Marengo-Union Library District is a member of the Reaching Across Illinois Library System.

The Marengo-Union Library District welcomes the support of the community. Here are some ways you can help us:

Freedom of Information Act requests should be sent to the library’s FOIA Officer and Interim Library Director, Sondra Terry, via any of these methods:

Email:  sondrat@muld.org

Mail:  Marengo-Union Library District, 19714 E. Grant Hwy, PO Box 145, Marengo, IL 60152

Phone:  (815) 568-8236

Fax:  (815) 568-5209

The mission of the Marengo-Union Library District is to provide educational, informational, cultural and recreational resources and services to all ages of people in the Marengo-Union Library District.  The library will provide access to the universe of information, and especially that information which is of immediate relevance and interest to the community it serves.  The library seeks to accomplish its mission through prudent management and development of its resources, and by providing access to materials and services to meet the present and future needs of the community it serves.  In this effort the Marengo-Union Library District cooperates with other libraries, and with other educational and governmental institutions.  Special emphasis is placed on current popular materials.  The library serves as a learning center and educational center for all residents of the community.

The Marengo-Union Library has 15 employees (4 FT, 11 PT) as of August 2017.

The following items are available through a FOIA request form:

1. Monthly Financial Statements
2. Annual Receipts and Disbursements Reports
3. Budget and Appropriation Ordinances
4. Levy Ordinances
5. Operating Budgets
6. Annual Audits
7. Minutes of the Board of Library Trustees
8. Library Policies
9. Adopted Ordinances and Resolutions of the Board
10. Annual Reports to the Illinois State Library

IMRF Employer Cost & Participation Information

Pursuant to Public Act 101-0504, the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund provides annual reports of employer contribution amounts, employer contribution rates, participating employers, and employer resolutions. IMRF Employer Cost & Participation Information.

Transparency in Coverage

The Transparency in Coverage Final Rule requires insurance cost-sharing information available as machine-readable files to allow researchers, regulators, and application developers to more easily access and analyze data. MRF

Updated 11-2023

The Marengo-Union Library was not always the bustling, high-tech, high-energy place that you know and love today.  Over a 100 years ago, the Library consisted of 300 books and magazines in one small room and served a population of 1,445 patrons.  Today, the Marengo-Union Library District resides in a much larger space, has 50,500 physical items, access to over 20,000 digital resources, and serves approximately 13,628 patrons.

The earliest version of the library started out on the (now non-existent) second floor of the 200 South State Street building. The library was housed in five different locations between the first and the most recent location, making our current space the seventh home of the library.

In March of 1884, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union opened a public reading room on the second floor of the W. F. Abbott Furniture and Undertaking Parlor on Main Street.  Local patrons donated their books, magazines and newspapers for everyone to enjoy.  Ice Cream Socials were a popular method to raise funds for the new library.  Electricity came to Marengo in 1896, and the city council very generously agreed to furnish one electric light for the library in 1897.

In 1906, the Woman’s Club received 1,000 books from the estate of a local resident.  Not for the last time, the library had outgrown its building.  It was decided that the Woman’s Club would be responsible for a public library for one year.  The library material from the reading room was combined with the inherited private collection, and two rooms were rented to hold them in the nearby house of Dr. Green.

One year later, an ordinance creating and establishing the Marengo Public Library as an official taxing body was approved, and a Board of Directors was appointed.  Our first official librarian was Miss Mabel Fay, who received a salary of four dollars a week, out of which she was to pay a cleaning woman to thoroughly clean the rooms twice a month.  The board agreed to pay a janitor fifty cents a week to tend the stove during the cold months.

By December of 1907, we had outgrown Dr. Green’s house, and the library moved to Dr. Nutt’s house on West Washington Street (now the municipal parking lot.)  In 1917, the library grew too large for Dr. Nutt’s house, and the library was moved across the street into the Community Building (now Harris Bank) on the second floor.  The heating and lights were privately donated, and the library paid $15 a month for rent.

In 1927, the Library moved into our fifth location.  This time we moved into the ground floor of the brick building on the corner of Ann and West Prairie Streets.  Also in 1927, Robert E. Strahorn donated the money to create the beautiful Strahorn Memorial Library in memory of his wife, Carrie Adell Green Strahorn. Local contractor Andrew Lindquist constructed the building on the old site of Dr. Green’s house at a total cost of $34,500.00.  The new library was officially opened in 1930.  In 1985, the community passed a referendum in order to change the municipal Marengo Public Library into a district library.  The library then became a self-governed taxing body, instead of being run and paid for by the city.  This new library district would serve Marengo, Union, and the surrounding countryside.

The library continued to occupy the Strahorn Memorial Library until 1991, when the Library was moved (yet again) back into the State Street location.  Things changed quite a bit in the new building. In 1991, there were no public computers, the collection consisted of 29,000 items, and approximately 9,000 patrons came into the library.  In 2008, the library contained eleven public computers, 60,755 items, and was visited by 65,513 patrons.  Quite a difference!  A decision was then made to change the Library’s name in order to better reflect the larger community it serves.  As of July 1, 2008, the Library is now the Marengo-Union Library District.

Based on a needs assessment and continuing growth in usage of the library, the Library Board determined there was a need for a larger facility. In June 2011, the Library purchased the former Miceli Draper facility at 19714 E. Grant Hwy and began the remodeling process.

The current location opened in September 2014. Three times larger than the former, the library has expanded the collection of books, DVDs, blu-rays, video games, and eBooks along with many other items. Enhanced building features include the Friend’s of the Library Bookstore, individual study rooms, a separate storytime/craft room, and a large meeting room available for use by library patrons. As of the 2020 census, the Library District population is 13,628.  Annual attendance averages 27,000 users a year and the Library holds over 50,000 physical items and provides access to over 20,000 electronic resources.

The mission of the Marengo-Union Library remains the same:  to supply our taxpayers with free and open access to any and all knowledge and information, to provide materials in order to serve informational and entertainment needs, and also to provide the highest possible level of library service.

2019-2020 YEAR IN REVIEW

Number of volumes held:

1884: 300
1907: 1,150
1912: 1,724
1927 5,539
1935: 6,738
1949: 7,700
1957: 9,000
1961: 14,513
1968: 11,000
1986: 19,954
1990: 25,451
1993: 30,440
1998: 37,261
2000: 39,458
2010: 67,335

Population served:

1890: 1,445
1900: 2,005
1940: 2,034
1950: 2,726
1960: 3,455
1990 10,120
2000: 12,110
2010: 13,933

Attendance:

1894: 1,425
1895: 1,244
1907: 500
1993: 26,266
1997: 8,398
1999: 23,222
2001: 28,660
2010: 78,211

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