Burnet County Library System bookmarks 75 years with Sept. 17 party

Patrons of Burnet’s first library had to walk up two narrow flights of stairs past occupied jail cells to reach a collection of around 1,000 books awaiting their perusal. The library operated on a subscription basis until it moved across the street from the old county lockup to an Army barracks on the grounds of First Presbyterian Church. Having a library was such a big deal in 1949 that the local newspaper ran a list of every book in its collection. 

Today’s book lovers can celebrate 75 years of a successful and thriving Burnet County Library System with a dual-location event on Tuesday, Sept. 17, in Burnet. It begins at 10 a.m. at the Burnet County Visitors Center and Museum, which is located in the Old Burnet County Jail at 109 S. Pierce St., and continues in the fellowship hall of First Presbyterian, 103 S. Pierce St. 

Opening ceremonies are set for 10 a.m. in the parking lot of the old jail. Inside, between 11 a.m. and noon, Bulldog homeschoolers will re-enact historical figures who were essential to the library system’s founding.

Refreshments will be served from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in the church hall, the second home of the Burnet County Free Library. History exhibits will be on display at the system’s five branches: 

• Herman Brown Free Library, 100 E. Washington St. in Burnet
• Marble Falls Public Library, 101 Main St. in Marble Falls
• Joann Cole Mitte Memorial Library, 170 N. Gabriel St. in Bertram
• Spicewood Community Library, 1011 Spur 191 in Spicewood
• Oakalla Public Library, 28981 FM 963 in Oakalla

When the library first opened to subscribers on Jan. 9, 1949, it contained close to 1,000 books purchased by the Pen Chat Club, a chapter of the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs. 

“The club was a combination book club/culture club,” said Burnet County Library Director Florence Reeves. “They were established in 1939 and were a huge part in getting the library started. They had a library fund as early as 1945.”   

Pen Chat Club members worked with Lucille Wilson, a state library employee, to set up a professional library in the small community. 

It was through Wilson that the Burnet County library got its first professional librarian. Wilson introduced Edwin Sue Goree to the Pen Chat Club. Goree was a retired librarian looking for a place to settle. It was the answer to one of Goree’s questions to the club that led her to pick Burnet. 

According to an article by Lucile O’Donnell, who was involved in founding the Burnet County library, most of the state’s libraries were supported by clubs. 

Goree asked the group interviewing her: “Do you intend to keep it a Club Library, or do you intend to get county support?”

The Pen Chat Club library committee all agreed they wanted the county to take it over.

With that settled, the committee had a new problem: salary. Goree calmed their fears by agreeing to take the job for $150 a month, which, even then, was a measly sum.

“This is my state, this is my profession, and I am willing to give to both,” Goree said in O’Donnell’s account. 

Burnet County commissioners agreed to the figure and included the library in the budget, allowing a 3-cent tax per $100 valuation to pay for maintenance and a new building. Burnet County no longer has a separate library tax. The 2024-25 budget for all five of the county’s libraries is $1.2 million, paid for from the general fund. The subscription method was dropped, and the first facility became the Burnet County Free Library. (The name was changed to the Herman Brown Free Library in 1976.)

Within 18 months of opening in the old jail, the library moved into its first permanent home across the street. With the help of Dr. Joe Shepperd, who was mayor of Burnet, the county obtained an unfinished barracks from Fort Hood in Killeen and moved it next to First Presbyterian Church. The renovated barracks is now the church fellowship hall and the location of the second half of the 75th anniversary celebration. 

The current library building at 100 E. Washington opened in 1978 with Burnet County’s first elevator.

suzanne@thepicayune.com