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History of the Kendalia Public Library

The Beginning

The library was founded on Saturday, March 8, year unknown but sometime before 1929.  Books were purchased and housed in a metal cabinet in the Kendalia School.

In 1940, the metal library cabinet was placed in the newly built rock school building in Kendalia.  Kendalia School began a newspaper, in 1947, entitled, "The Armadillo" written by the schoolchildren.  All proceeds were used to purchase library books.

In 1958, Kendalia School consolidated with Blanco ISD and the rock school building became the Kendalia Community Club.  On May 5, 1961, the Club designated the west room for the Kendalia Public Library. 

The Birth and growth of the Kendalia Public Library

Donna Jonas, Library Director of the Kendalia Library presented an excellent historical summary of the Kendalia Public Library in a story printed in the February 27, 2009 Boerne Star entitled "The dream of a library comes true in Kendalia". This article is shown below:

"The dream of a library comes true in Kendalia"

There's an old saying, "We've come a long way, Baby," and that easily applies to our small rural library. Every good work is initiated by a dream, and on May 5, 1961, a dream was presented to the Kendalia Community Club to sponsor a public library in Kendalia.

The club gave its approval and graciously set aside a room in the school building for the new library.

Immediately, the community sprang into action. Flo Walker Mock, Mildred Fox, and Hazel Myers volunteered their services with Flo as librarian. The dues were $1 per year.

The men began building huge wooden shelves while the women collected and catalogued used books. A children's table with 10 chairs was passed to the library from old school days, as well as library books used in the Kendalia School.

Finally with books and shelving in place, the library opened for business two hours on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. We all knew the library was open for business when we saw Flo's white car parked outside the library.

For the next 15 years, the library received no funding except for memorials of United Way donations. Even so, in 1968, Wilta Bottles conducted the first children's reading program, which has continued to the present day.

In 1977, Flo Walker Mock and Hazel Myers requested financial assistance from the county for the library. When the library received its Certificate of Incorporation and became a non-profit corporation, the county graciously began funding the library $500 per year.

In 1978, Flo resigned as librarian and I, took the job. The library extended its hours open to six per month. Those were the days of open windows in the summer with mud daubers visiting and everyone wearing warm coats during the winter for we had no heat, no air. All telephone calls were made in my home.

Big changes began in 1980. The small libraries of Comfort and Kendalia joined forces creating the Kendall County Library System so that we could qualify as a member of the San Antonio Area Library System and receive interlibrary loans, continuing education, collection development and other excellent resources.

In 1981, The Boerne library joined our system. By 1982, the county funding increased to $1,250 annually and a kind benefactor gave us a heater. Wow! No more coats!

We got our first telephone, FAX machine, Internet computers and air conditioner in the 1990's thanks to the Tocker and Kronkosky charitable foundations.

Today the library is open 80 hours monthly and provides children's programs all year long.

People are amazed when they visit our small library. Over 9,000 items were checked out in 2008. We've come a long way, Baby!

We are indeed thankful for the support of of Kendall County Judge and Commissioners and to the one who had a dream, a dream of starting a library in the small remote rural town of Kendalia.

History of Library Directors

The Kendalia Library has been blessed by the service of 2 dedicated librarians over it's 50+year history. During this time they have been assisted by many local volunteers for various library programs.