Learner's Club

Learners Club 100th Anniversary
In honor of the Learners Club's 100th Anniversary on November 27, 2006, the membership proudly donated "Pony Tales," a limited edition bronze sculpture by artist Mark Hopkins, to the Children's Department of the Brownsville Public Library System. This latest contribution by the Learners marks an extraordinary century of intellectual and cultural studies and community involvement.

The Brownsville Public Library System's origin is historically tied to this literary organization and owes its founding when the Clubs started the city's first subscription library in the Dalzell Building on July 15, 1912. As more books were added, the Club moved the library to the Celaya Building at 12th Street and East Elizabeth. During 1914-1915, library services were expanded to include a story hour and a rural library.

The City of Brownsville joined the Learner's concern for a public library by building a structure at 1010 East Adams Street in 1928 which was the library's home for 26 years. From these humble beginnings, the library continued to grow and in 1954 was moved to Stokely Hall at the Fort Brown Civic Center. In 1966 the library was moved under partnership with Texas Southmost College to the Arnulfo Oliveira Memorial College Library. This partnership provided academic and public library services to the community until August 1991 when the residents of Brownsville approved the construction and creation of a new municipal library facility.

The Learners Club has continued its support of the Brownsville Public Library System by donating funds to the Brownsville Public Library Foundation, Inc. in support of the library projects. The Club has also generously given books, historical maps, American flag artifacts, and now a beautiful sculpture to enhance community education and art appreciation at the Main Library. Theses contributions are in keeping with the Learners' creed which states, in part ...
"We believe in the beauty and necessity of culture, in the importance of study, and in the joy of learning."