This week in history: Delray Beach Library founded
On April 11, 1913, the Delray Ladies’ Improvement Association created the town’s first library. The Delray Progress reported on the meeting: “A number of ladies met at the Booster Hall . . . each bringing one or more books as a beginning for the Delray Library. Forty books were brought, besides a few that will be used for reference. They were soon neatly covered, as many hands make light work. This is only a beginning and we hope and expect much from it.” The Ladies’ Improvement Association, later known as the Woman’s Club of Delray Beach, ran the library until 1938, when the Delray Beach Public Library Association was formed, and since 1950, the Delray Beach Public Library has been a partnership between the library association and the City of Delray Beach.
The Booster Hall was located at the southeast corner of Atlantic Avenue and S.E. 4th Avenue, near the old site of the Delray Beach Public Library. The two-story building behind the hall is the rear of the Cromer building, also known as the Club House. (Palm Beach Post file photo submitted by John E. Miller of Delray Beach)
The Ladies’ Improvement Association on July 4, 1913. (Courtesy of the Delray Beach Public Library archives)
This building was the home of the Woman’s Club and the Delray Beach Library. It was also known as the Ladies’ Improvement Association building. (Courtesy of the Delray Beach Historical Society)
Summer story hour at the Delray Beach Library in 1949. (Palm Beach Post file photo courtesy of Mildred M. George)
Tags: Delray Beach, libraries, This Week in History
