Ella Johnson Memorial Public Library District

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Address 109 S. State St. Hampshire, IL 60140 (847) 683-4490 Library

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Hours &amp; Holidays

Day                       Open                   Close  Monday – Thursday  9:30 A.M.            8:00 P.M. Friday                      9:30 A.M.            5:00 P.M. Saturday                  9:30 A.M.            3:00 P.M. Sunday                  12:00 P.M./Noon   4:00 P.M.

For more information on upcoming events access the library’s calendar.

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About The first public library in Hampshire was conducted as a W.P.A. project from 1936 to 1942 and was located in the Community Room of the High School. At the beginning of World War II, 788 volumes were moved to a location where their use could be within reach of service men at the POW Camp. A committee of the Wednesday Club took charge and moved the library to the Village Hall.

In answer to a request to rent her building, Mrs. Bertha Farrell Watts of Elgin replied in December, 1942 that she would give Hampshire Township the building, lot on which it stood and $5,000 for a library provided it be a memorial to her sister, Ella Johnson. Since 1942, the Ella Johnson Memorial Public Library has become a district library, serving multiple communities and has moved and expanded into the present building which was dedicated to former director Emily Duchaj for her many years of service.

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Communities Served The Ella Johnson Memorial Public Library is a district library that takes in multiple townships and communities. The Historical Collection tries to preserve information from communities that are either entirely or partially in the district and the agrarian spaces in-between.

Townships Burlington Township | Hampshire Township | Plato Township | Rutland Township |

Cities &amp; Towns  Burlington | *Gilberts | Hampshire | Pingree Grove |

Communities Allens Corners | Plato Center | Starks | Henpeck | *New Lebanon | *Riley |

*These communities have materials in the Historical Collections even though they are not served or fully contained within the library's district.
Internet Sites &amp; Databases Ella Johnson Memorial Public Library District homepage EJMPLD PrairieCat catalog EJMPLD WorldCat catalog EJMPLD Digital Archives EJMPLD Historical Map EJMPLD Tree Climbers EJMPLD Facebook

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Historical &amp; Genealogical Initiatives 

The library maintains open shelf collections of fiction and nonfiction for adults and children in multiple formats with even more materials being made available through Inter-Library Loan opportunities. Public computers and WiFi are also available to facilitate learning opportunities. Some databases are available at home and some in the library, for a complete list of current databases check the library’s website.

The library maintains physical and digital historical collections to preserve and increase access opportunities to locally significant materials. The library’s Historical Collection attempts to complement the efforts of other local historical and genealogical groups in the area such as the Hampshire Historical Society. Some materials owned by the library have been formally cataloged and appear in the PrairieCatand WorldCat catalogs, while other materials may be found in the Historical Collection Index. The Historical Collection is available while the library is open and may be accessed by asking at the front desk.

Digitization is a priority and to support increased historical and genealogical access to materials, the library maintains three digital archives and a historical map. The three Ella’s Historical Collections are available through the Illinois Digital Archives and contain select materials from the Historical Collection as well as digital donations.


 * Ella’s Historical Collection
 * Ella’s Historical Collection – Images
 * Ella’s Historical Collection – Grand Army of the Republic, Post 453

Digital Donation Day is an annual event whereby individuals allow the library to scan photos, documents and ephemera that can then be uploaded into the digital collection while the owner maintains use of the physical item.The Tree Climbers genealogy group is instrumental in collecting items for the digital collections and also works to pull together the biographies used in the annual Cemetery Walks. The Tree Climbers meet at the library on the third Saturday of the month at 10 in the morning.