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Seward Memorial Library Capital Campaign: 1990-2003 The Foundation members considered many options. Some felt Seward had enough libraries already; ideas of a joint facility with Concordia University, or with the public schools, or with the Civic Center, were carefully considered. In the end, the Foundation decided that the best option was construction of a new building to house a public library worthy of Seward, and that the best way to fund this would be through public donations to cover most of the cost. In that way, the public would have a big stake in their new library. Over the years of planning and development, the public attitude shifted from questioning the need to impatience for a building project to begin. “Libraries are not made, they grow,” makes a good summary of the Seward Library Foundation’s patient efforts to achieve its goal. The first question that had to be answered was where this new library would best grow. For seven years, the Foundation examined and discussed various sites around Seward. The Nebraska Library Commission recommended a site somewhere downtown, but nothing was available. By this time, the membership of the board had changed, but the determination to build a new library was stronger than ever. In 1997, when the current site was selected, the Foundation Board consisted of Bob Dahms, President; Connie Phillips, Vice-President; Dawn Navis, Secretary-Treasurer; Vikki Gremel, Historian; Cal Goding, Tony Vrana, and Lynn Wake. Library director Becky Baker provided countless hours of expertise and encouragement from the beginning of the process. In 1997 when John and Russell Keller agreed to sell their property for the eastern half of the library site, and the Jones National Bank and Trust donated the western half, the dream of a library near the Square became a reality. The generosity of the Kellers and of Steve and Max Wake from the Jones Bank meant that Seward’s new library would be downtown, an outcome the Foundation felt was especially fortuitous for the community. After acquiring the site, the board interviewed architects and selected Clark Enerson Partners early in 1998. They hired Sampson Construction as general contractor in February 2002. With “location, location, location” for the new library resolved, a gorgeous layout of the building planned, and the price tag estimated, raising the money to pay for it became the focus of the Foundation. The capital fund drive called “Writing the Next Chapter” kicked off in November, 1998. The Foundation members gave presentations and many groups held creative fund-raisers, and the money began to flow in. Groundbreaking was held April 17, 2002, with middle school students forming an outline of what would become the new building’s perimeters. Flags flew, the middle school band played, and there were speeches and cookies. On August 22, 2003, community volunteers of all ages formed a “fire chain” and shuttled books from the old site directly onto shelves in the new library. When the library doors opened at 9:00 a.m. on September 2, 2003, a beautiful building had been built on schedule and below budget! The Leadership Team included: John & Virginia Cattle Virginia Hughes Orville & Marilyn Walz Charles & Jan Matzke Dr. Van & Becky Vahle Tony & Elaine Vrana Duane & Mary Miner On April 13, 2008 the library hosted a Mortgage Burning Ceremony. The mortgage was burned outside of the main entrance in the presence of many current and former Seward Library Foundation members.

Eight years later, Becky Baker and the library staff saw a need to open the lower level of the library to add space for additional adult fiction and give much-needed room to the children’s and juvenile fiction areas. The construction also included additional restrooms, conference and small meeting rooms, and a kitchenette. September 2013 was the goal for completion of construction, hitting the 10 year opening anniversary nearly to the day. Meanwhile, a plot of land across from the library became available, and the Foundation purchased the lot for additional parking. The seller gave a portion of the purchase price back to the library as a donation. The parking lot was completed in August of 2014. Also, in 2014, Geis Steel Tech of Seward donated and installed a brass sculpture in the new lower level. Dave Geis’ idea for the sculpture came immediately after his company was hired to cut out the letters for the Vietnam memorial honoring the ‘Brownwater Navy’ at Coronado Island in California.

The library had served our community well over the years, but it was time to look forward so that we would meet the needs of the future. The Seward Library Foundation approved a remodeling plan to do just that. They raised $100,000 for a remodel that allowed the library to adapt to the changing needs of Seward. The remodel included: Repurposing the existing computer lab. When built, this room had a waiting list to use the computers. However, with advancements in technology, most patrons now use their own devices. The library will add laptops to use throughout the library in place of the lab, for those who need access to devices. Re-combining the Genealogy Room and the Heritage Room to provide one location for all historical documents. Since the Seward Library Foundation digitized county newspapers for ease of online access, the Genealogy Room use has dropped enough to allow resources to be together again. Expanding the Friends of Seward Library Book Nook in a new location near the lower-level circulation desk. Adding two additional study rooms and one meeting room in the lower level to better meet current and future needs. Relocating the Library of Things upstairs for greater ease of access for our patrons. Each of these items greatly improved our patron service and helped us get ready for the next 20 years!

If you had important dates in your personal, professional, or civic past that were covered in a county paper, please consider making a $125 donation to cover the cost of converting the microfilm reel that includes your event (a reel usually includes at least one year of newspaper images) and having it posted online. This is a small price to pay to give everyone in the world access to Seward County coverage of: Birth announcements Wedding announcements Graduations Obituaries Sporting events Club events Contest results Election results Business anniversaries or other promotions Local happenings Other newsworthy event Once the microfilm content is posted online, it becomes searchable to all (using OCR or optical character recognition) and it is free to access and use! You can visit seward.advantage-preservation.com now to see examples of reels already online. The Seward Library Foundation believes this to be an important project and has committed to match up to $15,000 in new donations to make this happen! You can still donate to this project to help preserve our county’s history.

Total Scope of Project 272 reels to be digitized ($125 each) 74 reels to be added to the library ($55 each) 5 reels to be filmed ($225 each) $39,195 needed Progress Completed 129 reels have been sponsored for digitization The Seward Library Foundation has contributed $15,500 in start-up and matching funds! $31,725 has been donated Beaver Crossing Bugle 4/1887–7/1889 (Seward County Genealogical Society) Beaver Crossing Newsletter 1/1977–1/1981 * Beaver Crossing Times This publication has also been published as the Beaver Crossing Weekly Review and Beaver Crossing New Era Review. 5/1892–12/1894 1/1895–6/1896 7/1896–11/1901 11/1901–7/1903 8/1903–8/1905 8/1905–2/1908 2/1908–3/1912 3/1912–1/1914 1/1914–5/1916 5/1916–5/1919 5/1919–12/1920 12/1920–8/1922 * 9/1922–5/1924 * 5/1924–1/1926 * 1/1926–9/1927 * 9/1927–8/1928 * 8/1929–11/1932 * 12/1932–8/1935 * 9/1935–5/1937 * 5/1937–2/1939 * 2/1939–10/1941 * 10/1941–7/1944 * 8/1944–3/1947 * 3/1947–10/1949 * 10/1949–8/1952 * 8/1952–11/1958 * 11/1958–12/1965 * 1/1966–5/1968 * *1/1911–6/1920 contains issues that weren’t included on previous reels Blue Valley Blade This publication has also been published as the Seward Advocate. 5/1879–8/1883 (Friends of Seward Library) 8/1883–10/1886 (Doug & Vikki Gremel) 10/1886–12/1889 (Seward Memorial Library) 1/1890–2/1893 (Esther & Jerry Pfabe) 3/1893–5/1896 (Esther & Jerry Pfabe) 5/1896–8/1899 8/1899–10/1902 11/1902–10/1905 10/1905–7/1907 1/1907–1/1909 (Brent & Sandra Royuk) 2/1909–8/1910 8/1910–6/1912 7/1912–7/1915 7/1915–5/1918 5/1918–5/1921 5/1921–12/1924 1/1925–2/1928 2/1928–8/1929 8/1929–2/1931 2/1931–9/1932 9/1932–7/1935 7/1935–5/1938 6/1938–3/1941 4/1941–3/1944 3/1944–2/1947 3/1947–10/1948 10/1948–12/1949 1/1950–6/1951 7/1951–1/1953 1/1953–6/1954 6/1954–4/1955 Blue Valley Record, Milford 12/1870–4/1873 (In Memory of Teri Lynn Horton) * The Echo, Beaver Crossing 1/1930–12/1913 * Farmer Patriot and Bugle-Journal, Beaver Crossing 9/1891 * Garland Herald 2/1920–12/1924 12/1924–2/1928 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 2/1928–4/1931 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 4/1931–4/1934 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) Germantown Gleaner 11/1875–6/1897 Goehner News 9/1899–4/1900 The Independent Examiner, Beaver Crossing 3/1905–11/1906 * Life at Beaver Crossing 2/1981–7/1984 * 8/1984–1/1988 * 1/1988–7/1991 * 7/1991–8/1995 * Milford Monitor This publication has also been published as the Milford Ozone and Milford Nebraskan. 2/1884–12/1887 (Seward County Genealogical Society) 1/1888–12/1890 (Jerry Whitney) 1/1891–4/1894 (In Memory of the Busboom Family) 5/1894–9/1898 9/1898–12/1903 1/1904–6/1908 6/1908–12/1909 Milford Review 10/1911–5/1915 * 5/1915–7/1919 * 7/1919–1/1924 * 2/1924–5/1928 * 5/1928–12/1931 * 1/1932–6/1936 * 6/1936–11/1940 * 12/1940–6/1945 * 6/1945–8/1949 * 9/1949–3/1955 * 3/1955–11/1961 * 11/1961–5/1968 * Milford Times 7/1957–9/1961 (Milford Historical Society)(Reel donated by Milford Historical Society) 9/1961–4/1965 (Reel donated by Milford Historical Society) 5/1965–6/1968 (Reel donated by Milford Historical Society) 7/1968–10/1971 * 11/1971–3/1974 * 4/1974–5/1975 * 5/1975–4/1976 * 5/1976–12/1976 * 12/1976–1/1978 * 1/1978–3/1979 * 3/1979–12/1980 * 12/1980–11/1982 * 11/1982–11/1984 (Mark & Ingrid Minchow) 11/1984–10/1986 (Mark & Ingrid Minchow) 11/1986–4/1988 * 4/1988–7/1989 * 7/1989–9/1990 (Anonymous) 9/1990–5/1991 (Anonymous) 5/1991–8/1992 (Linda Zimbelmann) 8/1992–5/1994 * 6/1994–5/1996 * 6/1996–4/1998 * 4/1998–1/2000 * 2/2000–12/2001 * 1/2002–10/2003 * 11/2003–10/2007 11/2007–10/2011 11/2011–10/2015 Pleasant Dale Quiz 7/1890–12/1896 12/1896–4/1900 Seward Citizen 2/1962–4/1963 (Donna Posvar) Seward County Democrat 6/1892–9/1897 (In Memory of Debra Jo [Nagel] Krivda) Seward County Independent This publication has also been published as the Seward Independent and Seward Independent-Democrat. 1/1894–10/1895 (Marc & Martha Guthrie) 1/1895–6/1897 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 9/1897–10/1900 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 11/1900–11/1903 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 11/1903–6/1906 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 6/1906–1/1908 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 1/1908–8/1909 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 8/1909–11/1910 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 11/1910–6/1912 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 6/1912–12/1913 (Linda J. Miers) 1/1914–5/1915 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 5/1915–11/1916 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 11/1916–7/1918 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 8/1918–5/1920 (Rivoli Theatre) 6/1920–12/1921 (Hughes Brothers, Inc.) 12/1921–6/1923 (Hughes Brothers, Inc.) 6/1923–11/1924 (Hughes Brothers, Inc.) 12/1924–5/1926 (Liberty House) 5/1926–9/1927 9/1927–3/1929 3/1929–9/1930 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 10/1930–4/1932 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 4/1932–2/1935 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 2/1935–1/1938 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 1/1938–11/1940 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 11/1940–10/1943 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 10/1943–5/1946 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 5/1946–12/1947 (Hughes Brothers, Inc.) 12/1947–5/1949 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 6/1949–9/1950 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 10/1950–2/1952 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 3/1952–6/1953 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 6/1953–8/1954 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 8/1954–10/1955 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 10/1955–9/1957 (Ron and Nancy Lamberty) 9/1957–10/1959 10/1959–5/1961 6/1961–12/1962 (Linda J. Miers) 12/1962–4/1964 (Linda J. Miers) 5/1964–3/1965 (In Honor of Steven E. Miers) 3/1965–6/1966 (In Memory of Willard R. and Wanda F. Miers) 6/1966–8/1967 (In Memory of Leonard and Hazel F. Miers) 8/1967–11/1968 (In Memory of Elton J. and Lila O. Erford) 11/1968–4/1970 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 4/1970–6/1971 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 7/1971–8/1972 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 8/1972–8/1973 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 8/1973–6/1974 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 6/1974–3/1975 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 3/1975–12/1975 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 12/1975–9/1976 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 9/1976–6/1977 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 6/1977–1/1978 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 1/1978–8/1978 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 8/1978–1/1979 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 2/1979–8/1979 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 8/1979–2/1980 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 2/1980–9/1980 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 9/1980–4/1981 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 4/1981–11/1981 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 11/1981–5/1982 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 5/1982–1/1983 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 1/1983–5/1983 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 5/1983–2/1984 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 2/1984–9/1984 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 10/1984–6/1985 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 6/1985–3/1986 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 3/1986–6/1986 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 6/1986–3/1987 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 3/1987–2/1988 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 2/1988–1/1989 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 1/1989–12/1989 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 12/1989–10/1990 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 10/1990–5/1991 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 5/1991–3/1992 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 4/1992–2/1993 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 2/1993–12/1993 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 12/1993–10/1994 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 10/1994–8/1995 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 8/1995–5/1996 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 5/1996–3/1997 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 3/1997–12/1997 (Bob & Becky Reisdorff) 1/1998–10/1998 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 11/1998–7/1999 (Seward Youth and Community Club) 8/1999–4/2000 (Seward Youth and Community Club) 5/2000–1/2001 (Seth & Megan Boggs) 2/2001–12/2001 (John & Julie Moody) 1/2002–10/2002 (In Memory of Dessalee Rousselle) 11/2002–8/2003 9/2003–8/2004 (In Memory of Gordon Magnuson) 9/2004–8/2005 9/2005–8/2006 (Seward Cross Makers) 9/2006–8/2007 (Seward Cross Makers) 9/2007–8/2008 (Seward Cross Makers) 9/2008–8/2009 (Seward Cross Makers) 9/2009–8/2010 (Seward Cross Makers) 9/2010–8/2011 (Seward Cross Makers) 9/2011–8/2012 (Thom & Jill Martin) 9/2012–8/2013 9/2013–8/2014 (In memory of Jean Magnuson) 9/2014–8/2015 (Seward Cross Makers) 9/2015–8/2016 9/2016-8/2017 (Seward Sesquicentennial Committee)\ Seward County Tribune 9/1915–1/1918 (Seward Cross Makers) 1/1918–1/1920 (Seward Cross Makers) Seward Daily News 6/1892 (Seward Cross Makers) Seward Journal This publication has also been published as the Nebraska Deutsche Farmer-Zeitung and the Deutsche Journal. 1/1908–4/1910 (Seward Cross Makers) 5/1910–2/1915 (Seward Cross Makers) 2/1915–3/1918 (Seward Cross Makers) 5/1918–6/1920 6/1920–8/1923 9/1923–9/1926 9/1926–9/1929 10/1929–12/1931 Seward Weekly Reporter This publication has also been published as the Nebraska Weekly Reporter, Nebraska Reporter and Seward Semi-Weekly Reporter. 1/1874–11/1875 11/1875–1/1883 2/1883–6/1888 6/1888–2/1892 3/1892–12/1892 5/1896–7/1899 7/1899–9/1900 Staplehurst Sentinel 12/1921–10/1923 (Joan Shurtliff) Tamora Lyre 5/1909–3/1918 Tamora Register 11/1893–3/1903 4/1903–3/1909 (Joan Shurtliff) Utica Record 1/1885–3/1887 * Utica Sun This publication has also been published as the Utica Weekly Sun. 11/1892–12/1901 12/1901–7/1910 7/1910–10/1913 10/1913–1/1918 1/1918–12/1923 1/1925–10/1935 11/1935–5/1938 5/1938–10/1941 10/1941–1/1945 1/1945–12/1947 12/1947–11/1950 12/1950–3/1954 3/1954–11/1955 *6/1909-10/1931 contains issues that weren’t included on previous reels *10/1931-10/1935 contains issues that weren’t included on previous reels Miscellaneous Atlas of Seward County, including a plat book, 1908 (Seward Cross Makers) Atlas of Seward County, 1921 (Seward Cross Makers) Filmstrip containing: (Seward Cross Makers) Evening Chronicle, 8/5/1896-8/8/1896 Nebraska Atlas, 3/16/1870, 8/4/1870, 8/14/1872, 10/18/1872, 12/3/1879 Pleasant Dale News, 6/1932 Seward County Independent, 5/1982 Filmstrip containing: *an additional $55 is needed to add this microfilm reel to library collection Blue Valley Blade, 2/28/1923 Life at Beaver Crossing, 1/4/1978