Octavia Fellin Public Library, Archive & Special Collections

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Octavia Fellin Public Library, Archive & Special Collections

• OFPL
• Gallup Public Library

• Municipal

The public library has been the cornerstone of the Gallup community for the last century. Those 100 years have seen many changes in location as well as advanced services, resources, and innovative programming. The story begins in January 1920, when the Philanthropic Educational Organization Sorority (P.E.O.) donated fifty books for placement in the Gallup Community House. The P.E.O. had been working toward creating a library for several years, and it became a reality in 1922 when the library moved to a larger space in the basement of Gallup Central School at 315 West Hill Ave. Now it was considered the Gallup Public Library, and while the use of the library was free, a $1.00 deposit was charged for a library card. Members of the local P.E.O. chapter volunteered their time to look after it. A benefit tea and book “shower” was held to expand the collection, and the entire community was encouraged to attend. Other local organizations started to make monthly contributions to purchase books. In 1926 Gallup Town Council appropriated $500.00 to the library and paid a local woman $10.00 a month to keep the library open from 3:00-5:30 PM three days a week. In September of the same year, Gallup’s Town Board and several local organizations made plans to erect a new library building on the old city jail site at 111 West Hill Ave. $1,500.00 was raised through events staged by local clubs. The new library would belong to the public and would be supervised by the Town Trustees. The new building was erected, and the formal opening was held on April 26, 1927.

The City Council voted to officially assume responsibility for the Gallup Public Library on May 29, 1936. Octavia Fellin came to Gallup to visit her family in 1947. She volunteered at the library for a proposed two months, after which she intended to go to California, where a position with the San Francisco Public Library was waiting for her. In October of that same year, Octavia was officially named Librarian of the Gallup Public Library, and her 2-month visit turned into a career that lasted 43 years. That year, the town of Gallup appropriated $4,000.00 in its budget, and the county provided $1,000.00, a 45% budget increase to accommodate for the extension of library services to McKinley County. A letter from the Library Board Chairman, C.E. Gurley, was mailed to every service organization in Gallup requesting financial support that would go toward an expansion program for the library. Octavia was up for the challenges she faced as the new head of the Gallup Public Library and successfully created a space that has continued to flourish for the past 75 years.

Octavia began to campaign for a new library building in 1949; because the old building was woefully inadequate; for example, the library only had an outhouse. The City Council issued a $65,000.00 bond to construct a new facility in 1950, and it passed by a 4-1 margin. The Chamber of Commerce contributed $13,500.00 to create an exhibition space in the proposed building for its Southwest Indian Art collection. The new Gallup Public Library opened on December 22, 1951, along with the Museum of Indian Arts. The Library’s positive impact on the community is apparent because there was a need to expand the building less than 20 years later. The remodeled and expanded library opened in 1969, nearly doubling in size. A performing arts wing with a stage was added in 1985. The City officially changed the Gallup Public Library to the Octavia Fellin Public Library (OFPL) to honor Octavia upon her retirement in 1990. Due to overwhelming need, the City of Gallup purchased and remodeled a bank building at 200 West Aztec to create what is now the Children’s Branch in 2003. Octavia passed away in 2013 but is still remembered very fondly by the Gallup community.

The library is now a City of Gallup department, and McKinley County residents receive services for free while contiguous county residents and those living in Arizona pay a nominal fee. OFPL is the only public library for McKinley County and the Southeast District of the Navajo Nation. Not believing the economic condition of its region should ever limit a library, OFPL seeks community partnerships and soft funding opportunities, always striving to meet and exceed the needs of the people it serves. OFPL is the cornerstone of our community, bringing together people, information, and ideas in a safe space. Our community is the quintessential American melting pot with diverse cultures, ethnicities, religions, backgrounds, and viewpoints. This diversity is apparent in the resources and innovative programs OFPL has made available to the people.