Poynette Area Public Library

Library History
The Poynette Public Library first opened in October 1941 under the sponsorship of the Poynette Women’s club in an annex of the telephone company on the corner of Main and Seward Streets. Most of its 850 volumes were donated, and it was open for eight hours each week. In 1954, the collection was moved across the street to the first floor of the Kerr Building on North Main. In the winter of 1963, it was again moved to the Village Hall in space originally used as a community hall and gymnasium.
The library became a joint library in June 1965 when the Women's Club entered into an agreement with the villages of Poynette and Arlington and the townships of Dekorra, Lowville, and Arlington. Monetary support was based on population. The library joined the South Central Library System in 1981. At that time, Arlington Village and the townships of Dekorra, Lowville, and Arlington chose to support the library through their county tax appropriations, rather than directly. The 1965 joint agreement was formally terminated by the Village of Poynette on January 15, 1993.
The current library is located at 118 North Main Street. This single story building, constructed in 1966, housed a portion of a hardware business owned by Joseph Brendel from 1946 to 1993. The business also occupied the adjacent two-story, turn-of-the-century building to the south, which now houses the Historical Society. An interior double-door adjoins the two buildings.