08/16/2026
🕰️BACK IN TIME🕰️
THE McHENRY PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT
Long before the McHenry Public Library District found its home along Front Street, the community’s library began in the most modest of places—a closet at McHenry High School. There were no spacious reading rooms, rows of polished bookshelves, or modern conveniences. There were simply a few books, a group of determined women, and a shared belief that McHenry deserved a library of its own.
That small beginning in 1936 would eventually grow into one of the community’s enduring institutions.
The idea for a library came from members of the Mother’s Club, later known as the McHenry Women’s Club. These local women gathered books and created a small lending collection at the high school. It was a simple arrangement, but the collection soon became something much more important. Residents discovered the pleasure of borrowing a book, children found stories to carry home, and families began to see the little library as a valuable part of community life.
Before long, the books had outgrown their closet.
The growing collection was moved to City Hall, where it had somewhat more room but remained a modest operation. Yet the physical limitations could not contain the enthusiasm surrounding the library. The community had demonstrated that it wanted—and needed—a permanent library.
In 1943, an important step was taken when McHenry established its first official library board. The board now had the responsibility of turning a small volunteer effort into a permanent community institution. Finding a suitable building would be challenging, but the search eventually led to an opportunity that connected the future of the library with one of McHenry’s historic homes.
In 1951, the historic Tesch house became available.
Dating to the 1830s, the home had deep roots in McHenry. William Tesch and his wife built the house, and the Tesch family remained connected to the property for generations. Mrs. Tesch herself reportedly lived there for more than 80 years. By the time the property came up for public auction, the old house had witnessed decades of McHenry’s growth and change.
The city purchased the property for $4,700.
Its location was nearly perfect for a community library. Situated near Green and Main streets, it was close to City Hall, the downtown business district, Landmark School, and McHenry High School. In an era when many people walked through town, the location meant that the library could easily become part of everyday life.
A child could stop by after school.
A family could visit while downtown.
A resident could walk from City Hall to the library or browse for a book while running errands along Green Street.
But first, the old house needed work.
Turning a nineteenth-century residence into a public library was no small undertaking. The library board needed money for the property and renovations, and once again, the community stepped forward.
Fundraisers became an important part of the effort. There were dances, dinners, card parties, and fund drives. The McHenry Women’s Club held a card party, the Toddler Shop contributed through a style show, and the American Legion hosted a fundraiser in October 1951.
There were also financial obligations connected with the property, including approximately $1,000 in taxes and fees. Donations helped ease that burden and allowed the library project to continue.
But money was only part of the story.
The community also donated something just as valuable: labor.
Local carpenters volunteered their skills to help transform the old Tesch home. On a cold January morning in 1953, ten McHenry residents from Carpenters Union No. 2087 arrived to tackle some of the most important work.
They worked in teams, reinforcing the first-floor beams and posts, installing insulation on the second floor, and making numerous repairs.
Their reward from the library board was wonderfully simple: coffee and doughnuts.
That small detail seems to capture the spirit of McHenry in those days. People helped because they believed in the project. Some gave money. Some donated books. Some organized fundraisers. Others brought their tools and their skills.
Everyone had a part in creating the community’s library.
The carpenters returned the following week to finish much of the major work, including patching and leveling the floors. Gradually, the old residence was transformed from a family home into a welcoming place for books and readers.
The finished library contained five rooms. The main room housed the adult collection, while a smaller room was dedicated to children's books. There was a restroom and a multipurpose room with a small kitchen that could be used for library programs and community gatherings.
The exterior was painted white, with dark green shutters and trim.
It was modest by today's standards, but to the people of McHenry, it was something special.
They finally had a library to call their own.
The library’s open house was held on September 27, 1953, at the high school, drawing approximately 125 people.
Music helped mark the occasion. Chicago pianists Marvin and Seymour Berman performed, along with McHenry tenor Warren Jones.
The gathering was more than a celebration of a new building. It was a tribute to everyone who had helped bring the library into existence. The music and festivities offered a chance to say thank you to the people who had donated money, books, labor, and encouragement.
For those who remembered the library's earliest days, the moment must have been especially meaningful.
Only seventeen years earlier, the community's books had occupied a closet at the high school.
Now McHenry had a permanent library.
The story did not end with the opening of the Tesch house library. As McHenry grew, so did its library.
The building was expanded in 1963 and again in 1978, providing additional space as the collection and services continued to grow. Generations of McHenry children passed through its doors. They came looking for school assignments, adventure stories, mysteries, biographies, and perhaps simply a quiet place to read.
Adults came for newspapers, books, information, and community programs.
The library became more than a place to borrow books. It became a gathering place—a familiar part of daily life in McHenry.
But eventually, even the expanded Tesch house could no longer accommodate the needs of a growing community.
In 1995, the library moved to its present location at 809 N. Front Street along Route 31 in the former Follett building.
The old Tesch house continued serving the community in another way, later becoming part of McHenry School District 15's administrative offices. Its history as a library remained an important chapter in the building's long life.
Today, the McHenry Public Library District bears little resemblance to the tiny collection that began in a high school closet nearly a century ago.
Modern technology has transformed the way people use libraries. Patrons can access digital resources, research materials, electronic collections, and countless other services. Yet some of the library's most valuable treasures remain firmly connected to the past.
Its local history and genealogy resources help residents discover the people and stories that shaped McHenry. Historical records provide clues to long-ago families, businesses, homes, schools, and community events.
Among those treasures are historical runs of the McHenry Plaindealer on microfilm. Page by page, those old newspapers preserve the voices of another era—birth announcements, weddings, obituaries, advertisements, community celebrations, local businesses, school news, and the everyday happenings that might otherwise have disappeared with time.
In many ways, the library has become both a doorway to the future and a keeper of the past.
The women who gathered those first books in 1936 could hardly have imagined what their little collection would become. They could not have envisioned a modern library filled with technology, digital resources, genealogy materials, and thousands of books.
They simply recognized a need in their community and decided to do something about it.
They started with a closet.
From there came City Hall. Then came the Tesch house. Volunteers, businesses, civic organizations, carpenters, donors, and residents all played a role in building something that would last.
The story of the McHenry Public Library is therefore much more than the history of a building. It is a story about community spirit.
It is about women gathering books because they believed children and adults should have access to them. It is about neighbors organizing card parties and fundraisers. It is about carpenters spending a cold January day repairing an old house and accepting little more than coffee and doughnuts in return. It is about residents opening their wallets, donating books, giving their time, and believing that a library was worth building.
And perhaps that is why the history of the McHenry Public Library feels so nostalgic.
Every library contains books, but the McHenry library contains something more: memories.
For generations, people have walked through its doors searching for information, escaping into a good story, completing a school project, tracing a family tree, or simply enjoying the quiet comfort of being surrounded by books.
The building has changed. The technology has changed. The community has changed.
But the purpose remains remarkably familiar.
From a few books tucked inside a high school closet to a modern public library serving generations of McHenry residents, the journey began with a simple idea—that a community is stronger when knowledge is shared.
And nearly ninety years later, the spirit of those women who started it all can still be found on the shelves, in the archives, and in every person who walks through the library doors looking for a story.
