History:
The Village of Randolph has valued education and information through public libraries since 1872. The village book collection moved from nooks in drug stores to corners in a hat shop to larger stores until it outgrew borrowed quarters and moved to a store front on Start Street.
In 1936 Mary Hutchinson Morris, bequeathed $22,000 and the land on which the current building now sits to the Village of Randolph for the purpose of building a free public library. According to the book Cultural Gems by Mary Buckingham Maturi and Richard J. Maturi, “Milwaukee architects Clas & Clas, Inc. designed the bi-level, hipped roof building using native light yellow limestone in a random pattern to create a striking, clean appearance.” The cornerstone dates the building, October 18, 1936. Other donors instrumental in the building of the library were; Kathryn Williams, Carl Hutchinson, and Adeline R. Marvin. A classic beauty, the Hutchinson Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historical Places.
Even classic beauty gets old. After sixty years the library needed more space, an updated electrical system to accommodate modern library technology and most important, it needed to be handicapped accessible. Thanks to the perseverance of the director at that time, Ione Deich, a the National Register of Historic Places approved the new addition and it was opened December 8, 1997. The Village of Randolph now has a comfortable, busy, modern, library offering 100 year old books about the area, electronic books on iPod-like Play-Aways ©, wireless internet access, gaming computers, a unique reference collection, a whimsical children’s room, and professional reference service.
Hutchinson Memorial Library is part of the SHARE (Shared Holding and Resource Exchange) Library System. Your library card can be used at public libraries in Dodge, Washington, Jefferson, Walworth and Racine counties. In the SHARE consortium you can order items from 44 libraries and have them delivered to the Hutchinson Memorial Library in Randolph.
