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The library had its beginnings as a small village library in the early 1960s. Largely through the efforts of volunteers Ruth Anderson and Mary E. Oglesby, whom with three other women collected over 5,000 books and persuaded the Markham Park Commission the need for a city public library. The village library eventually became the Markham Public Library in 1967. |
| The
library was located in half of the newly constructed Roesner Park
Field House, which is now the Harold Murphy Recreational Center. The library
was relocated to the Canterbury Shopping Center in late 1960s. The current library is
located in a former church building (Christ Community Church, originally
constructed in 1960), at the northwest corner of Kedzie and 167th Street. The
building was purchased by the library in October l979 for $75,000,
renovated at a cost of $l05,000 and opened as the new Markham Public
Library in l980. |
| The library has
since undergone two name changes. In May 1994 the library's name was changed from
Markham Public Library to Anderson Oglesby Public Library. And in January 2001
the library's name was changed again, to Bradford
Anderson Oglesby Public Library. |
| The library is presently a member of the Metropolitan Library System, created from a merger of the Chicago Multi-type Library System and the Suburban Library System |