Madison Library District

Centennial Celebration

SERVING OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1921

A Grand Event

On December 28, 2021, we turned 100!

The Madison Library District is now a grand old lady, having proudly served Rexburg and the surrounding community for a century. We’ve had our share of highs and lows, from growing pains which resulted in new buildings being built or remodeled, to times of plenty when the library and the community flourished. From book clubs to storytime, from stargazing to surfin’ the ‘net, our patrons have learned and grown with us. Come along as we celebrate this milestone year, and look back on some of the past events and issues of the day that affected our library. We look forward to serving you for another 100 years!

Celebrate Through the Decades

Each month, we’ll showcase what happened in the history of the library, the community, the country, and the world.

January

Birthday Kick-off Month

January 10th from 11AM to 7PM
Help us start the celebrations right with cookies, stickers, and door prizes!

January 10 – 15 – “Winter White Out” Fine Forgiveness Week with Donations to the Family Crisis Center

Bring in hygiene products for the Family Crisis Center and get $1 for each item you bring in.  Items must be new, unused and in their original packaging.

January 10th through November 30

We’re starting a new literacy challenge: Books for Balloons.  Help us fill the library with balloons! Click to find out how to play.

January 10th 

The Madison Library Foundation announces the WINNERS of their essay contest! Check out their website for full details.

Idaho History Highlights
  • 1905: Former Governor Frank Steunenberg assassinated.
  • 1907: William E. Borah elected to Senate. Trial of William D. “Big Bill” Haywood for Steunenberg’s
    assassination becomes Idaho’s “Trial of the Century.”
World History Highlights
  • February 8, 1910: The Boy Scouts of America is founded.
  • May 25, 1910: The only flight taken together by Wilbur and Orville Wright occurs at Huffman Prairie Flying Field in Dayton, Ohio.
  • May 30, 1911 – The Indianapolis 500 auto race is run for the first time in Indianapolis, Indiana.
  • November 5, 1912: Woodrow Wilson becomes president of the United States.
  • July 11, 1914: Babe Ruth makes his major league debut.
  • January 25, 1915: Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watson conduct the first telephone conversation between New York and San Francisco.
  • August 25, 1916 – The National Park Service is officially created when President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation from Congress with the mission to protect and preserve the natural lands, historic sites, and wildlife of the system for future generations.
  • April 6, 1917: U.S. enters World War I.
  • March 19, 1918: Time zones are officially established by an act of the United States Congress with daylight savings time to go into effect on March 31.
  • August 1918: The influenza epidemic Spanish flu spans the globe, killing over twenty million worldwide and five hundred and forty-eight thousand people in the United States.
  • November 11, 1918: Hostilities in World War I begin to end.
  • June 28, 1919: The Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending World War I.

February

THE 1920s

On the Same Page
To get us in the swing of things, we’re reading a book written in October of 1926, just 5 years after the library opened: Winnie-the-Pooh.
Decade Trivia Challenge: Slang words from the 1920’s
Guess the meaning of these unique and interesting words! Turn in your completed forms at the Circulation Desk. Patrons with at least 15 correct answers will get put into a prize drawing at the end of the month.

Library History Highlights
  • 1921: Starting as two rooms in the county courthouse, the library opens with 500 books. Sarah Nelson is our first librarian.
  • 1926: Mrs. Nelson retires, and Mabel Pratt Warner becomes the second librarian.
  • July, 1928: The Rexburg Standard reports that the library is quickly running out of room, as “a great many of new books have been added.”
Idaho History Highlights
  • 1924: Craters of the Moon National Monument established.
World History Highlights
  • January 10, 1920: The League of Nations is established with the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, ending the hostilities of the first World War.
  • August 18, 1920: Women are given the right to vote when the 19th Amendment to the United States constitution grants universal women’s suffrage.
  • September 7-8, 1921: The first Miss America pageant is held in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
  • April 7, 1922: The Teapot Dome scandal begins when the U.S. Secretary of the Interior leases the Teapot Oil Reserves in Wyoming.
  • January 25, 1924: The first Winter Olympic Games are held in the French Alps in Chamonix, France.
  • November 4, 1924: Calvin Coolidge wins his first election as President.
  • July 10, 1925: The Scopes Trial or Monkey Trial begins and would later convict John T. Scopes of teaching Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory at a Dayton, Tennessee high school.
  • May 20, 1927: Charles Lindbergh leaves Roosevelt Field, New York on the first non-stop transatlantic flight in history.
  • September 7, 1927: First success in the invention of television occurs by inventor and Rigby, Idaho, native Philo Taylor Farnsworth.
  • June 17, 1928: Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly over the Atlantic Ocean.
  • November 6, 1928: Herbert Hoover wins election as President of the United States.
  • October 29, 1929: The Great Depression starts with the collapse of Wall Street.

March

THE 1930s

Saturday, March 12 – Adult Makers

  • 10:00 am to 12:00 Noon: Mending Morning in the Community Room: Use it up: Wear it out: Make it do: Or do without! was the theme of the 1930s. In that spirit, let’s help you mend those items so you can stretch their use out a little longer. Bring an item in need of repair. We’ll have sewing machines and know how to help you keep them in use.
  • 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm: Sewing Circle in the Community Room: Attention crazed cross-stitchers, crafty crocheters, anyone who goes nuts for needlepoint or knitting. Spend the afternoon with us. We’ll sit around and gab in old-time style. We’ll also have lots of giveaways and trades. Have a great chart you’re finished with, extra needles, yarn you lost enthusiasm for? Bring them! Nobody should go home empty handed!
Quilt Block Contest

Join us for some quilting fun! Make a quilt block either from the patterns we provide, or create your own.  Return your finished blocks to the library by SATURDAY, MARCH 26 for voting.  Blocks do not need to be bound or backed.
Click HERE for all the rules and details to enter!

 


Library History Highlights
  • September 1930: The library closes in order for all the books to be cataloged.  Over 12,000 catalog cards are created.
  • November 1931: The library moves to the second floor of the County Courthouse, giving more room for the growing collection.
  • March 12, 1932: A theft of $10.90 was taken from the library.  The Rexburg Standard urges all mothers to “investigate and make sure it is not your boy?”
  • 1934: The Rexburg Standard reports that 19,640 books were taken out from the library and read during the previous year.
  • June 1935: The library reaches their goal of obtaining 5,000 volumes.
  • January, 1936: The library expands its hours from 2:00 pm to 6:30 pm every day except Sundays and holidays.
  • 1936: Mabel Pratt Warner retires, and Jesse Atkinson becomes the third librarian.
  • 1939: The Rexburg Standard advocates the need for a separate building for the public library.
Idaho History Highlights
  • 1935: Idaho repealed statewide Prohibition.
  • 1936: Sun Valley resort established by Union Pacific Railroad. World’s first ski chair lift opened at Sun Valley.
  • 1939: Joe Albertson opened his first supermarket in Boise.
World History Highlights
  • February 18, 1930: American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers the planet Pluto at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.
  • March 3, 1931: The Star-Spangled Banner, by Francis Scott Key, is approved by President Hoover and Congress as the national anthem.
  • March 1, 1932: The infant son of Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., is kidnaped. He is found dead on May 12 not far from his home in Hopewell, New Jersey. Three years later, on February 13, 1935, Bruno Hauptmann was found guilty of the crime.
  • November 8, 1932: Democratic challenger Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats incumbent President Hoover in the presidential election.
  • March 9 – June 16, 1933: The New Deal social and economic programs are passed by the United States Congress.
  • October 17, 1933: Albert Einstein arrives in the United States as a fugitive from Nazi Germany.
  • November 11, 1933: In South Dakota, a strong dust storm strips topsoil from depression era farms. It was one in a series of such storms to plague the Midwest during 1933 and 1934.
  • December 5, 1933: The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed, ending prohibition.
  • June 2, 1935: The greatest hitter in the history of baseball, Babe Ruth, retires from Major League Baseball.
  • May 30, 1936: Gone with the Wind is published by Margaret Mitchell.
  • August 1, 1936: The Summer Olympics Games open in Berlin, Germany under the watchful eye of German leader Adolph Hitler, whose policies of Arian supremacy had already begun to take shape. The star of the games was Jesse Owens, a black American, who won four gold at the Berlin 1936 Games.
  • November 3, 1936: Franklin D. Roosevelt overwhelms his Republican challenger, Alfred Landon, for a second presidential term.
  • May 6, 1937: At Lakehurst, New Jersey, the German airship Hindenburg bursts into flames while mooring. The fire consumes the largest airship in the world, 804 feet long, within one minute, causing the death of thirty-six people.
  • October 30, 1938: A nationwide scare develops when Orson Welles broadcasts his War of the Worlds radio drama, which included fake news bulletins stating that a Martian invasion had begun on earth.
  • April 30, 1939: The New York World’s Fair opens for its two year run.
  • August 2, 1939: Albert Einstein alerts Franklin D. Roosevelt to an A-bomb opportunity, which led to the creation of the Manhattan Project.

April

THE 1940s

Saturday, April 9, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm – A Night with the USO Auditions. Come audition for our USO Night, which will be held on April 29.
Wednesday, April 13, at 7:00 pm – Adult Makers: A Victory Garden of Herbs. The Adult Makers will learn how to plant a garden with herb enthusiast Annett Smith.
Planting a “Victory Garden” was a big push for the World War II effort at home. Learn to plant, tend, and use your own small garden. All participants will make a little herb garden to take home.
Thursday, April 14 –Winners of the Quilt Block Contest Announced!

Grand Prize Winner-Judges Choice: Tina Lowry

Custom Block Category Winner-Judges Choice: Kim Albertson
Expert Block Category Winner-Judges Choice: Emilee Stratford
Advanced Block Category Winner-Judges Choice: Karlie Christensen
Intermediate Block Category Winner-Judges Choice: Gayle Haux
Beginner Block Category Winner-Judges Choice: Sara Tolman
Grand Prize Winner-Patron Choice: Kim Albertson
Custom Block Category Winner-Patron Choice: Mikaela Marriott
Expert Block Category Winner-Patron Choice: Emilee Stratford
Advanced Block Category Winner-Patron Choice: Karlie Christensen
Intermediate Block Category Winner-Patron Choice: Tina Lowry
Beginner Block Category Winner-Patron Choice: Loreli Blake
Junior Prize Winner: Adalyn Tolman
Second Chance Drawing Prize Winners: Karlie Christensen, Tina Lowry, and Emilee Stratford
Friday, April 22, at 7:00 pm – A Night with the USO.
U.S.O. tours kept up morale among the troops. We’ll try to recreate a bit of the U.S.O. feel tonight with great music from the 1940’s and plenty of bad jokes.

Library History Highlights
  • 1948: Jesse Atkinson retires, and Anna Craven becomes the fourth librarian.
Idaho History Highlights
  • 1942: Japanese-Americans placed in internment camp near Eden, Idaho.
World History Highlights
  • December 7, 1941: U.S. enters World War II.

May

THE 1950s

ALL MONTH – Book Bingo! Come play our fun book bingo game, and earn some fun prizes.  May’s theme is the 1950s.


Library History Highlights
  • August 25, 1958: The library was formed into the Madison County Free District Library.  The ladies of the Civic Club began to raise funds for a new library building.

June

THE 1960s

All Month Long – All storytime themes will highlight popular children’s books from the 1960s.
  • Week of June 13 – One Fish, Two Fish
  • Week of June 21 – Where the Wild Things Are – We will be closed June 20 for Juneteenth.
  • Week of June 27 – Mister Seahorse and Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Tuesday, June 14, at 2:00 pm – Kids and Tween Crafting will Learn with NASA
For this period relevant activity, we will celebrate the 1960’s with the Apollo moon landing! Natalie Macbeth, our NASA Solar System Ambassador, will help us launch air compressor rockets, and we will make sandwich cookie moon phases, erupting moon rocks, learn about ocean tides & the moon, and make a solar system for your pocket.
Friday, June 17, at 7:00 pm – Adult Makers will Tye Dye!
Nothing says the 1960’s and ’70’s quite like tie dye. Bring your own t-shirt, book bag, whatever you’d like and we’ll make it look groovy. If you really don’t have anything to dye, we’ll have a few odd sized t-shirts available for a $5 donation.
Thursday, June 23, at 4:30 pm – Teen Crafting will make Cassette Tape Art
Since Cassette Tapes became a thing in the 1960’s we thought it would be fun to repurpose some tapes since in this decade they are definitely a thing of the past.

Library History Highlights
  • 1960: Anna Craven retires, and Theron Atkinson becomes the fifth librarian.
  • February 22, 1961: The new library building is dedicated.  Located on a lot next to City Hall on North Center Street, the building included a children’s library in the basement.
  • 1962: Theron Atkinson retires, and Geraldine M. Jacobs becomes the sixth librarian.

July

THE 1970s

All Month Long – All storytime themes will highlight popular children’s books from the 1960s.

  • Week of July 5 – Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day  We will be closed July 4 for Independence Day.
  • Week of July 11 – Strega Nona
  • Week of July 18 – Corduroy
  • Week of July 25 – There’s No Such Thing as a Dragon
Thursday, July 7, at 4:30 pm – Teen Crafting will make a Floppy Disc Box or Notebook
Floppy Disks were invented in the 1970’s. So we will be using old floppy disks to make either boxes that can be planters, pen holders, etc. Or we can make small notebooks using the floppy disks as the covers.
Thursday, July 14, at 4:30 pm – Teen Crafting will make Tie-Dye Shirts
Since Tie-dye was a pretty big thing in the 1970’s we thought it would be fun to do some tie-dying as well. We can’t let the adults have all the fun!

Library History Highlights
  • June 5, 1976: The library building was so badly flooded after the collapse of the Teton Dam, it had to be demolished.  The furniture and most of the collection were also damaged. Within two weeks, a temporary library was set up in the Ricks College Library, and new materials were ordered. Over 35,000 books were donated from Utah. Fundraising began for a new library building.
  • July 27, 1978: The new library building, located on the corner of North Center and First North, is dedicated. 
Idaho History Highlights
  • June 5, 1976: The Teton Dam collapses, causing extensive damage to the area.  Eleven people were killed and thousands were forced to flee their homes.

August

THE 1980s

ALL MONTH – Book Bingo! Come play our fun book bingo game, and earn some fun prizes.  August’s theme is the 1980s.

Monday, August 15 – Winners of the Quilt Raffle Announced!

1930’s Scrap Quilt: Pamela Schiess
Blue Bird and Dog Quilt: Kobe Poulsen
Pink Cake Quilt: Miriam Vail

Library History Highlights
  • 1983: The library joins the Idaho Falls and Pocatello Public Libraries to obtain cataloging and circulation software.
  • 1987: Geraldine M. Jacobs retires, and Cheryl M. Reeser becomes the next librarian.

September

THE 1990s


Library History Highlights
  • 1991: The library adds public access terminals for patrons, making the card catalog obsolete.
  • 1992: Cheryl M. Reeser retires, and Deborah Scholes becomes the new Director of the Library.

October

THE 2000s

All Month Long – All storytime themes will highlight popular children’s books from the 2000s.

  • Week of October 4 – I Need My Monster
  • Week of October 11 – If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
  • Week of October 18 – The Dot
  • Week of October 25 – Room on the Broom

ALL MONTH – Book Bingo! Come play our fun book bingo game, and earn some fun prizes.  October’s theme is the 2000s.

Free Family Films – This month, we’ll be watching some great movies from the 2000s.  Every other Friday at 3:30 pm. Anyone under 12 must be accompanyied by someone 14 or older.

  • October 7 – Cars (2006; Rated G)
  • October 21 – Monsters, Inc. (2001; Rated G) 

October 1 – December 1: Creative Writing Contest for Adults
Do you love writing? Enter the Madison Library District’s short story writing contest! “Capturing 100 years,” is the theme. Give us your impression of what that means to you. Fiction or non-fiction are accepted. All entries receive a prize. Head to the Adult Arena for full information and how to submit your entries.

October 17 – December 3: Photography Contest for Ages 6 and Older
Have a photograph you’d like to share with the community? Enter our Photography Contest! “Capturing 100 years,” is the theme. Give us your impression of what that means to you.


Library History Highlights
  • 2000: Deborah Scholes retires, and Cathleen A. Peterson becomes the next director.
  • 2000:  The library receives a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for 5 public internet computers.
  • 2000: The library is running out of space, so the Webster Room is remodeled to accomodate the children’s collection.
  • 2001: Cathleen A. Peterson retires, and Judith M. Dewey becomes the new director.
  • 2007: Another Gates Foundation grant adds 5 more public internet computers, bringing the total to 13.
  • November 2007: The library obtains its own cataloging and circulation software to manage the collection more effectively.
  • May 21, 2008: The library’s name is officially changed to the Madison Library District.
  • August 5, 2008: A special bond election is held which allowed the library to obtain funds for an extensive expansion and remodeling project, which more than doubled the space for the library collections.

November

THE 2010s

ALL MONTH – Book Bingo! Come play our fun book bingo game, and earn some fun prizes.  November’s theme is the 2010s.

November 30

Our year-long literacy challenge, Books for Balloons, ends! Some great prizes are waiting for those who participated. Click to find out how to play.

Library History Highlights
  • 2011: Judith M. Dewey retires, and Valerie Lloyd becomes the new director.

December

THE 2020s and BEYOND!

ALL MONTH – Book Bingo! Come play our fun book bingo game, and earn some fun prizes.  December’s theme is libraries and publishing.

December 8

We will have our final drawings for our year-long literacy challenge, Books for Balloons! Be sure to watch and see if your entries were the winning ones.

Library History Highlights
  • December 28, 2021: The library celebrates it’s 100th birthday!

Regular Hours of Operation

  • Monday: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
  • Tuesday - Wednesday: 9:00 am – 8:00 pm
  • Thursday: 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
  • Friday: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
  • Saturday: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
  • Sunday: CLOSED

Closures in 2024

  • January 1 – New Year’s Day
  • January 15 – Martin Luther King, Jr., Day
  • February 19 – Presidents Day
  • March 22 – Staff Development Day
  • April 6 – Building Maintenance
  • May 25-27 – Memorial Day
  • June 19 – Juneteenth
  • July 4 – Independence Day
  • August 31 – September 2 – Labor Day
  • October 5 – Building Maintenance
  • October 31 – Closing at 5:00 pm
  • November 11 – Veterans Day
  • November 27 – Closing at 5:00 pm
  • November 28-30 – Thanksgiving
  • December 24-26 – Christmas
  • December 31 – New Year’s Eve
  • January 1, 2025 – New Year’s Day

Address

73 North Center
Rexburg, Idaho 83440

We are located on Center Street, just north of Main Street, by the Historic Rexburg Tabernacle.

Contact Us

(208) 356-3461
24 Hour Phone Renewal: (208) 356-6658
askmadisonlibrary@madisonlib.org

Madison Library District

73 North Center
Rexburg, ID 83440
A public library.

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