HR0159 LRB095 11290 KXB 31890 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, At a town meeting on 4 April 1882, the residents
3 of Batavia Township voted to create a tax-supported public
4 library and elected the library's first six trustees, creating
5 the Batavia Public Library; and
 
6     WHEREAS, The origins of the Batavia Public Library can be
7 traced to 1866, when the Batavia Lyceum, an organization of
8 young men, acquired a collection of books for $10 from the
9 Sigournean Society, an organization of young women, which led
10 to the creation of the Batavia Library Association, a
11 membership library; and
 
12     WHEREAS, The Batavia Library Association was, upon its
13 incorporation in 1869, the first library in Kane County, and
14 became the first "public library" in Kane County when it
15 adopted a "free library plan" in 1873 and opened its doors to
16 all residents of Batavia Township; and
 
17     WHEREAS, Based on recommendations from a committee
18 appointed by the Batavia Library Association, the first six
19 persons to be elected Library trustees were J. Van Nortwick, O.
20 T. Snow, D. C. Newton, N. S. Young, W. H. Burnham, and F. P.
21 Conde; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, The Batavia Library Association held its last
2 meeting on April 12, 1882, at which it voted to transfer the
3 books and other personal property to the "Batavia Public
4 Library," a township organization; and
 
5     WHEREAS, In 1975, the residents of Batavia Township voted
6 to convert the Library to a unit of local government as the
7 first Library District in Kane County; and
 
8     WHEREAS, The Batavia Public Library dedicated its
9 beautiful new 54,000 square-foot building in January 2002, and
10 now checks out more than 540,000 books and other materials
11 annually while serving 420,000 annual visitors, leading to the
12 library being featured in Berkshire Publishing Group's 2007
13 Heart of the Community: The Libraries We Love: Treasured
14 Libraries of the United States and Canada, one of only 80
15 libraries to receive this honor; and
 
16     WHEREAS, On April 4, 2007, the Batavia Public Library
17 celebrates its 125th anniversary and hosts an event to
18 commemorate this milestone in Batavia and Kane County history;
19 therefore, be it
 
20     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
21 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
22 commend Board President Randall Gibson and Director George

 

 

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1 Scheetz on the Batavia Library's 125th year of service to its
2 constituents; and be it further
 
3     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
4 presented to the Batavia Public Library as an expression of our
5 esteem.