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When Plum Creek Library System was created, those pictured above were on the original contract. You’ll notice Joe LeTendre of Slayton on the right. -
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In 1974, a gallon of milk cost $1.39, a pound of bacon was $.99, and eggs were $.58 a dozen. The median household income in the United States was $11,000, the average price of a new home was $34,900, and a new car cost $4,441.
Amidst a recession and a rising inflation rate that year, several area entities signed documents that launched a new regional library to serve the area and on June 26, the Plum Creek Library System (PCLS) was formed with charter members the Marshall-Lyon County and Nobles County libraries and the cities of Fulda, Slayton, Mountain Lake, and Redwood Falls. The agreement made fifty years ago has grown to include 21 members and 26 library locations in the 9-county regional library system and serves a population of 117,437 with a collective annual circulation of over 658,000.
A celebration of fifty years of service is planned for Sunday, September 22, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Chautauqua Park in Worthington. “Everyone is invited to our celebration,” PCLS Director Elizabeth Hoffman says, adding, “It is going to be a fair in the park!”
For the past fifty years, PCLS has worked to ensure quality library services for every Minnesotan, regardless of physical location. With the mission to support and collaborate with its member libraries to provide excellence in library services, PCLS strives to catalyze improvement and growth by providing leadership and facilitating access to resources advocating professional development, technology, and support that include maintaining an online public access catalog and interlibrary loan services.
Chautauqua Park is located on the shores of Lake Okabena and has handicap-accessible playground equipment. Attendees to the event can participate in various outdoor games or spin the trivia wheel and test their skills as well as reunite with past library staff members and friends with a photo booth to record the moments. A Library Walk featuring each of the current PCLS member libraries will meander throughout the park, and a Poetry Walk with classic and modern poetry selections will be sprinkled around the grounds.
The event is free and open to the public and everyone interested in public libraries and the service they provide their communities is welcome to celebrate this milestone.
