IN PROGRESS: Entry for Muehl Public Library

The Muehl Public Library building in Seymour, Wisconsin
The Muehl Public Library building in Seymour, Wisconsin

The Muehl Public Library is located in the city of Seymour, Wisconsin in Outagamie County, and is located at 436 N Main St.

The library is a member of the Outagamie Waupaca Library System (OWLS), which is allied with the Nicolet Federated Library System (NFLS) Both library systems share a common computer network and catalog, at http://www.infosoup.org

The Muehl Public Library has 6688 sq ft of floor space, and over 30,000 items in the collection.[1] The library was originally established in 1901. In 1956 it was relocated to 308 S Main St. The current building was erected in 1994.

Hours

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Winter Hours (From Labor Day to Memorial Day)
Monday-Thursday 10 am - 8pm
Friday: 10 am - 6pm
Saturday 10 am - 2 pm

Summer Hours (From Memorial day to Labor Day)
Monday-Thursday 10 am - 8pm
Friday: 10 am - 5pm

History

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In 1901, Mrs. John Stewart, Mrs. Elmer Dean, Mrs. S. G. McCord, and Miss Lotta Griffith collected books and applied to the City Council and the Wisconsin State Library Board to create Seymour's first public library. On December 21st of 1901, the library's first books were checked out in the living room of Mrs. Barton Moss on Main Street. The Fred Rex store is said to have served as the town's first library, until the two rooms above the Seymour State Bank became the library's location. The library was staffed by volunteers until the city hired Miss Cora Lampson as Seymour's first official librarian. She served until June 11, 1911. In its first three months, the Seymour public library's collection grew to 476 volumes. They had 284 borrowers, and by June 10, 1902, they had a circulation of 2,676. Within a few years, the library outgrew its location, and moved to a room upstairs in the City Hall.[2]

The Muehl Public Library was named after Harvey P. Muehl and his family. His grandfather, Frederick Muehl, came to Seymour in 1866. The family home he built is currently the oldest standing building in the city. His son, Phillip Muehl, started a successful furniture store in Seymour. Harvey Muehl, Phillip's son, gave the city funds to purchase a modern house on South Main Street on the site where his father's furniture store once stood. as the new location of the local library in 1955. He also donated fund toward the operation of the library. Part of those funds contributed to the building of the current library building in 1994.

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Notes

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  1. ^ Statistics at the Wisconsin Department of Public instruction Entry #240 XLS PDF
  2. ^ Centennial Review, The Shellman Publishing Co. Inc, 1968. p. 42-43