WPA also sponsored Illinois libraries

By Tom Emery

The Works Progress Administration was one of several hallmark programs of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, and put millions to work in building infrastructure.

The WPA also used creative means to employ others, such as artisans, who decorated post offices and other public buildings with their talents. Area post offices with WPA murals include Staunton and Gillespie.

A little-known aspect of the WPA was its support of libraries in rural areas, and dozens of Illinois communities, including in Macoupin County, with no library service took advantage. Many of those towns were inspired to create their own tax-supported public libraries, a lasting, though long-forgotten, legacy of the WPA.

In the 1930s, millions of Illinois residents were without public library service, particularly in smaller, rural areas.

Macoupin County was home to four public libraries, in Staunton, Bunker Hill, Carlinville, and Virden. Still, 73.9 percent of county residents had no library service.

Nearby, there were a mere two libraries in Montgomery County, leaving 68.7 percent of residents unserved. It was even worse in some counties, which had no library service at all.

The goal of 100 percent library service for state residents was – and remains – a cherished goal of the Illinois State Library. When the WPA implemented an educational program, the Illinois State Library prepared a “million-dollar” plan to use WPA funds to provide free reading for every man, woman, and child in the state. Roosevelt approved the plan in February 1936.

Under the plan, the state library sent books to every county of the state, with additional books and supplies purchased with WPA monies. A “library custodian” oversaw the collections, while each town was responsible for a building to house the books at what were called “library centers.” The towns were also liable for utilities, upkeep, and shelving.

In 1940, the state library reported that 11 communities in Macoupin County had received WPA library centers, including Gillespie, Benld, Mt. Olive, Wilsonville, Palmyra, Modesto, Hettick, Girard, Brighton, Nilwood, and Scottville. Livingston and Worden were also beneficiaries of the WPA library program.

The centers were set up in unusual surroundings. In some cases, barns and taverns were remodeled into library housing, while in Morton Grove, a former shoe repair shop was used. The city of Lyons used a renovated courtroom in the village hall, where the judge’s rostrum served as the circulation desk. A remodeled English cottage was the library center in Oak Lawn. Other quarters were created in recreation centers, community houses, schools, and gas stations.

Ultimately, the state library hoped that these library centers would stimulate interest in the formation of traditional, tax-supported public libraries. Like the rest of the WPA, the library project was intended to create jobs for the library custodians and other workers. Of the 1,093 WPA workers that staffed the centers in Illinois in 1940, all but 50 were from relief rolls.

At its peak, some 280 library centers were scattered across 71 counties of the state, with an average annual circulation of 1.8 million.

Worn books were mended in WPA book repair units, of which 19 were operating statewide in 1939. Cataloging was performed in one of 23 terminal offices that same year.

The WPA libraries were actually more effective than public libraries. Statistics showed that the WPA centers serviced 38 percent of the potential patrons in their areas, compared to 27 percent by public libraries.

In some areas, the library centers outnumbered traditional libraries, including in Macoupin County, where the 11 WPA libraries compared to the four publics. Here as elsewhere, the number of county residents served by the WPA exceeded the number served by tax-supported libraries.

In some areas, WPA books were sent straight to users, including in Calhoun County, where a female worker delivered books by horseback to families in remote areas. The worker, though, could enjoy none of the books herself, as she could not read or write. Still, she patiently worked for months without payment before finally reporting the oversight.

A state library staffer was sent to investigate, and he asked if she had received any mail from the library. “Only these letters,” she replied, handing the staffer four envelopes, each containing a letter and check. The staffer reported that the woman “was amazed; she had never before seen a check, and didn’t recognize it as money.”

The program was abolished in January 1943, and title to the approximately 75,000 books in WPA centers was transferred to the state library. The previous year, the remaining WPA centers were converted to War Information and Library Centers, emphasizing reading materials relating to the war effort.

The creation of 45 tax-supported libraries, including Gillespie, were directly attributed to the WPA library program in Illinois.