library is housed is one hundred years old this year. The architect for the building was the architectural firm of Claude and Starck which was responsible for the design of nearly forty libraries in the Midwest. The library’s design was the first Prairie School design by Claude and Starck. Local merchant Almeron Eager bequeathed $10,000 for the contstruction of the building in 1902. When finally completed in 1908 the cost was $16,000. Ruth Ann Montgomery, a member of the Wisconsin Library Heritage Center Steering Committee, has written a history of the library for its centennial.
Other Wisconsin libraries celebrating anniversaries include the Milwaukee Public Library which is celebrating the the 130th anniversary of its founding and the 110 anniversary of its building; the Bloomington Public Library which is celebrating its centennial, the Black Earth Public Library which is celebrating its centennial; and the Independence Public Library which is also celebrating its centennial.
Tips of celebrating anniversaries can be found here.