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The Springfield-Greene County Library District celebrates its 100th birthday this year. The commitment to have and maintain a public library was actually made on February 15th, 1901 in a meeting between prominent businessmen and local leaders. The city raised $3250 in donations to purchase the property at 397 E. Central Street and after securing $50,000 from philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, the granite cornerstone was laid on September 25th, 1903.

Because it was housed in the massive, three story, stone building, known to me as "the main library," coupled with my love and reverence for books, I (and many others) grew up with a sense of the library being a very important and very permanent part of our lives.

Our library's board of directors has served us well, with the vision to grow and change, meeting the changing needs of patrons. The musty, dusty stacks of books have given way to well lit, bright, cheerful places. The wooden cabinets that held the card catalogs have been replaced by computers with access to resources inside, as well as outside, the library.

Although ICON (founded June 1990) doesn't have 100 years of history, it did pass its thirteenth birthday last month. Things have changed a lot since its inception that summer. Intel's 80486DX chip (released in April 1989) was still the hottest microprocessor available. Microsoft released Windows 3.0 that year (1990), and the World Wide Web (1991) was still a year away.

Three years ago, ICON purchased our current projector, at a cost well in excess of the price paid for the property at 397 E. Central. About two years ago, we purchased our first laptop computer and began replacing the cumbersome desktop systems we had before. We have just bought a new, portable printer, and we have committed ourselves to acquiring a new public address system which will make it easier for everyone to hear during presentations. A complete web site upgrade is also in progress.

With continued growth and prosperity as our goals, ICON'S officers are always trying to respond to the needs of the members. Without your input and participation, it would be impossible for us to know how to better serve you.

Kudos to the board of directors and patrons of the Springfield-Greene County Library District for their first 100 years, and to ICON'S members for our first 13 years of growth and improvement.

Happy Computing
Terry

Online Editor's Note: On June 28, The Library Station became the Library District's newest "destination" library. ICON members were on hand for the grand opening...see photos here.