History :
The history of the Woodridge Public Library goes back almost as far as the Village itself. In 1961 (two years after Woodridge was incorporated) Village President William T. Roberts requested a library committee be organized by Mrs. Bruce Lentz. In addition to accepting donations, the Committee also raised funds by putting on an old-time melodrama entitled The Curse of the Aching Heart (pictured at left). The play starred Barbara Blecher, Bill Miller, Al Zettler, Faye Hoffman, Barbara Cooling and JoAnn Baaske. Books were also collected by village residents to be donated to a Library.
In 1965 the newly formed Woodridge Woman’s Club petitioned the Village Board to be appointed as the group to be responsible for opening a library to the public. The Village Board agreed, and the all-volunteer Woodridge Village Library opened to residents September 17, 1966, in the lower level of what was then the Village Hall. Woman’s Club members volunteered their time to check books out and provide reading times for children—all done during the 6 hours a week the Library was open.
Village President Roberts again took the initiative and asked the Woman’s Club to begin preparing for a possible referendum to create a village library that would operate under official Illinois statutes. On April 18, 1967, Woodridge residents went to the polls and voted overwhelmingly to establish a public library supported by a tax rate of 12 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The vote was 137 Yes, 73 No. Elected to the Library’s first Board were Hester Thuerk, who became President; Helen Zettler, Secretary; Jeff Hunnicutt, Director of Finance; Phillip Muehleck, Chairman of the Building Committee; Roman Lins, Director of Policy; and Florence McCarthy, Director of Public Relations.
