History of The Library

     The Mission Public Library is one of the oldest libraries in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.  It was organized by a group of educated, ambitious women who had come as settlers to this new country with their families. In March 1914, interested persons met and formed the Civic League of Mission to care for the park and to form a library.  The first library board was composed of the officers of the League. There were two card clubs in Mission at this time, and one played for books that were donated to the library.  Two local women also donated 75 books to the library. The library was located wherever there was a room available free of charge.  Many empty stores were used. At first, the library charged for services!  $0.05 per hour for "story-telling" on Saturday mornings ...$0.05/week to borrow a book...and overdues ran $0.03/day.  The money went to run the library. In 1929, Mission passed a city ordinance making the library a city department, with appropriations of $0.03/$100 valuation of taxable property.  The sum reaching the library that year was about $50.00! In 1930, the library was in a room over the First National Bank...later it moved to City Hall. From the early 30s until 1947, the Public Library shared facilities with the School Library, when the books were divided.

      By 1960, the library had 11,741 books and had outgrown its building.

From the 1960s to the 2000s is a big jump, and to fully understand it, there are two Questions that we must Answer...the first one is "What is the Relationship between Morton Downey-the Singer and Morton Downey-the Cat?", ...and the second question is "What is the Relationship between Morton Downey-the Cat and the Speer Memorial Library?"   
 

By Florence Ward Barton

      You will tread the pavement softly as you approach the Speer Memorial Library in Mission if you are a cat lover.  You will pause beside the anacua tree guarding a plot of blooms beneath its spreading branches, and there catch a glimpse of a small white marker bearing the name Morton Downey and the date January 19th, 1964. So fleeting is fame that few recall Downey, the silver-voiced radio crooner of the Forties who died at age 85 this past October... Morton Downey Singer died in his native Wallingford, Connecticut, on October 25th, 1985. Many loved him, and many a cup of morning coffee was sweetened by his liquid notes. Mr. and Mrs. George Speer of Mission loved this Irish tenor, and they loved as well the adorable kitty that frolicked into their lives one April morning.  The Speers named the kitten Morton Downey, perhaps feeling the pet deserved the name for his dulcet tones. When Kitty Morton Downey died, his small body was buried with many tears in a sunny field owned by the Speer family.  An anacua tree was planted to shade the tiny grave. Years went by, and the town of Mission grew.  The gentle couple who had loved the Morton Downey's passed away, leaving one daughter. She, too, had loved Kitty Morton Downey. The tree grew above Kitty Downey's grave, grew and spread its branches as though aware it had a duty to perform.  Wildflowers filled the field.  And there was peace. Then came a real estate agent.  "Would the couple's daughter sell the field?" Yes, but with one stipulation.  "Morton Downey's grave must never be disturbed. "There was no sale. Then came the City of Mission. "The City needs a place to build a library.  Would the daughter sell the field? The daughter did not sell.  Instead... She PRESENTED the city of Mission with the flower-filled field but with the same stipulation... that Morton Downey's grave must never be disturbed ... and ... the  Speer Memorial Library became a reality. Now Kitty Morton Downey will sleep, undisturbed, under the spreading anacua tree for years and years to come. Yes,... In 1976, Juanita Speer Farley, as a memorial to her parents, gave the people of Mission the deed to her inherited property, two acres on 12th Street, which her father, George, had acquired when he first came to Mission.  In 1976-77 *(officially June 1, 1977), the new library complex drawn up by Mission Architect Warren Suter was completed, and the library's 14,000-square-foot building acquired its name.

*On June 1, 1977, The Mission Public Library was given the official name Speer Memorial Library.*

 

Mrs. Bernice Baker was librarian-in-charge at the time of the 1977 dedication. She was followed by Maria Herrera in 1978, Lily Torrez in 1982, and Diane Chladil in 1986. In 1988, the addition brought the library's sq. ft. to 18,660. Margaret Handrow was made librarian in 1989, and Rusty Dove in December 1990. An expansion in 2006 brought the library's sq. ft. to the 48,760 facility that it is today. Mayra Rocha was made librarian in September 2009, and Yenni Espinoza in May 2023.