Celebrating 125 Years of Library Service in Hennepin County
Highlights| 1885 | Minneapolis Public Library (MPL) founded and first Library Board met. |
| 1886 | Ground broken for downtown (Central) library building at 10th and Hennepin Ave. |
| 1888 | Herbert Putnam named director of MPL and went on book-buying trip to Europe! |
| 1889 | Library building at 10th and Hennepin Ave. opened. |
| 1892 | James K. Hosmer replaced Putnam as director and appointed Gratia Country as assistant director. |
| 1893 | Library opened Children's Room downtown - the first in the country - and books were loaned to public school collections. |
| 1904 | Gratia Countryman became director of MPL. |
| 1905 | First factory stations opened, beginning library outreach services to the community. |
| 1912 | MPL received Carnegie grant of $125,000 for four new libraries. |
| 1915 | Hennepin County Commissioners began allocating $1,000 annually to cover costs for non-city residents to use MPL. |
| 1921 | One-mill tax levy established to create Hennepin County Library. |
| 1922 | HCL organized, working out of MPL. HCL's "book wagon" made its first trip in June serving residents outside of Minneapolis. |
| 1925 | Ethel Berry became the first director of HCL. |
| 1928 | A Model-T Ford truck with a small walk-in back replaced the "book wagon." |
| 1933 | Gratia Countryman elected president of American Library Association. |
| 1937 | Gratia Countryman, MPL director and HCL founder, retired. |
| 1943 | MPL Library Board allowed janitors to plant victory gardens at library branches to support the wartime effort. |
| 1947 | MPL Library Board approved the new site for Central Library. MPL started "Great Books" program as adult outreach. |
| 1952 | HCL celebrated its 30th anniversary - 24 libraries in system. |
| 1956 | HCL acquired a second bookmobile. |
| 1958 | MPL broke ground for new Central Library at 4th and Nicollet Ave.; HCL's circulation surpassed one million. |
| 1961 | New Central Library opened at 4th and Nicollet. Newspaper on microfilm available at MPL. |
| 1967 | Legislature authorized HCL to levy one mill to buy, improve and construct buildings. |
| 1968 | MPL opened its first new library in 37 years (Nokomis). MPL hosted a "Bring In" day where no fines were charged for overdue items. |
| 1969 | Formation of MELSA (Metropolitan Library Service Agency) fostered library cooperation among the nine public library systems in the Twin Cities. HCL & MPL began accepting each other's library cards and returned books. |
| 1970 | First systemwide summer series presented at HCL, attracting 12,000 youngsters. MPL and HCL merger discussed. MPL converted to the Library of Congress classification and began circulating cassette tapes. |
| 1971 | HCL's Outreach Services began providing services to the homebound. MPL installed electronic detection equipment at checkouts at the Central Library. |
| 1972 | HCL replaced its card catalogs at individual libraries with a systemwide book catalog. |
| 1973 | HCL opened Southdale Library, which included its first "electric library" with a large media desk, media lab and bright colors! HCL administrative staff moved to offices at Southdale Library. |
| 1974 | MPL eliminated charging suburban borrowers. |
| 1979 | MPL replaced its card catalog with a microfilm catalog. |
| 1983 | MPL's Friends' book shop opened at Minneapolis Central. |
| 1984 | HCL automated its circulation system at all but four of its libraries. |
| 1985 | MPL celebrated its centennial. |
| 1986 | HCL discontinued its card catalog and went to a microfiche-only catalog. The Library Foundation of Hennepin County was formed. |
| 1992 | MPL staff answered 3 million reference questions. |
| 1993 | HCL installed a new computer system that, in addition to circulation functions, enabled customers to check their borrowing records. |
| 1994 | Self-service checkout began at MPL. |
| 1996 | Both HCL & MPL launched websites. HCL installed Netscape (browser) on public computers at 11 suburban libraries. |
| 1997 | HCL began email notification of reserves. |
| 1998 | Telephone notification and email reference questions implemented at HCL. |
| 1999 | HCL's website (hclib.org) was designated Library Site of the Month by LibrarySpot.com. The first automated materials handling system was installed at Ridgedale Library. MPL introduced Web-based catalog. |
| 2000 | Visits to hclib.org topped 1 million for the first time. Minneapolis residents passed referendum for funding a new Minneapolis Central Library. |
| 2002 | 24/7 online "live" chat reference on hclib.org. |
| 2003 | Wireless Internet access offered at 12 suburban libraries. Online registration for events and classes goes live at hclib.org. TeenLinks chosen by teens using Teen Houpla as one of the top five library sites they found to be the best. |
| 2004 | Visits to hclib.org topped 5 million. |
| 2006 | HCL entered social media with MySpace and Flickr. Visits to hclib.org exceeded 10 million and customers can contribute their comments to the catalog. |
| 2007 | HCL launched BookSpace, which won first place in the Web Services category of The Public Technology Institute's 2006-2007 Technology Solutions Award. HCL established a Facebook account. |
| 2008 | MPL and HCL merger took place. MPL and HCL websites combined into one. |
| 2009 | One online catalog. Online "live" homework tutoring. Visits to hclib.org exceeded 15 million. |
| 2010 | eBooks added to collection. Online self-serve meeting room reservations added. |
| 2011 | HCL became first Minnesota library system to launch a mobile app. |
