A Brief History of the Teton County Library

The valley's library tradition goes back as far as May 1915, when St. John's Public Library opened its doors in St. John's House in Jackson. With an initial membership of $1.00 and an annual fee of 50 cents, a patron could choose from a collection of more than 600 volumes.

Years later, the hard work and inspiration of three valley women sowed the seeds for the Teton County Library. Helen Benson, Edith Mercill and Stella Weston began selling subscriptions for a lending library in the 1930s, but they were soon overwhelmed by the needs of the community. The women encouraged the County Commissioners to establish a county library in accordance with state library laws. Approval from the Commissioners resulted in the appointment of the first Library Board, consisting of Benson, Mercill, Weston, Hattie Erzinger and Charles Kratzer. This inaugural group solicited donations of money, books and furniture for the opening of the Teton County Library on January 8, 1938 in a room in the American Legion Hall. The board also hired its first librarian Juliane Tanner from Laramie, Wyoming.

In 1940, the Huff Memorial Library was constructed of logs using a substantial fund raised in the memory of Dr. Charles Huff, a local physician who had died a few years earlier. Many improvements were made over the years as both community needs and the library budget increased. The tremendous growth of the collection from 700 volumes in 1940 to 32,000 in 1984 made necessary a number of additions to the original floor space. A reading room was added in 1945, followed by a new basement for work space and storage in 1959, and a 1,900 square foot reading room and children's section in 1970.

The library continued to grow with the community throughout the 1980s. Aware of the need to expand the facilities again, the Library Board hired HBW Associates, professional library planners, to conduct a Space Needs Assessment in December 1990. After assessing collection size, seating requirements, service point needs and existing workstations, they found that the existing library had a 143.2% shortfall. The 6,847 square foot library building of 1990 needed a total space of 17,760 square feet. The professional planners strongly recommended a new library of 23,500 to 25,000 square feet with room for expansion.

In April of 1991, the Library Board purchased 3.7 acres of land on the northwest corner of Virginian Lane and Snow King Avenue from Gene Brown for $400,000. The private fund-raising campaign for the land purchase sparked the formation of the Teton County Library Foundation.

The Library Board selected architect Will Bruder in November 1992 to design the new facilities, including a 24,000 square foot building, parking, and landscaped grounds. The Board then successfully campaigned to get the project on the County's Capital Facilities Tax ballot in 1994. Voters approved funding for the library project on August 16 of that year.

Local artists and students made significant contributions to the current library, including an artwork tile wall added to Youth Services. To complete the actual move, a record number of volunteers shifted tens of thousands of items across town in carefully controlled chaos. The current library opened in September of 1997. The library's circulation, attendance, collection size and Internet use have increased substantially since that time. As of 2005, the library boasted just more than 104,000 materials, including books, CDs, DVDs, audio books, magazines and electronic databases.

The Library Board and staff engaged in two strategic planning processes in the 1990s. The Strategic Plan from 2000 - 2005 identified 15 goals, all of which have been incorporated into ongoing library operations.

The Teton County Library is a county agency whose board is appointed by the Teton County Commissioners. Primary funding for the library is through county property taxes. The Teton County Library Foundation provides supplemental funds through patron donations and grants. The Friends of Teton County Library contribute a wide range of volunteer services in support of the library's programs and operations.