The Illinois Prairie District Public Library was formed in July of 1950.
IPDPL is the second oldest library district in Illinois. It encompasses eight townships: Cazenovia, Clayton, Linn, Metamora, Partridge, Spring Bay, and Worth. This is roughly the western half of Woodford County and a small portion of southeastern Marshall County, covering 310 square miles. In 1980, the district served a population of 17,776. Today, the district serves 21,481 inhabitants. Bookmobile service to the schools in the district was provided for 45 years but was discontinued when the schools developed their own libraries. The district provides service to its patrons through its branch libraries in Benson, Germantown Hills, Metamora, Roanoke, Spring Bay, and Washburn. Over the last 15 years, the district has expanded its branches at Spring Bay, Roanoke, and Benson. The library district erected a new building for the Germantown Hills branch in 2016. Renovations of the Roanoke and Metamora branches were completed in 2020 and 2024 respectively.
Our Vision
Growing a vibrant, engaged, learning-focused community.
Our Mission
We serve as a welcoming, responsive environment for community gathering by provisioning space, equal access to information, technology, resources, and engaging learning opportunities.
Welcome
We create a sense of belonging in our comfortable, inclusive spaces. Goals include:
- Evolve branches to become essential community hubs
Engage
We are widely-known and highly regarded for the value we add to the community. Goals include:
- Increase awareness through creative marketing and communication
- Reach more community members through outreach activities and strategic partnerships
Enrich
We encourage and support a culture of learning across a lifetime. Goals include:
- Create strong connections with families to establish lifelong library habits grounded in the joy of reading
- Design experiential learning opportunities that also highlight library resources