Tomato Reading

Artist: Patty Ellis
Title: Tomato Reading
Medium: Wool

Did you know that for over 100 years, Louisville has had a public library?

As a response to the education movement in the U.S., women across the country decided to create social groups prioritizing learning and self-development. One such group was the Saturday Study Club. They enlisted the help of the State Federation Traveling Library to provide books to the people of Louisville to address the lack of a library. In its third year, they placed a traveling library in Dr. Wolfer’s office with reproductions of famous paintings for the people of Louisville to enjoy.

This legacy expanded in 1924 when a group of five high school girls, the Campfire Girls, decided to find a more permanent home for the library. The Louisville Chinook Public Library was located on the second floor of the Old Town Hall, right above the Fire Department. Over the years, the library would move to different locations around town, but the arrival of new books and the Saturday Study Club’s Silver Tea fundraisers always made the headlines in the Louisville Times.

Have you found a favorite book or cookbook at the library?