In 1951, three ladies, Mrs. Vinnie Carlson, Mrs. Beth Little, and Mrs. Murl Jones, as a committee of the Home and School organization, contacted every family in the district as to their interest in starting a library. This was met with an enthusiastic response. The first meeting was held in June of that year, with representation from each local organization.
The Village office had a spare room that was used for the Library and it was soon overflowing with books. The Garrard school, which has been moved twice, was moved from the school grounds to the present location in 1954 at the cost of $200. By the end of that year, it had been put on a foundation, but the ceiling had to be repaired and heating installed.
In 1956 it was ready, heated by oil and then a coal stove and it housed 2,181 books. In 1958 an addition and plumbing were completed. In 1964 there were over 4,000 books and a paperback book exchange was added.
An attractive feature of the Library for more than 25 years was the salt and pepper collection, with over 764 sets donated by Mrs. Bessie Siler.
Champion Library continues to grow, with over 10,000 books and DVDs, and rotating collections of audiobooks, and large print books. We have four public computers with wireless Internet access for anyone in our community to use.