ANNE WEST LINDSEY DISTRICT LIBRARY
600 N. Division St.
P – 618-985-3298
The Anne West Lindsey District Library is located in Carterville, a rural community in Southern Illinois. In 2007, the library changed from a city library to a district library and now serves 11,309 residents in the new service area, which encompasses the towns of Carterville, Crainville, Cambria, and the unincorporated area within the boundaries of the Carterville Community Unit School District No 5. The library automated its collection of 33,000 books in 2008.
The new Anne West Lindsey District Library, formerly the Carterville Public Library, was the vision of Anne West Lindsey. A Carterville-native, Anne West Lindsey was a well-established writer, having written for more than 170 national magazines including Saturday Evening Post, Ford Times, Mademoiselle, Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day, and Family Circle. She was also an author to short and book-length fiction, with some stories made for major network television. It was Anne’s desire to have a library built on her property. Through her bequest, the library received 1.5 million dollars and 5.4 acres of land for the purpose of building a library for the community. Over the years, Anne had many offers to purchase this land, but she always said no. She told the prospective buyers that one day there would be a library on her property — that was her dream, which became a reality in May, 2010.
The groundbreaking for the new library occurred in November, 2008 and the library was finished in April, 2010 in time to open on May 3, 2010. The library is approximately a half mile from downtown and is situated in a residential area surrounded by a natural forest. The new library is approximately three times the size of the former building, which had been the library’s home for thirty years. The library offers a community room, children’s area, media center with public computers and Wi-Fi connectivity, a genealogy/local history room, spacious collection areas and a convenient parking area available during all hours of service.
The friendly and professional staff at Anne West Lindsey District Library is happy to help meet your reading and informational needs.