History of the
Old Library Building

Annandale's Library, 1923-2003                                                                                               drawing by Dean Cheney

The Old Library building served Annandale as a library for 80 years, 1923-2003. It began as a country school, South Side School District 130, in the 1800s. In 1910 many school districts were consolidated and in 1911 the building was moved across frozen Pleasant Lake to its present location.         The photo below from the 1916 Annalite (school newspaper) shows the two school buildings at that time.        In 1923 the new school was built on Cherry Street. The two story building became City Hall and the old school house became Annandale's library.        When the new City Hall opened in 2001 the old two story building was razed. That site is now a through street to the St. Ignatius Catholic Church parking lot.        The one story building served as Annandale's library until 2003 when the new library was added on to City Hall. It was Snooty Fox Gallery and Gifts 2004-2013,Cafe Jules since 2014-2021, and In Hot Water since 2021.        The Annandale Improvement Club maintained the library from it's inception in 1899 when it opened with 317 books in the two story City Hall on Oak on the site of the current Post Office. In 1969 the library became part of the Great River Regional Libary.