Photo by Deb Gau Jessica Dybsetter read a story to a group of children at the Minneota Public Library on Thursday afternoon.

MINNEOTA — Public libraries are an important resource for small cities. But in Minneota, the library also has an extra connection to the community and local history, thanks to its location in a historic former department store.

“There’s not another one like it,” Minneota resident Judy Hagen said of the library.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Minneota Public Library moving into the historic O.G. Anderson “Big Store” on North Jefferson Street. Minneota community members reflected this week on the impact of local efforts to renovate the Big Store and move the library to its new home..

“I think the best thing is seeing the building used again,” said Wendy Sarazyn. “I can’t believe it’s been 10 years already.”

Today, the Minneota Public Library is still a busy place. Librarians Gail Perrizo and Jessica Dybsetter said more than 70 area children took part in the kick-off for this year’s summer reading program.

Community members were also gathering Thursday to hear the Route 68 Big Band play at the Minneota Opera Hall on the library’s second story.

The performance was part of a special concert series celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the move.

“We’re focusing on local groups,” Perrizo said. The series kicked off with a performance by the Midwest Cowboys in May.

The O.G. Anderson store, known as the Big Store, was built in Minneota in 1901. At the time, it was one of the largest stores in the region.

“It was a big thing back then. Everything you needed was here, and if they didn’t have it here, you didn’t need it,” said Minneota resident Gary Buysse.

The Minneota Opera Hall, on the second story of the building, was also a place that brought plays and music to the community, Perrizo said.

By the 1970s and ’80s, the Big Store had closed for good. But Minneota community members wanted to preserve the historic building. The Society for the Preservation of Minneota History bought the building, and did some renovations to the upstairs, Sarazyn said.

Later, community members also thought the Big Store could be a home for the Minneota Public Library. At the time, the library was crammed into a smaller building about a block down the street from the Big Store.

The Friends of the Minneota Library formed in 2004 to help raise funds for the project.

“The Friends were instrumental in getting that done,” Hagen said. Matching grant funding was also key in helping to cover the cost to renovate the Big Store.

“It took us eight, nine, 10 years to get the whole thing done,” Gary Buysse said.

“When we started, all we had was a big box,” he said. As part of the renovations, some period details of the Big Store were restored, like the patterned tin ceiling tiles and the wood floors. The basement of the building also needed to be repaired, and the floors reinforced to hold bookshelves.

Area community members were invested in the renovations. Sarazyn said Josh Brewers was “our go-to guy” for many parts of the project, including building custom woodwork. Because of its age, the Big Store building didn’t have a lot of straight lines, community members said.

The local lumber yard also helped with estimates of what the renovation work would need, which helped in budgeting for the project.

In January 2015, community members helped Mary Buysse, the librarian at the time, move all the books from the former Minneota library into the Big Store.

“It was cold that day,” Sarazyn said.

Hagen said Buysse had put many books on library carts, that could be pushed down the street to the Big Store. At first, they figured it would take longer than a weekend to unpack all the library books. But, Sarazyn said, “On Saturday, people showed up.”

“It went faster than I thought it would,” Hagen said of the move.

Even after the move, there were still ongoing projects at the Big Store building. An elevator to the upper story of the building was completed two years ago. Sarazyn said the brick of the building also currently needs to be repointed.

But it’s been good to see a part of Minneota’s history find new life over the past 10 years, community members said.

“It’s a wonderful space,” and one that anyone can visit and enjoy, Sarazyn said. “I think there’s a lot of pride in the building.”

“There’s new people all the time who come in, and they’re in awe,” Perrizo said of the library building.

Celebrations of the library’s anniversary at the Big Store will continue this summer. Kindred Spirits will perform on June 26 at the Opera Hall, and women’s acapella group Take Note will perform on July 15.