Hutchinson Public Library

The Hutchinson Public Library opened in 1901 and moved into its present building at 901 N. Main in 1951. Its best-known story concerns Ida Day, who was hired as a librarian in 1916 at $75 a month, built the library's catalog and reference services, started outreach to shut-ins, and introduced Sunday hours. She returned in 1946 as Ida Day Holzapfel, oversaw the move to the new building, and resigned in 1953; accounts say she was killed in a car accident on her first day at a new library job in California. In 1975 The Hutchinson News reported that staff had heard footsteps in the basement and seen a woman matching her description, and the library's own history page now includes a section called "The Ghost of HPL." Staff joke that whenever something goes missing, Ida Day took it.