Elwood Public School District history

When the charter was obtained, a permanent board of fifteen directors was elected for one year on January 25, 1899, in the Odd Fellows Hall.

On August 27, 1901, Miss Fatout assisted Mr.

Construction on the new library began in 1903, the same year the natural gas supply was depleted and Elwood’s gas boom ended.

Also in 1906, two members of the Frankfort library board came in order to study the building.

The year 1909 saw library privileges extended to all residents of Pipecreek township and a small branch was opened in Friend’s Store in Frankton in July that same year.

When Miss Henriette Scranton became the librarian in October, 1912, she addressed six different adult groups in the interests of the library.

She helped found the Women’s Press Club in 1913.

In 1920, the library reorganized and conformed to state laws that said the library board shall consist of nine members – two appointed by the Mayor, two by the school board, three by the Circuit Judge, and two by the Township Trustee.

The re-opening on September 25, 1923, was colorful with potted plants and autumn flowers lavishly used in the rooms.

She instructed the children of grades 3 to 6 in the care of books and began a summer Vacation Reading Contest in the summer of 1925.

His “Autumn Sunset” was purchased January 4, 1927 out of the Leeds endowment fund at a cost of $300.

Miss Lucille Genevieve Snow, of Logansport, assumed her duties as new library director on September 3, 1929.

An Elwood Call-Leader article of April 30, 1949 reads: “In observance of the 50th anniversary of the Elwood Public Library the trustees and staff will hold an open house Tuesday night, May 3, 1949.

The school, which opened in 1964, was named for astronaut John Glenn, who just two years prior had become the first American to orbit the earth.

1985 brought the opening of a new library in Summitville.

On October 10, 1994, the library board received plans for a new Elwood library to be built at a cost of $2.3 million.

On Sunday, January 12, 1997, the new Elwood Public Library opened with a formal dedication and open house.

In October 1998, the new facility had been open for twenty-two months.