The History of Teinert Memorial Library

As far back as 1904, there is mention in the Woman’s Wednesday Club journals of a library and a means of a public circulation of books either through distribution from their homes, shelves at City Hall, or through bookshelves donated to the local schools.  The Woman’s Wednesday Club has always supported an intention to maintain a public library in Bartlett.

During the summer of 1970, the Woman’s Club used the Bartlett National Bank at the corner of Clark and Evie Streets to house the library and the volumes of donated books they had collected.  The books were moved from the old Bank building to the Teinert Memorial library when it opened for circulation on January 6, 1977.

Wilhelm C “Bill” Teinert and Alma Marie Jesse Teinert were married on May 24, 1911 at St John Lutheran Church.  Mr. Teinert worked for Koepke-Brown Company in Bartlett for many years and later became employed by the St Louis Store and continued to perfect his skills until such time as he and his wife opened their own dry goods and furnishings store in Bartlett in 1924.

The store was sold in 1955, and Mr. Teinert passed away in 1965.  Alma Teinert survived her husband another 9 years and passed away in January of 1974.  The Teinert’s had been very successful in their business adventures and did not have any children to whom their estate could be left.  Upon the death of Mrs. Teinert, the estate bequeathed a substantial amount to the City of Bartlett which included a land grant and ultimately resulted in the construction of Teinert Memorial Library.

The library was opened in 1977 with art work hung on the walls by local artists including Marie Cronin, OB Schwertner and others.  The library was stocked with books collected by the Woman’s Wednesday Club as well as generous donations by Billy Horton who donated almost 4,000 at that time, along with notable donations from EA Limmer.