Great River Regional Library

Great River Regional Library is a library system serving Benton, Morrison, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd and Wright Counties in central Minnesota. It is a consolidated library system consisting of 32 branch libraries, with a headquarters at the St. Cloud Public Library.

Great River Regional Library
TypePublic library
EstablishedSeptember 25, 1969 (1969-09-25)[1]
LocationCentral Minnesota
Branches32[1]
Collection
Size865,000 items in catalog (in 2017)[2]
Access and use
Circulation3,078,600 items checked out in 2017[2]
Other information
DirectorKaren Pundsack[1]
Staff278 (in 2017)[2]
Websitewww.griver.org
Map

History

When the hotel which contained St. Cloud's reading room burned down in 1901, the community sought funding from industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to build a library.[3] They received $25,000 from Carnegie, along with an additional $2,000 from local railroad executive James J. Hill, and the St. Cloud Public Library opened in 1902.[4] In 1969 the library expanded services to become the Great River Regional Library system. The current St. Cloud Public Library was built in 2008.[3]

St. Cloud Public Library facade

Locations

Branch libraries are located in the following cities: Albany, Annandale, Becker, Belgrade, Big Lake, Buffalo, Clearwater, Cokato, Cold Spring, Delano, Eagle Bend, Elk River, Foley, Grey Eagle, Howard Lake, Kimball, Little Falls, Long Prairie, Melrose, Monticello, Paynesville, Pierz, Richmond, Rockford, Royalton, St. Cloud, St. Michael, Sauk Centre, Staples, Swanville, Upsala, and Waite Park.

References
  1. "About Us". Great River Regional Library. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  2. "2017 Annual Report". Great River Regional Library. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  3. Morgan, Bill (3 December 2015). "Lost Landmarks: 1902 Carnegie Library went down in 1981". St. Cloud Times. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  4. "Saint Cloud Public Library, 124 5th Avenue South, Saint Cloud, Minnesota (Razed)". Placeography. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  5. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Saint Cloud Public Library
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