Seeking Beyond Paranormal

The Willard Public Library in Evansville, Indiana is one of the more famous libraries in the United States to be purportedly haunted. It's so famous in the world of paranormal investigation that if a ghost hunting TV show or YouTube channel exists, it's probably been featured on those shows in some capacity. TAPS (from the show Ghost Hunters) even visited it back in 2006. But the hauntings date back much further with the first reported experience happening in 1937 when the library's janitor is said to have experienced the "Grey Lady" apparition in a face-to-face encounter in the basement. Since then, hundreds of claims have been made about hauntings throughout the building.

Willard Public Library was founded by philanthropist Willard Carpenter. Groundbreaking on the property occurred in 1877, and construction lasted until 1885 when it first opened. Willard Carpenter didn't live to see the opening of the library, however, having died of a stroke in 1883. Before dying, though, he willed the library to the city of Evansville, and endowed it with his sizeable fortune.

Willard's daughter, Louise Carpenter took issue with that arrangement, believing the Library was to be hers and that her father was of "unsound mind" when he made the arrangement. As such, Louise sued the libary board in 1896 to recover property held by the library that she thought she should own. Louise lost the case, though, and later died in 1908. It is said that Louise now haunts the Willard Library as this "Grey Lady" apparition as revenge for being snubbed by her father.

The Claims

The claims of paranormal activity at the Willard Public Library include much more than a single apparition. In addition to the Grey Lady, an apparition is said to look out of the central window in the Bayard Room, seen by multiple people outside on the grounds, including police officers. Yet another apparition, one of a young boy is said to haunt the building, having been captured on one of the library's several webcams on the staircase. Outside of these apparitions, it's been reported that books will be pulled out of the shelves part way, and in the children's room, some books have reportedly flown off the bookcases. Some reports claim phantom smells throughout the building being attributed to the Grey Lady. Our host for the evening even reported hearing doors close right behind him as he made his rounds in the basement, and odd electrical anomalies with some projector equipment also in the basement. Other staff report the feeling of not being alone throughout the building.

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Equipment and Setup

Per usual, our kit included our two voice recorders, REM Pods, Mel Meter, EMF meters, flashlights, catballs, dead bell, Spirit Box / Estes Method setup and Infinity Deck. We also brought our new geophone (which captures vibration), and our new Trip Wire (which is a series of EMF meters on a length of cable). We brought our XLS camera as well, but we didn't use it.

Like our Lowe Mill investigation, this investigation saw use of our recent static camera setup in an attempt to capture claim-specific activity. For context, our static camera is just our original video camera set up with an external battery for long-term, stationary recording. We set it up on the staircase and had it pointed at the geophone. Being on the staircase itself, it was far too close of a view to capture the full staircase, so focusing in on the geophone would at least help us capture some kind of activity on the stairs, which the Grey Lady and young boy have been sighted using.

Additionally, on this investigtation we used our Zoom H4n voice recorder in a new way. We have been watching the show Kindred Spirits in the weeks leading up to this investigation, and it shows the investigators using the same voice recorder with headphones for a live-listening experience. I decided to try it during setup, and it was shocking how well you could hear with it — it's like superhuman hearing. The idea for this setup is that if there are any disembodied voices or other phantom sounds that you might be able to hear with your ears, the listener will be able to hear them louder and with more clarity, warranting play-back in real time. We all gave it a listen throughout the night and ultimately decided this will be standard practice with the H4n going forward. In fact, we might add another H4n to the kit down the road specifically for this purpose.

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The Investigation

We had numerous areas to investigate throughout the building. Starting from the basement and going up, those areas include: The children's story room, the children's library room, the basement hallway, the two basement reading rooms, the first floor, the second floor, and the Bayard Room (also on the second floor). Surprisingly, we were able to investigate all eight areas that night in some capacity. I might include the stairwell as a ninth area, but all we did there was have a camera watching.

After the tour, we decided to start the investigation on the first floor. We had seen other investigators get some kind of activity in and around the circulation desk, so we focused our efforts there with a REM Pod, our dead bell, an EMF meter, and our voice recorders. The session started with just some generic questioning of the space, probing to see what might be there that night with us. After getting a few rings on the dead bell, we investigated the area for high EMF. Really the only thing in the area that was producing any notable electromagnetic field was the power supply in the computer under the desk, and that field stopping pinging on the EMF meter only a few inches away from it, so not enough to reach the dead bell. The usage of the dead bell here at the circulation desk was very intentional, by the way. We figured if it was going to work anywhere, that desk would be it. The fact that there were no measureable EMFs around the dead bell indicated a possible paranormal origin of that activity, though we suspect it may have been residual activity if anything, as it didn't seem responsive to our questioning.

Next, we went upstairs to the second floor, where we primarily performed a pair of Estes Method sessions with myself (David) going under first, followed by Juliana. Unfortunately, neither session produced much in the way of useful or coherent feedback. Each session lasted about 15 minutes, and during each session, the team would meander the book shelves. While I meandered, I noted an experience that TAPS had during their investigation where the traffic outside on the raised highway cast shadows inside the building that could be seen through the book shelves and somewhat looked like movement in the stacks. Perhaps I spoiled myself in that regard, but to me it was pretty evident it was light from traffic outside.

Going back to the Estes Method sessions, though, we did have one interesting bit of feedback during Juliana's session — we got "basement, seriously" as a response, and whether that was a random response or something telling us where to go, we took that to mean the basement was our next location to investigate. We didn't forget about the Bayard Room (which was here on the second floor), we'd just investigate that later. Before moving on to the basement, though, it was during Juliana's session that we got our one EVP of the night.

Heading downstairs, the children's story room was our first stop in the basement for the night. Here, Jecca went under for another Estes Method session while we set some equipment out in the children's library room. Like on the second floor, this session wasn't terribly fruitful. That being said, we were swore at and we were told to die, so that was... interesting. Given that the session wasn't coherent, these were likely random words that just happened to jump out at Jecca, so we didn't put much thought into them. This, however, is where the personal exeriences really started up for our team. During the session, Dan heard some kind of movement out in the hallway. There was nothing to be seen and it didn't trigger any of our equipment, so we have nothing to show for it. That isn't to say personal experiences should be ignored, they just can't count as evidence without any kind of documented proof. Unfortunately for us, neither voice recorder nor the camera picked up on that movement.

At this point in the evening, we took our first break. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be terribly noteworthy for this writeup, but the whole time we were chatting at basecamp on the first floor, we kept hearing sounds come from the stacks. Movement, apparent whispers, knocks, taps, you name it. The whole team heard the noises at different times, and not everyone heard everything, but it was a neat set of personal exeriences that ought to be mentioned. This would happen again during our second break as well later on in the evening.

This next part of the investigation saw us split into two teams to cover more ground and mix things up. First, Dan and I would tackle the large reading room in the basement while Jecca and Juliana would head back up to the second floor. Without too terribly much happening for us so far, Dan and I tried yet another Estes Method. I recall feeling in the moment how repetitive it was to do yet another session, but we don't exactly have too many investigative methods we can use to test the waters. If we had a voice recorder that we could hear EVPs on without needing to sift the audio through a computer, we could switch it up more. But our current voice recorders just don't play EVPs back well, so either the Estes Method or using the flashlights are our best options for gauging initial activity in any given area. This session saw us use both. The Estes Method here in this room was a dud, nothing particularly noteworthy came through. However, one of our flashlights that we placed on the circulation desk (?) turned on several times. It didn't seem to answer questions, and there wasn't any measureable EMF in the area, so our best guess is that it was some kind of residual energy. Which is interesting and confusing because this part of the basement was a modern addition to the building.

At the same time, Jecca and Juliana were on the second floor doing an Infinity Deck session. They also set out the trip wire down the main walkway, but noted that it didn't garner any activity. As far as the Infinity Deck goes, Jecca said that it answered some questions accurately, but otherwise showed it didn't want to talk (by way of turning up the "stop" card). The Infinity Deck is interesting. It's difficult to place it among the rest of our other investigative hardware — it doesn't measure anything, and it doesn't record anything, so it can't quite be used to gather evidence. However, in the hands of someone who may be psychically sensitive, it can return some scarily accurate responses, as we found in our Case 001 investigation. That isn't to say we treat the cards as absolute truth, but when corroborating other findings, it really makes you wonder.

Each team set a timer for 30 minutes or so, and then switched things up. Dan and Juliana would swap, while Jecca and I stayed put. So the new teams were Dan and Jecca on the second floor with Juliana and myself in the basement. Staying with the second floor narrative, while the teams were in the process of switching things up, Jecca heard a loud crash come from what sounded like the Bayard Room. She went to investigate, but found nothing out of place. It was understandably difficult to determine what may have happened, though, as the room (and the whole building) was decorated for Halloween. See the photo below for the condition of the room during our visit.

Loud bang or crash heard on the second floor. For the best listening experience, please turn your volume all the way up and use noise cancelling headphones.

Meanwhile, Juliana and I explored the basement. We investigated the secondary reading room that had reports of electrical anomalies associated with the projector and sound system. In here, we set up two tables each with a flashlight and EMF meter, and got to work with a call-and-response session. We didn't get any activity here, so we moved back into the hallway since our host had some experiences hearing doors close there.

The hallway was an interesting space, it was the one space in the entire building I felt any sort of "vibe" change in. Perhaps it was just my perception of being in a smaller space versus the wider open spaces of the rest of the building, but we also had some experiences here that would definitely mark it as an active area. First, Juliana and I moved all the way toward the main building where there was a split in the hallway. We set up in that junction with a REM POD, catballs, and our Mel Meter. I also had the Zoom H4n with headphones plugged into it, so I was doing active listening the whole time. While we were calling out asking for any kind of interaction with the equipment, our REM Pod beeped once. We inspected the area and found no bugs or anything that could have inadvertently set the device off. We couldn't get the activity to repeat at all, so there's no telling what caused it. The REM Pods are rather difficult to set off, so even though it was one little beep, it felt kind of significant contextually. Additionally, the active listening aspect of this session actually found two instances of what sounded like a door closing. While it was clear in the headphones, it sounded distant. We were able to repeat the sound by pushing the metal bar latch on a door elsewhere in the basement. It may not have been the exact door our host was referring to when he stated his claim in that area, but it's noteworthy that we were able to experience a door closing sound in the same area of that claim. Well, I say "we" but Juliana unfortunately could not hear either instance of this sound. But it goes to show how sensitive the H4n actually is when you're using it correctly. I'm kicking myself for not using it like this at the Knight House when we all heard a disembodied voice on the tour.

After the split-ups, we took another break and heard more noises among the stacks on the first floor. We had about an hour left for the night, and since we all felt like the children's area in the basement had some major vibes, we decided to end our night there. "Major vibes" isn't really an objective way of looking at it, but the basement seems to be where a lot of our activity for the night was happening.

We got to work with one final Estes Method session in the children's story room. See what I mean about it being repetitive? But again, as far as any sort of general exploratory investigative methodology, it's all we really had going on for this investigation. And par for the course, it wasn't a terribly fruitful session. However, one response came through that I still find curious — we actually got "Louise" to come through. This is really interesting because of that name's connection with the building (being Willard Carpenter's daughter, the supposed Grey Lady herself), and it's also not that common of a name these days. So of all the names that could possibly pop up on the radio at 2:00am, why Louise?

We had one final personal experience here in the children's story room during this last Estes Method session. I was under, so I have no experience with this, but Juliana, Jecca, and Dan all experienced this. At one point, Juliana was standing in the doorway and heard a loud scratching noise right beside her head. It was loud and close enough that it startled her, causing her to come further into the room. Additionally, it was loud enough that we managed to capture it on one of our voice recorders. After that session, though, we had to call it a night as we were at the end of our allotted time.

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Our Results

While we didn't get to see the Grey Lady, the little boy, or any apparations peering out of upstairs windows, our night was actually filled with a surprising amount of quiet activity and personal experiences. It seems to me that a lot of the big, loud, impressive paranormal activity occurs when you least expect it. But when you're looking for it, it manifests in much more subtle ways. This lined up with our experience at the Willard Public Library. I'm still bummed we didn't get to put together a video for this one, as I was really looking forward to having some kind of Halloween episode to share. I even wore a Dracula cape for it. But at least we can still share our experiences through this article! Here are our results for the evening:

We'd like to thank George Carter, Executive Director for Willard Public Library and our host for the evening. After seeing this place numerous times on TV and YouTube, it was definitely on my ghost hunting bucket list and I'm glad we made the trip up.

by David Reimer, posted November 8, 2026

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Who We Are

Seeking Beyond Paranormal is a team of paranormal investigators based in Huntsville, Alabama. First started as a fun way to visit some of the country’s most haunted locations, Seeking Beyond now explores the realm of paranormal investigation.

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