Harvard Diggins Library

History

The Harvard Diggins Library began serving the Harvard community in 1909. Delos F. Diggins, who spent his childhood in Harvard, provided a generous bequest to the City of Harvard for the purpose of building a library. That building, named the Delos F. Diggins Library, became the first free standing public library in McHenry County. The library served the community successfully from that building until a new library was built in 2001. In deference to the lasting legacy of Delos Diggins, the library was renamed the Harvard Diggins Library. Today it continues as a gathering place for the community, providing opportunities for education and cultural enrichment for Harvard and the surrounding area and is a member of the Northern Illinois Cooperative of libraries and the Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS)

Specialties

As a cardholder at Harvard Diggins Library, you are entitled to a diverse collection of books, magazines, newspapers, DVDs and Blu-ray discs, music CDs, audiobooks on CD, digital eBooks and audiobooks on Overdrive, digital magazines on Zinio, reference materials, and our online databases, with new items added daily. Harvard Diggins Library is a member of Northern Illinois Cooperative (NIC), which includes Woodstock Public Library, Nippersink Public Library District, Cherry Valley Public Library District, Ida Public Library, North Suburban Library District, Talcott Free Public Library District, and Howard Colman Library. You are able to request items from their collections as well with a Harvard Diggins Library card. Your card also makes you eligible for Summer Reading Club, Family Reading Night, reader's advisory and reference assistance, interlibrary loan from non-NIC libraries, and local history resources. Other resources in the library include faxing, copying, computer access, tax forms, an ongoing used book sale, quiet study areas, and meeting room rental. Harvard Diggins Library hosts a variety of enrichment programs for children, teens, adults, and all ages to entertain and support lifelong learning in our community. If you have questions about any of our services, feel free to contact us.