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HANCOCK COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM HISTORY
The Hancock County Library System began in 1933 as a Works Progress Administration Project. It was called the Hancock County Free Library.
It was housed in the CWA building, which seems to have been what we know as the Knights of Columbus building on Main Street in Bay St. Louis.
By 1934, the library had moved to donated rooms in the Hancock Bank building. It consisted of about 261 donated books with 100 registered borrowers. The City of Bay St. Louis provided the library with a wood stove and fuel, and Hancock County offered lumber and workmen to build shelves.
The first librarian was the much beloved Miss Louise Crawford, affectionately known as "Miss Wissie.”
By 1948, the library was moved to the ground floor of the Knights of Columbus building on Main Street. The collection had acquired 9,000 items, and it was obvious that the library would continue to grow and require more adequate space in the future.
In 1953, the Library Board of Trustees raised $7,800 in donations and purchased the Plunket home on Court Street. This library became known as the City-County Memorial Library.
In 1965 a donation of $10,000 was made for a new library building. In order to become a public library and thereby gain financial support, the Library Board of Trustees offered the library property and the collection of books valued at $50,000 to Hancock County and the Cities of Bay St. Louis and Waveland.
On June 20, 1966, the Hancock County Board of Supervisors accepted the offer and allocated millage for operation of the library.
On November 24, 1966, the City of Bay St. Louis accepted and voted to support the library. Waveland then approved operating funds in January, 1967.
This allowed the library to receive assistance from the state library agency - - the Mississippi Library Commission - - which loaned shelving, furniture and books.
In 1967, a piece of property at Highway 90 and Ulman Avenue was purchased for $17,000. This was to be the first site of a new library headquarters building. A campaign for funds brought donations which paid the debt on the property.
Application was made to the Mississippi Library Commission for funds from the federally financed Library Services and Construction Act.