When is a small-town Texas library a tourist attraction? When it’s the new $5.6 million El Progreso Memorial Library, Archives and Museum in Uvalde, opened on August 2, 2004.

In its park-like setting at 301 West Main Street (Hwy 90 West), the 35,000-square-foot structure beckons to passers-by to stop for a while.

Of course, it’s even more than a totally modern library. The archives and museum will preserve the history and tell the story of ten counties in Southwest Texas because "friendship, business, and ranches don’t stop at a county line," as Library Director Susan Anderson explained it.

The building itself attracts lots of visitors, according to Anderson. Others, including Winter Texans from Quail Springs RV Park, often stop to use one of the library laptops or PCs to check e-mail. Men find it a good place to wait for their wives who want to visit local shops and antique dealers in downtown Uvalde.

Display walls and glass cases showing the work of artists and hobbyists are of great interest to visitors. A collection from the USS Uvalde, both from the ship and from former crew members, who have held reunions in Uvalde, has brought national attention. Memorabilia from West Main School is of great interest to former Uvaldeans.

Ginger Davis, Certified Archivist, volunteers in the History Center. She believes that people also enjoy hearing the friendly volunteers who can take them on a tour of the library and answer questions about local history and about genealogical sources in the History Center.

Library Outreach Coordinator Nancy Feely said that people often come into the library just to talk. "It’s what used to happen at the court house; now it happens at this library. It’s a casual place, just right for them."

Whatever the reason, Feely said that the new library had 50,000 visitors in its first five months, or a 21% increase in book circulation after moving to the new location. Use by students was up 40%; video checkout was up 26%; computer use ...

Read the entirety of this article in the print edition.

Subscribe online — it's quick and easy