The Evelyn Goldberg Briggs Memorial Library

Our Goals

• To serve all residents of the community and surrounding region.

• To acquire and make available to all residents of the above area materials and services which will address their needs to become well informed, locate answers to important questions, cultivate the imagination and creative expression, develop skills for career and vocational advancement, and enjoy leisure by means of reading and other media services.

• To establish and maintain clear, accurate communication with the municipality, organizations, and residents of the library community.

• To acquire the means to provide the most frequently requested material locally and upon demand.

• To maintain a program of service which locates information, guides reading, organizes and interprets material for people of various backgrounds, and stimulates thinking and intellectual development in individuals of any age.

• To strive consistently to discover new methods and improvements for better service for the library's customers.

• To review regularly these goals of the Evelyn Goldberg Briggs Memorial Library and, if necessary, revise them in light of new developments.

Our Early History

Library services were started in Northern Wisconsin in the 1960s. Soon thereafter, the system’s bookmobile began providing library services to places that did not have a library. This was a great thing, but a person had to plan ahead—especially a prolific reader—since there was a bit of a lag time between visits.

In 1999, Northern Waters Library Service announced that traveling library services would cease on January 1, 2000. The announcement motivated a group of local citizens to begin meeting to discuss alternatives. As a result of these meetings, Friends of the Library formed in November of 1999.

During the next two years, Friends coordinated fundraising, grant writing and management, and project management. The gifting of a building by David Goldberg, a well-known local businessman, made the project possible. The Evelyn Goldberg Briggs Memorial Library, named for David Goldberg’s mother, opened in December of 2001. The total project cost was more than $300,000.

Within the first year of existence 13,820 items circulated and the collection consisted of 8100 books, 100 audios and 68 movies.

the 2017–2018 Library Expansion

Fast forward to 2013, and circulation of the library had expanded to 62,073 items. That same year the library owned 3100 movies, 1500 audios and 14,783 books. Unfortunately, due to lack of space, ten percent of the book collection was stored in the basement which meant library patrons could not browse those items.

With the increase in circulation and the collection, the idea of enlarging the library started taking shape. The Fundraiser campaign began and by August 2017 the board of trustees hosted a ground breaking ceremony, The project itself started in September 2017.

There were a few setbacks: foundation issues, early snow, large rocks etc. But the project was completed within a few months, and on January 15th, 2018 the library moved into the expanded building. The library hosted a grand opening with live music and an ice cream social on June 21st, 2018.

The project cost $450,000. An addition of 2100 square feet, which doubled the shelving space, and included a conference room, an enlarged children’s area, a director’s office and a work area transformed the library interior. An outdoor classroom and program area were also a part of the project. A large mural depicting the history of the site graces the Main St. façade along with a historical bell.