This October, the Big Piney Library has an extra reason to celebrate as its annual Fall Festival becomes part of a very special milestone—one hundred years of service to the Big Piney community!
The Big Piney Library’s story began in the fall of 1926, when a small group of community members decided the town needed a library. Working with Reverend Archibald Best, the first resource collection was housed in the Community Congregational Church. Local hands helped make it possible; Oscar Piper built glass doors to protect the books, while school shop teacher Mr. Anderson and his students built the shelves.
The current Big Piney Library is located at 106 South Fish Street.
The new library opened with just 400 books, and nine were checked out on its very first day!
Over the next century, the library grew alongside the community. It moved into a small building near Burney and Company’s Grocery Store in 1958, then into the back of the former bank building, which is now the Big Piney Town Hall, in 1963. By 1974, the library had a building of its own across the street. Eventually, it moved into its current home on Fish Street. The current building underwent a major renovation in 2021 and reopened to the public in December 2022.
One hundred years after those first 400 books were placed on locally built shelves, the Big Piney Library remains what its founders intended it to be—a place created for and supported by its community.
That spirit will be on full display during the Library’s Centennial Fall Festival held the first weekend in October. More than 50 vendors will join the celebration, along with food trucks, bounce houses, carnival games, face painting, a photo booth, live music and activities for all ages. Festival-goers will gather around the s’mores station, create their own snack at the trail mix bar, play games, shop local vendors and spend the day celebrating together.
The Fall Festival has become a favorite Big Piney tradition, but this year’s celebration is about more than welcoming autumn. It is an opportunity to recognize 100 years of people who believed that a library mattered enough to build shelves for it, volunteer their time, find it a home, fill it with books and continue helping it grow.
From 400 books and nine checkouts in 1926 to a bustling community gathering place a century later, a great deal has changed at the Big Piney Library. One thing hasn’t changed, though—the community is still at the heart of it all! Here’s to the next 100 years!