DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Cooke County Free Library. Now settle in, because this is a story about one woman who looked at a library and thought — that's a fine start, but it's not nearly enough. The year is 1913, and Gainesville's city librarian, Lillian Gunter, born in 1870, is already making moves.
She and the XLI Club — a local women's literary society, and don't let the name fool you, these were serious people — went out and secured a grant from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation to construct a library building for Gainesville. Most folks would've called that a victory, hung a banner, gone home. Not Lillian Gunter.
Because she was already thinkin' about the people who lived outside the city limits. The farmers, the families spread across the county who couldn't just stroll into town and pull a book off the shelf. She wanted state legislation — actual law — that would let counties support library services for people outside incorporated cities.
Now, that's not a small ask. That's a quest. And she treated it like one.
With the help of state representative George W. Dayton and the Texas Library Association, the County Library Law was passed in 1917. Four years of pushing, and it became the law of the land.
Then in 1920, the Gainesville City Council voted to turn over its library to the county — creating one of the first county libraries in the entire state of Texas. What started as a building became something much bigger: a library that belonged to everybody. The library moved to new facilities in 1963, carrying all of that history with it.
Lillian Gunter passed in 1926, but the institution she fought to build — and then to expand — is still standing. That's how you leave a mark.
What the marker says
In 1913, city librarian Lillian Gunter (1870-1926) and the XLI club (a local women's literary society) secured a grant from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation to construct a library building for Gainesville. Gunter then began her quest for state legislation to enable counties to support library services for people outside incorporated cities. With the help of state representative George W. Dayton and the Texas Library Association, the County Library Law was passed in 1917. In 1920, the Gainesville City Council voted to turn over its library to the county, creating one of the first county libraries in Texas. The library moved to new facilities in 1963. (2001)