Collinsville Public Library

Collinsville Library plays a vital role in the history of what was once a little pioneer town in Indian Territory. In 1903 a group of women formed the Comedy of Errors Book Club (COE). Their first order of business was to adopt the project of founding a library for Collinsville, Oklahoma. Their first books were donated from a Methodist Church organization and were kept in the home of COE founder, Mrs. J.A. Tyner.

The books were moved to several locations in downtown Collinsville until 1911 when the books found a home in a room on the second floor of the new city hall. Members of the COE club and The Women's Council operated the library for the public. The members of the COE club held teas, talent shows, and benefits to purchase books for the library. They even had a 'book shower" which brought in books from women's groups all over the state.

In 1913 Clyde Bollman and J.B. Potter went back east to secure funds from the Carnegie Foundation. The City Fathers went east, but the City Mothers sent them, and they were granted $7,500 to erect a building on land furnished by Collinsville. The new building was started in 1915.

According to the engraving on the building, what year did the Carnegie Foundation celebrate this "Gift of Andrew Carnegie?"