History of the Mansfield Public Library

The library began in 1929 as a branch of the Tarrant County Library, which was a branch of the Carnegie Library of Fort Worth. The library was initially located in Mayfield's Drug Store on Main Street. Ida Nichols was the first librarian and served in that position until her death in 1960.

Library on the Move

From Mayfield's, the library began a whole series of moves, the first being to Gibson's Meat Market located in the old bank building on the west side of Main Street. It was then moved across Main Street to Wilson's Hardware Store before being relocated to the waiting room in Dr. McKnight's office at the corner of Broad and Main Streets. In 1919, it was moved across Broad Street to the Memorial Hall. The Memorial Hall was torn down in 1956 to make room for a new City Hall. The library then moved to a building behind Marguerite McGaha's Variety Store on Main Street for a time, and then on to the new City Hall in the mid 60's. In 1964 the city took over the library from the county.

In 1960, Dana Malone, Ida Nichol's sister, became librarian until 1967. In 1968, Berta Patterson was appointed librarian. In 1969, a new library was constructed at 103 West Broad Street. This new building was paid for at the time of the move. The Friends of the Library collected approximately $10,000 towards the $20,000 cost of the building, which was constructed on a city-owned lot.

In 1988, the library was moved to a newly remodeled facility, formerly Bank One Building at 110 South Main Street with more than 8,000 square feet of space which was quite a bit more than any previous library.

Current Location

In 1993, Steve Standefer became the new Public Library Director when Berta Patterson retired. The current library, located at 104 S Wisteria Street, was newly constructed and opened in 2001. It has 17,500 square feet of space, can hold 120,000 books, incorporates digital technology and offers computer and internet access for patrons.