The first library serving Whitehall had wheels. In the mid 1960's five counties joined together to form the Big Sky Federation of Libraries with the Lewis and Clark Library in Helena acting as the Federation headquarters and the home of the bookmoblie. The bookmobile was a trial service for the first three years and was federally funded. At the end of this period the counties were expected to pick up the funding.
It proved to be a tremendous selling job, first, to get the County Commissioners to approve even the trial period, and later, to get local funding. The Commissioners were mainly ranchers who could see considerable cost in the future to support library service and were not convinced of the benefits of libraries.
The three year bookmoblie trial was a great success. The bookmobile stopped once a month all day in larger communities, such as Whitehall and half days in smaller places like Basin. After the three year period the five counties struggled to fund the bookmobile and one county (Beverhead) withdrew from the agreement. A massive public funraising effort ensued to keep the service with tax dollars.
The bookmoble service ended abruptly in 1971 when the Lewis and Clark Library in Helena requested a 60% increase in the budget. None of the County Commissioners would agree and so there was no more public library service until January 1974.
In 1972 Betty Jo Monforton, now a resident of Jefferson County, lived in Madison County near Whitehall and was a member of the Madison County Library Board. The Madison County Library was located in Virginia City which was quite a drive for anyone living in The Whitehall area. Betty Jo was instrumental in encouraging the Madison County Library Board to start a book station in Whitehall with 200 books. It was about this time that Sargent Echhart of the Air Force Recuiting Station in Butte offered several hundred surplus books from the Air Base Library in Great Falls. A committee was formed to find a space to rent for the books.
Mona Tidball rented a tiny room where the current barber shop now is, for $20 a month. A great deal of
work was need to rehabilatate the unused building. Boyd Sears, Mrs. Andy Hartman, Al and Winona Graesser, Danelle Rapp, Mary Risher, Karen and Marie Johnson, Phyllis Speck, Jane Phel and Kathy Magee painted, cleaned, built shelves, sorted books and typed catalog cards. Another 700 books were donated by the late John Gregory. John had taught English in the Whitehall High School and at the time of his death was the County Superintendent of Schools.
The Library officially opened November 1, 1972 with the help of several volunteer librarians keeping the doors open 12 to 15 hours a week. Phyllis Speck, Jane Pehl, Mrs. Eckert, Mrs Frances McDonald, Gertrude Tait, Jane Hansen, and Maryann Hayden were the first librarians.
In 1973 library benefactor John Gregory died and the library was named in his honor. The library was a big hit however a few problems were becoming apparent. Avid readers were running out of books to read and the volunteer librarian system was breaking down. In the summer of 1973 Gail Speck, the first paid librarian, was hired after the Whitehall Town Council granted the Library $500 to hire someone for the summer.
Meanwhile efforts were afoot to start a new library federation with just Jefferson and Lewis and Clark counties. Eventually a budget of $14,00 was adopted to provide Jefferson County with library service, under contract with the Lewis and Clark Library in Helena from January 1, 1975 to July 1, 1975. This service would provide 2500 books for libraries in Whitehall and Boulder. Clancy was to have walk-in service at the library in Helena. Various other services were involved in the package such as Interlibrary Loan Requests and mail out service, the salaries for a 20 hours a week librarian in Whitehall and Boulder, milage and training for the librarians and rotation of the book collections.
Shirley Strand was selected as the Whitehall Librarian and Maryann Hayden as her assistant. Additonal remodeling to the library was needed to make the small space more usable and this was partially paid and donated by Gerald Hackett.
In the summer of 1976 the library was moved to the City owned Community building, where the Town Hall currently is housed. More cleaning and painting ensued and used library furniture donated by the Lewis and Clark Library was arranged.
At this time the Whitehall library had a local library board appointed by the Whitehall Town Council and consited of Winona and Al Graesser, Phyllis Speck, Frank and Sylvia Hustava. May 1977, several new members were appointed and they were William and Dorothy Risher, Hubert and Marie Hayes, Dennis and Sue Babcock, and Kathy Magee. The local board was also represented on the Jefferson County Library Board.
In 1982 The Whitehall Town Council asked the library to find new quarters. The Community Building where the library was housed, was originally intended for use as a meeting place. Various organizations such as Boy Scouts and volunteer firemen as well as public meetings often overflow the cramped city offices. A search was undertaken to find another location for the library but there were no suitable buildings.
The Town of Whitehall donated land adjacent to the Town Hall. A fund raising committee formed and was composed of Joe Schlemmer, Jane Pehl, Bernice Smith, Len Buhl, Al Graesser, Barbara Sunderland and Stewart Way. Fund raising began in July of 1982, and by November of that year the halfway point of $12,500 was reached and by the spring of 1983 the goal of $25,000 was realized.
Roger Holmes, local Post Master, was appointed project coordinator. Holmes immediately began observing other town libraries for ideal. Holmes said they they had thought of applying for grant money but the Federal specifications were too strict, so they got a $150 building permit from the state.
The building was constructed with mostly volunteer labor, though some professional help was hired. About 20-25 volunteers helped with the building. No money was borrowed to complete the library, but the facility received a $624 matching grant from the Library Service Construction Act to pay for a heating system.
The final cost of the building was estimated at $35,000 and was appraised at $100,00. The library opened May 26th, 1984 after a human chain moved books from the Community Building to the new library. Librarian Marge Kieckbusch reported that 6,000 volumes were moved in that way.
In 1990 Donna Worth was hired to replace Margie Kieckbusch as the librarian and in 1992 and fund was established by the Jefferson County Library Board to remodel the Whitehall Library in order to comply with the new Americans with Disabilities Act. An elevator was first considered but after researching the issue librarian Donna Worth found that option to be extremely expensive and recommended that either a new building be found or the current buiding be added on to.
Many years went by with many bake sales and other fund raising efforts raising money dollar by dollar. Community meeting were held and it was decided to add on to the current building rather than move. The renovation was estimated to cost up to $200,000 dollars. A big shock considering the building only cost $35,000 originally.
Finally in 2002 Ilene and Skip Stoll organized a new Whitehall Friends of the Library group with the purpose of raising enough money to build an addition. The group started with xxxxxxx as seed money that had been recieved as part of a tax dispute settlement with the BPA.
