A Brief History of the Library

The Village of North Palm Beach was founded in October of 1956.

The North Palm Beach Library began in the old Oakes Mansion (the Winter Club).  In 1962, the American Association of University Women’s library committee moved to establish a library for North Palm Beach.  Books were collected and reference material was purchased.

July 1963 saw the very first opening of the library in the country club.  332 library cards were given out by the end of that year.  The first library society president was Mrs. Ralph Huls.

Volunteer workers and the library society members made up the entire staff for the first six months of the library’s existence.

The Village Council decided to hire their first librarian in 1964.  In August of that year, the library was moved into the dining room of the old country club.

Plans were laid out for the present library building on Anchorage in 1968.  The groundbreaking for the library took place in October of that year.  The building cost $200,000 at the time, and that price did not include the purchase of books or other library materials.  That amount, plus $100,000 supplied by the government, went to the creation of the library as we know it today.

You can visit the library’s website by clicking here.

The caption for the above photo reads: “Present and Future — Architect’s rendering, above, of the soon-to-be constructed North Palm Beach Library, contrasts sharply with the present library facility, located in the North Palm Beach Country Club.”