Our History

"It was said, 'If you want something done, let the Grange do it'" ("Boerne Grange #1545," "Agricultural Societies: Grange 1545," file, Historical/Genealogical Research Room, Boerne Public Library). For the Boerne Public Library, that old saying rings true. The Grange, "a fraternal family oriented farm organization with roots in rural communities all across America" ("Boerne Grange #1545"), has a long tradition of community service, and the Boerne chapter, #1545, started in 1941, has been exemplary in following that tradition.

In the fall of 1951, the Boerne Grange, realizing that a growing community needs free and easy access to information, decided to start a public library, at the suggestion of Mrs. A. J. Theis (affectionately known as "Aunt Jessie"). Mrs. Theis had a keen interest in the arts and education: she was a painter, and she taught in local schools for more than 30 years and led a Girl Scout troop.

The Boerne City Council agreed with the Grange: "The City Council last week acknowledged the city's need for a public library, to three members of a committee from the Boerne Grange, which sought a building to house Boerne's first library. Harry Grosser, Mrs. Jessie Theis and Mrs Henry Moss appeared before Mayor Clarence Dietert and councilmen Monday night of last week" ("Boerne Grange Asks Public Library," Comfort News, Oct. 18, 1951).

"So in this small room in the Fire Station, Grange members with saws, hammers, odd pieces of lumber and great enthusiasm, started and soon opened the Library" (Kendall County Historical Commission, Rivers, Ranches, Railroads and Recreation: A History of Kendall County, Texas, Taylor Publishing Company, Dallas, 1984, p. 23).

It was a chilly night in the fall of 1951 in a bare cold room adjacent to the fire station where they met. It was the only vacant room the City had to offer. They had no funds but there was a need. - Boerne needed a "public library"! - Farmers are pretty good carpenters. Their housewives are fair painters. Nearly everybody had a few pieces of scrap lumber. So the bare room in January, 1952, transformed by freshly painted shelves containing 400 donated books, opened formally as the "Boerne Public Library" with a staff of volunteer Grange librarians (among them, Mrs. Theis).
--"Current Operation of and New Home for the Library," Boerne Grange #1545, Oct. 1, 1963-Sept. 1, 1965

The north half of the building on the Plaza, formerly occupied by the AAA, has been leased to the Boerne Grange to house the Boerne Public Library. . . . As soon as possible after the task of building the shelving and cataloging the books is complete, we will open and announce the days on which it will open permanently. This service will be free to the community, and will provide some each of reference books, children's books and novels. It will be staffed with vountary [sic] personnel, willing if not expert, and we hope will grow from a small beginning as it satisfies the need of the public.
--"Boerne Grange Sponsors Public Library," Boerne Star, Oct. 25, 1951

The new venture is being started on a shoe string and an abundance of faith, plus diligence.
--"Boerne to Have Public Library," Boerne Star, Nov. 8, 1951

The First Boerne Public Library, circa 1952

The new library was a big hit in the community. More than 100 people attended the grand opening on the afternoon of Sunday, Jan. 20, 1952. Many of the library's books were donated by local citizens. The San Antonio Express reported that within the first month, the collection had grown to 1,189 items and 98 books had already been checked out ("Boerne Opens New Public Library," Feb. 27, 1952). In fact, by March of that year, the Boerne Star was reporting that the library was "running over with books" ("Boerne Grange Report," Mar. 27, 1952). The Comfort News complimented the new library's reference holdings--among them, The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Book of Knowledge and Compton's Reference Encyclopedia--and children's collection. The library also had "a remakably [sic] good collection of new fiction and non-fiction for adults," the News commented ("Library News," Feb. 7, 1952). Books could be borrowed for one week; overdues were charged 2 cents per day ("Boerne Public Library Opened on January 20," Comfort News, Jan. 31, 1952). From its first home at 1 Main Plaza, Boerne Public Library provided service three afternoons a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, 3-5 p.m.) with an all-volunteer staff (among them, Henry
and Irene Moss, Winne Rust, Erna Sill, Harry and Mary
Jane Grosser, and Alma Heiligmann). Dora Wollschlaeger, 1970 (l) and Jessie Theis, 1984BPL's first librarian, also a volunteer, was Dora Wollschlaeger. She served for 27 years (Rivers, Ranches, Railroads, p. 23). The library's collection had jumped to 7,000 by 1957 (Garland A. Perry, Historic Images of Boerne, Texas, Perry Publications, Boerne, 1998, p. 97).

We Move to Blanco Street
Into the 1960s, the new library flourished. Between 1963 and 1965, the Grange reported, 14 members of the Grange and 14 non-members gave 2,310 hours to running the library. By 1965, the library, now open 11 hours a week, had over 8,000 items (104 of which had been bought, costing $277.52; the rest were donated) and 750 cardholders. A Summer Reading Program was in full swing. "However, during the past two or three years the last available inch of space in the once bare room was used for shelving and still there was insufficient room. -- A problem, recognized since back in 1957 when 7000 volumes was reached, had to be dealt with - and soon! . . . A modern library in Boerne, that nearly everybody helped build, will benifit [sic] everyone, both materially and physiologically" ("Current Operation of and New Home for the Library," Oct. 1, 1963-Sept. 1, 1965). Summer Reading Program, 1964 
In 1964, the Boerne Grange won the United States Community Progress Contest, sponsored by the National Grange and the Sears Roebuck Foundation. True to form, the Boerne Grange took its $5,000 in winnings from the community service contest and put it right back into community service by starting a building fund for the library. With additional contributions from the Grange and matching grants from the state and federal governments, the Boerne Library Board, led by Miss Kemper Moore, raised $38,000 to build a new library. Construction began on July 8, 1966, with Mrs. Theis turning over the first spadeful of ground. The new library, at 402 E. Blanco, was dedicated on April 16, 1967.

The library on Blanco St., 1967

In April, 1977, the City of Boerne assumed operation of the rapidly growing library, and in 1979 hired a full-time librarian, Nancy Koett, to run BPL. Subsequent directors of the library at its Blanco location included Ruth Libby and Mary Brady (hired in Dec. 1981).

"At the present time in 1983, the Boerne Library has 3215 patrons and 20,115 volumes. More space is needed, and we are again having a dream for the future," Mary Brady wrote in Rivers, Ranches, Railroads and Recreation: A History of Kendall County, Texas. The library's annual report for 1986 indicated that the library owned 20,371 books and had answered 4,100 reference questions.

By 1988, the library had grown to 30,000 items of all types. The library was open 43.5 hours a week, including 3 on Saturdays, and a Wednesday morning storytime was offered (We still have Wednesday storytimes today). The library was so crowded that during storytimes, the building was closed to other patrons; there just wasn't room for everyone at once ("Boerne Bond Proposition 4: Incentive Funding for Library," Hill Country Recorder, April 1, 1987). The demands that a growing town placed on its 2,000 square-foot library led to a request from the Board of Trustees for a bigger location, so the City purchased the Dienger Building in 1989.

We Move to Main Street
Dienger Building, date unknown.

The native-stone (limestone and rock) building with "gingerbread" embellishments had already lived several lives. When it was built circa 1884, the building served as a general store/residence for Joseph and Ida Dienger and their seven children. The store sold staples such as flour, cornmeal, sugar, coffee, beans, dried peas and potatoes.

An extension was added in 1900 to house a dry-goods store, run by Joseph's sisters Lina and Louise; here, fabrics, shoes, linens and ready-to-wear garments were sold.

Joseph Dienger's sisters' store, date unknownAround 1912, Joseph and his sisters sold their stores to brother Charles. As time passed, other members of the Dienger family owned and operated the stores.

In 1967, the building was purchased by nine Boerne businessmen (Adrian White, Verne Powell, R. M. George, Dr. Roger Hestilow, Mayor Arleigh Huff, Arley Sueltenfuss, Edgar Bergmann, Richard Leeder and Harry Davis). Builder R. M. George converted the building into a "pioneer style" restaurant called Antlers (so named for Joseph Dienger's collection of 2,000 deer and moose antlers, found in the basement). Antlers, occupying the bottom floor of the building, was a public restaurant serving Hill Country cuisine; on the top floor, a private supper club/bar called the Trophy Room was opened. The north part of the Dienger Building was rented to the Rodriguez family and was used as a grocery store.

Antlers Restaurant, 1979

In 1978 Antlers closed and the First National Bank of Boerne bought the building the next year; in 1980 William and Paige Ramsey-Palmer bought the Dienger and renovated it into office space for geologists. When Bill Ramsey-Palmer died, J. W. Smith bought the Dienger and used it for office space. When the City purchased the property in 1989 for $550,000, it had to be remodeled again, at the cost of $165,000, to meet the needs of a public library. The money was raised through donations and certificates of obligation. Since the Dienger is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been designated a Texas Historic Landmark, the City sought to preserve the building's architectural integrity.

Louise FosterAfter the remodeling was finished, the Dienger was dedicated as the new home of the 7,700 square-foot Boerne Public Library on June 2, 1991. Library Director Mary Brady retired after 10 years and Louise Foster was hired. By the end of the 1990s, the Kelly Skovbjerglibrary owned 33,000 volumes; in 1998, the number of check-outs was 88,000 (Garland A. Perry, Historic Images). In 2001, Louise Foster accepted a position in New Braunfels and was replaced by Joe Gunter; in 2003, Kelly Skovbjerg became Boerne Public Library's director.

Today's Library: Growing PainsLibrary Staff, Christmas 2006
Today, the staff and 60+ volunteers of Boerne Public Library serve the residents of Kendall County, as well as people from other parts of the state, the country and even the world six days a week with a collection of approximately 48,000 items. Nearly 127,000 people came through our doors in 2006 and checked out more than 160,000 items--nearly double the circulation rate of other libraries our size. With the assistance of the Friends of the Boerne Public Library, we provide not only the traditional library services of circulation and reference but also a wide variety of programs for adults, children and teens. Nearly 8,000 people attended the programs we offered.

Looking to the Future
On May 12, 2007, the residents of Boerne voted FOR a $5 million dollar bond to build a new library. Less than a week later, the city purchased land on Main Street, across from St. Helena's Episcopal Church, which will be home to the new library and probably other city facilities as well. The Boerne Public Library Foundation, which was established in 1993, is launching a capital campaign to raise an additional $2 million to create a facility that will preserve many of the facets of traditional libraries, but will also offer state-of-the-art technology, allowing almost unlimited access to information on a vast array of topics. We'll keep you posted on our progress!