Webber Park Library
Public library in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Webber Park Library is a public library in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Its primary service area is the Camden, Minneapolis community. The library was one of thirteen branch libraries established under the leadership of Gratia Countryman, the chief librarian of the Minneapolis Public Library from 1904 to 1936. After starting as a delivery station in a drugstore and being housed in two buildings within Webber Park, it was in temporary quarters in a shopping center from 2014 to 2017. The current building opened in May 2017 on the site of the previous buildings.
Delivery Station E, Camden Place, 1895–1910
The minutes of the Minneapolis Library Board from May 6, 1895, noted that the residents of Camden Place had petitions for a library station in their area. The Camden Place library station was approved by the Minneapolis Library Board at the July 1, 1895 meeting. The 1895 Annual Report noted that Delivery Station E, Camden Place opened in September 1895 and was housed in Coffin's Drug Store. William A. Coffin was a druggist and the postmaster for Camden Place. His store was located at 4169 Washington Avenue North, between 41st and 42nd Avenues N. From 1897 to 1900, store ownership was taken over by Leslie A.Hanes.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Webber Park Library” is public library in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Webber, Park and Library, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “public library in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q18589029. Authority coordinates are 45.036, -93.299. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1904, 1936, 2014 and 2017.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Webber Park Library”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Webber Park Library primary sources, Webber Park Library archive and Webber research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Webber Park Library”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Webber Park Library” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.