History:
The first library was located in the jail section of the old town hall. The library had to close when the jail was occupied. In July of 1908 the city of Woodbine purchased 1 & 1/2 lots with a gift of $7500.00 from Andrew Carnegie. The Woodbine Carnegie Public Library, finished in 1909, was the first library in Harrison County and Miss Mauel VanScoy was the first city librarian.
The Woodbine Carnegie Library was placed on the National Register of Historic Places an April 24, 1998. The Woodbine Library location along the longest stretch of the Original Lincoln Highway still in use, the nations first Transcontinental Highway linking New York and San Francisco, plays a part in it's historical significance.
The library continued to add more items and eventually outgrew the original building. In 1999 the city raised the money to undertake an addition to the old Carnegie building. In 2001 a new addition was added, moving the adult library to the addition and bringing the youth up and out of the basement into the original Carnegie building. Connie Ball was the adult librarian and Pat Leytham the youth librarian at that time.
In 2009 the Woodbine Carnegie Public Library celebrated 100 years of service. It was a week long celebration that included Contests, Drawings, Programs & Prizes, the Library concluded it's celebrations with an all day Open House Celebration for all ages. It included singing by the Notables, readers & presentations from community members, clowns for the children and much more. Rita Bantam was the adult librarian and Wendy Doyel was the youth librarian at the time.
On the Woodbine Carnegie Library grounds you will find a World War I memorial and artillery gun, a refurbished fountain dedicated in 1917 and a replica of the Statue Of Liberty "Lady Liberty" which was donated to the library by the Boy Scouts of America in 1951. It's one of only 100 Lady Liberty statues left in the United States. The interior features a statue of The Goddess of the Cup, a bust of Abraham Lincoln, and documents signed by Presidents Lincoln and Garfield.
