The Hennepin County Law Library had its origin when the Minneapolis Bar
Association incorporated on February 20, 1883. The Bar Association was a
stock corporation that allowed members to pay for stock by contributing
books, the value of which was determined by an appraisal committee.
Early Fires
The law library's first location was a room on the second floor of a
building on Nicollet Avenue adjoining the First National Bank at
Washington Avenue. In August 1883 the collection was moved to the
Academy of Music Building, at the corner of Washington and Hennepin
Avenues. This magnificent building, a showplace for the arts and the
center of the city's entertainment district, was gutted by fire on
Christmas Day, 1884. The law library was completely destroyed. With the
insurance proceeds of $15,000, the Bar Association began rebuilding the
law library, which opened in the Boston Block on May 1, 1885. This was
another famous building that boasted the first indoor court in
Minneapolis. But in April 1886, it was also struck by fire, destroying
the law library for a second time. With the insurance of $20,000, a
third law library was established in the Temple Court building, which
occupied the site of the former Academy of Music Building. By 1895 the
law library contained about 7,000 volumes. In 1903 it was provided
accommodations in Room 434 of the new Court House and City Hall
building. In 1960 the law library moved to Room 318, where it remained
until its move in September 1976 to its present location in the Hennepin
County Government Center.
Transfer to Hennepin County
On June 30, 1934, the Minneapolis Bar Association presented its
entire book collection of 35,000 volumes to Hennepin County pursuant to
special legislation enacted in 1933 (Laws 1933, ch. 291). This law
provided for the governance of the law library by a board of trustees
consisting of three judges, three attorneys elected by the Hennepin
County Bar Association, and a county commissioner. The law also provided
for the ongoing support of the law library through fees collected as
part of the civil filing fees in the district court. This legislation
was similar to that providing for the organization of county law
libraries in many other states. In 1976, the library began receiving an
annual appropriation from the Hennepin County general revenue fund to
support growing usage by the general public and county employees. In
1983, a third source of funding was added in the form of an annual
circulation fee charged the private bar. Misdemeanor and criminal
conviction fees for support of the law library were instituted in 1992
after the passage of enabling legislation the preceding year (Laws 1991,
ch. 119).
Librarians
According to a 1941 Hennepin Lawyer article by Thomas Kneeland, one
of the incorporators of the Minneapolis Bar Association, the Bar
Association employed three librarians during the time it owned the law
library. Kneeland listed the first as Edward S. Waters, though a
newspaper article on December 26, 1884 in the Minneapolis Evening
Journal stated that F. S. Gaylord was the librarian at the time of the
Christmas Day fire. The History of the Bench and Bar of Minnesota, by
Hiram F. Stevens (Minneapolis: Legal Publishing and Engraving Co., 1904)
lists E.S. Waters as Treasurer of the Minneapolis Bar Association in
1904. Kneeland listed the second librarian as Frederic Klapp, who was
succeeded in 1921 by his son, S. D. Kapp, who served until his death in
1937. Hennepin County law librarians include Lillian W. Taylor
(1937-1944), Buelah C. Blaisdell (1944-1948), Ethel Kommes (1948-1975)
and Anne (Gilliland) Grande (1975-2008).
