MELBOURNE — In a city of about 800 residents, the staff and board of the Melbourne Public Library are proud to provide a wide variety of activities and offerings for patrons both young and old, and throughout the week, they’ve been celebrating a milestone anniversary as the library officially hit the 50-year mark of operations.

It all started with coffee and cookies on the deck Tuesday morning, followed by a children’s birthday themed storytime on Wednesday, an evening celebration with cake on Thursday and, to cap it off, an outdoor meal and family movie event at dusk on Friday.

“I’m so proud of what people before me have done, and I’m excited to see what people after me do or accomplish. It’s been really fun to work here, and it’s something that will go down in my memories for forever,” Library Director Brittany Brewer said on Thursday.

Brewer has held her position for almost three years, and Library Assistant Jessica Horn, who added that the work she has done at the library has helped her grow as a person and been an extremely enjoyable experience, has served in her role for about two years after starting out as a volunteer. Board President Amanda Minser credited Brewer with bringing life back to the library.

“She’s brought the sun back into this library,” she said.

The library has hosted luminaries like State Auditor Rob Sand, who has since launched a campaign for governor, and last week, historian Brad Wilkening for his presentation titled “Lessons of the Holocaust.” The anniversary events have drawn a wide variety of visitors, including a woman who worked at the library in its early days and over 25 attendees for the children’s storytime.

“It’s really great to see the community come out and support us and all of the positive comments that I see on social media,” Brewer said.

One particularly fortuitous turn for the library came back in 1986 when a rural Melbourne resident and longtime teacher, Ana Andrews, won the lottery and made a substantial contribution to the library in the aftermath. Brewer also praised late former librarian Mary Sue “Sam” Halter, who made a major impact through her work in the 1990s and early 2000s. Halter passed away in 2023 at the age of 78.

“Her passion for the library led her to encourage the building and public support of the new library,” her obituary read.

After her death, Halter’s family left a generous donation in her name, and Brewer said they are planning to use it to replace the front desk area and include a plaque commemorating Halter as part of the improvements. Brewer, Horn and Minser hope to build on the legacy already left and leave the library in an even better position over the next 50 years.

“I think we just want it to remain a place where the community feels safe to come out and have a positive experience,” Brewer said. “We’re a school bus dropoff, so I have lots of kids that come in after school in the wintertime, and we provide snacks for them. We want them to have a positive experience in the library so that someday when they have children that they think ‘Let’s go to the library.'”

As long as the doors remain open, it will be a place for kids to be kids — and hopefully become lifelong readers in the process. The Melbourne Public Library is located at 603 Main St. and can be found online at https://www.melbourne.lib.ia.us/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MelbournePublicLibrary/. The phone number is (641) 482-3115.