Kinmundy Public Library

                             Kinmundy, Illinois

 

             

   We are looking for photos of people and/or places from around Kinmundy & Alma.  Can you help?

Or maybe you have stories or memories from the "Good Old Days"?  What do YOU remember?

        The Kinmundy Historical Society would be honored to preserve your memories and stories.  We also have the

equipment to scan (or copy) your photos so that they may be enjoyed now as well as for generations yet to come!

        We would love to hear from you!  For more information, please contact: 

       

   Dolores (Ford) Mobley – Dolores@ford-mobley.com

                       208 Joan Dr.; Divernon, IL  62530; (217) 625-7527

            or

           

            Gladys (Corrie) See – gsee49@yahoo.com

                                         408 S. Washington St.; Kinmundy, IL 62854; (618) 547-7731

 

 

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Gladys Bradley and the First Kinmundy Library

By Helen (Robb) Garrett

 

Our community is so proud of our new library in the park frequented by citizens here and the surrounding area.  With its computers, copy machines, ability to copy old-time photos, (while the owners wait) it is a far cry from Kinmundy’s first library.  This building was a small one room frame building located across from our current city hall.  The first and only librarian was Miss Gladys Bradley.  The library was part of a government project established during depression-era days.  Better known at that time was the WPA where the thousands of unemployed were given jobs building and improving the intra-structure of the country.  Locally the WPA toilets were one of their busiest projects.

Gladys Bradley had been a success story for her era.  She was born in Kinmundy, the daughter of Will Bradley and Mandy (Vallow) Bradley in 1893, graduated from Southern Illinois Normal University in 1923, taught English here at Kinmuindy High School in 1926.  Later she moved to St. Louis where she was employed as a teacher at Webster Groves.  Gladys owned her own car, was very much in charge with a successful career when a car accident ended that.  One leg was badly crushed, became infected, and she spent one year in Barnes Hospital.  Remember this was an era when our antibiotics, so successful now, were unheard of.  Eventually Gladys’s leg had to be amputated leaving her with only little left of her thighbone.  The all-wooden leg she was fitted with was a heavy one, attached with straps to her body.  Mrs. Matelda Maxwell, her aunt on the Vallow side, welcomed her to her home here in Kinmundy as she recovered.  Her independent spirit took over and she read of a government program concerning libraries, applied for it, moved to her own rented home south on Monroe Street. (Fern Gray’s

 old home) A familiar sight were the Fulfer’s—Kenny and Wilma Jean, teenagers whose parents ran the Fulfer Restaurant, pushing her wheelchair over to the library.  They also ran errands, got groceries for her.  The library was very well stocked with books, due to the government program.  On Saturday afternoons, Gladys had special children’s hours where she read to them.  Many of we older ones read “Gone With The Wind” for the first time!

Gladys was truly a symbol of those whose philosophy was “When the going gets tough—the tough get going!”

When the government program was discontinued, Gladys moved up to Main Street, put in a dress shop in a small frame building with living quarters in the back.  The dresses, hats, purses were sent to her on consignment.  The ones that didn’t sell were sent back to the company.  Everyone stopped in to see the newest fashions.

 

 

NOTES ON THE KINMUNDY LIBRARY---APRIL, 2001

 

"The Kinmundy Area Senior Citizens Library opened in the Kinmundy Community Center in October of 1977 as a senior citizen project with Lucille Hayes in charge.  It used donated books and was operated by senior volunteer workers.

 

In 1978 it joined the Cumberland Trails System and was able to borrow books from them on a monthly basis.  The Kinmundy Area Senior Citizens paid the fee for the use of these books for all the years they were with the system.

 

In 1981 the library moved into the Kinmundy City Hall.  Council member Roy Bowen made and installed bookshelves at no charge.

 

The library discontinued using Cumberland Trails books in October of 1989 because the senior citizens group could not raise enough money to pay Cumberland’s ever-increasing fee.  The seniors however did continue to man the library using donated books only from November 1989 to date (2001).  In November 1989 the name was changed from Kinmundy Area Senior Citizens Library to Kinmundy Library when the library discontinued using the Cumberland system.

 

In March of 2001 an all volunteer group did some remodeling to the Kinmundy Medical building located at the edge of the Kinmundy City Park and on March 31, 2001 the library moved into the building as a member of the Shawnee Library System, still using only donated books and having availability to Shawnee’s many free programs and facilities.  At this time the name was changed to Kinmundy Public Library.

 

From the time the library began in 1977 it has been the responsibility of Kinmundy senior citizens and has been manned solely by senior citizens who have donated their time and efforts over these many years.  The Shawnee representative tells us we are the only library in their system operating with an all-volunteer staff."

 

 

"The Salem Times-Commoner" - Apr. 21, 2017

                                                                                           

                          

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