District Overview

The St. Charles City-County Library District was formed August 1, 1973 when the Kathryn Linnemann Library of the city of St. Charles and the St. Charles County Library District merged.  The Kathryn Linnemann Library had been in existence as a tax-supported library since 1929.  The St. Charles County Library was established in 1964.  The branches of the St. Charles City-County Library District were established in their present locations as follows: 

North County – 1975

South County – 1976

Spencer Road – 1980

Kathryn Linnemann – 1982

Corporate Parkway – 1984

Kisker Road – 1990

Middendorf-Kredell – 1995

Deer Run – 1995

McClay – January 1998

Boone’s Trail – May 2002

Administrative Offices – July 2002

Library Express at WingHaven® – September 2003

Library Express at Discovery Village – July 2006 

The Library District is primarily supported from income generated through property tax.  It is a special taxing district, governed by the Missouri State Statues.  The current tax rate is 19.46 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.  Residential property is assessed at 19% of appraised value; therefore, the owner of a $100,000 home would pay approximately $41.80 in library taxes.

The Library District is governed by a Board of Trustees consisting of nine members of the community, five of whom are appointed by the County Executive, and four of whom are appointed by the Mayor of St. Charles.

The Library District’s mission is to serve as the information utility that provides excellent and economical public library services to the residents and tax-payers of St. Charles County.  Within this Mission, the District will emphasize:  community referral, consumer information, lifelong learning, information literacy, business and public management services, government documents and geographic information systems, local history and generalized genealogical support, not-for-profit services, current topics and titles, general information and children’s services.  The District shall further strengthen its operating structure toward an overriding quality of service through implementing programs addressing:  facilities planning, training and staffing, community partnerships and linkages, funding and finance, collection management, and telecommunications and technology.  The District has also developed a Strategic Plan based on this mission.  The Strategic Plan states specific goals and target dates and is revised on a regular basis.

Any resident or property owner in St. Charles County may use the libraries.  Individuals  who do not live in, or own property in St. Charles County, may be issued a library card for a minimal charge which is equivalent to what the average resident would pay in library taxes.  The Library District has negotiated reciprocal borrowing agreements with St. Louis County, St. Louis Public and St. Louis Municipal Library Consortium.