Centennial Celebration! 100 Years of The Samuel T. Busey Library

Please join us for the Centennial Celebration of the Library's landmark building, which opened to the public in July 1918.

It was designed by Joseph W. Royer, with a $35,000 gift from Mary E. Busey, as a memorial to her husband, Samuel T. Busey.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

• Special exhibits - “Mary E. Busey’s Gift: A Centennial Celebration of The Samuel T. Busey Library” McFarlane-Hood Reading Room; 1st and 2nd Floor Exhibit Cases
• 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. - Games and activities from the early 1900s Co-sponsored by the Museum of the Grand Prairie. Lewis Auditorium All ages welcome!
• 1:30 p.m. – Live music with the local Dixieland sextet Carl Johnson and the New Orleans Jazz Machine Busey Mills Reading Room
• 2:30 p.m. - Remarks by special guests Busey Mills Reading Room
• 2:30 p.m. - Alderman Dennis Roberts will read a proclamation from the City of Urbana
• 3:00 p.m. – Enjoy cake and specialty drinks from the Cafe (while supplies last) Busey Mills Reading Room
• 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. - Presentation by author Brian Adams, “A Library Building Second to None: A History of Urbana’s Samuel T. Busey Library” Lewis Auditorium

For more on the history of The Urbana Free Library, go to our flickr page.