McDonald County City library

History

The biggest “little library” in the state started out with humble beginnings. 

The unique history behind the McDonald County Library dates back to 1942.

The McDonald County Library now sits in its permanent home at 808 Bailey Road in Pineville, Missouri. Before the main branch of the library was built in 1984, the property welcomed school-aged children who attended the Pineville public school, which then occupied the land. 

On Thursday, October 2, 1947, the Missouri State Library Service would set up headquarters located at the Pineville School building to bring the bookmobile to families of McDonald County. 

The purpose of a bookmobile was to help extend the services of the Missouri State Library to reach more people of McDonald County. The McDonald County Library’s Bookmobile service began on December 8th of 1947 and continued for nearly 30 years. Employed as the bookmobile librarian/driver was Ted Stoutsenberger and he remained as the only driver of the bookmobile until it was discontinued in the mid-’70s. The bookmobile traveled to each county town once a month making 63 stops to local schools and nearby stores. By the year of 1959, the Bookmobile was the main source of distribution of books to library patrons.  

After being housed in a small room of donated books, the library would move into the two-story home that once belonged to the late Judge James A. Struges. This structure sits on the east side of town and is just one block off the Pineville square. The old Struges house in Pineville was built in the 1880s and was the home of the McDonald County Library from 1952-1984 until the new building of the library was built. 

In 1983, a concerted effort was made throughout the county, which resulted in more than $44,000 being raised solely from public donations that would be used for a new library building. The McDonald County school system sold the Library the property to build on for $1.00 with stipulations that a library would be built on the land or it would revert back as school property.

A state grant that also had stipulations required the librarian at the time, Mrs. Zella Mae Collie, to find an architect who would come up with a design and build the library within the year or they would lose grant funding of $90,000.

A special thanks to the former librarian, Mrs. Zella Mae Collie, and her dedication of 30 years to the Library. During her time with the library, she started an extraordinary genealogy collection. It is one of the best local and regional history and genealogical departments in the State of Missouri. The genealogy collection has a vast amount of local history as well as surrounding counties, states, official records of the Civil War, and important information on battles of the confederate armies. The genealogy section of the library also has collections of census records and obituaries dating back to the 1800s, cemetery inscriptions of McDonald County Cemeteries, school annuals that date back to 1926, as well as a very well kept collection of newspaper clippings for easy access. 

Over the years, the library has expanded to reach more of the County and the needs of the community. The Noel Community Library that was established in 198, was eventually adopted as a branch of the McDonald County Library on September, 11th of 1997. Before the decision was made, only the residents of Noel were able to access materials of the Noel Community Library. Now, residents and nonresidents of the county can access library materials and all other library services that are offered. 

The Anne Croxdale Memorial Library was built in 2010 and opened to the public in 2011. The Anne Croxdale Memorial Library is the newest branch of the library. The memorial library is located on Main Street of Southwest City where once sat the gas station, Croxdale Motor Station. Max Croxdale donated the first four lots and $60,000 to get the project of the library started. His donation honors his wife, Anne Croxdale, who passed in late 2005. The other lots were donated by Dixon and Collingsworth families, as well as a donation from Mary Ellen Sims. The beautiful library has a “Wall of Honor” which features “Legacy Bricks” that are engraved with inscriptions honoring the person or family who purchased the brick. The bricks used in the making of the “Wall of Honor” were salvaged from the old Southwest City school by Dr. Dewy Collingsworth, and were sold for $100 apiece to contribute to the building project. 

The McDonald County Library system would not be possible without the dedication from the many individuals who helped make each branch of the McDonald County Library successful.

In honor of these individuals and Zella Mae Collie, former librarian of the McDonald County Library, the Library will strive to continue to help collect, protect, and preserve the rich history of McDonald County. 

As our mission of the McDonald County Library, we will meet the educational, recreational, informational, and cultural needs of the citizens of McDonald County by offering a professionally selected and well-organized collection of library materials and access to information through appropriate technologies. 

Our goals are to seek to identify and provide those interests and needs of the residents of McDonald County.

The library will fulfill those interests and needs by providing an organized collection of print and non-print materials, providing access to information through appropriate technologies, and maintaining a program of library services in cooperation with other libraries, organizations, agencies, and institutions. 

Written by: Hazel Sheets, Director of the McDonald County Library