Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Public Library, Monterey, California


[LIB9441] In 1906, the Monterey Library Association turned over its assets to the City of Monterey. With a piece of real estate donated by Mrs. A.M. Freitas and a building grant from Andrew Carnegie, the Monterey Public Library opened its doors at 425 Van Buren Street in 1911. The new library was designed by prolific California architect William Weeks, in the Mission Revival style, and was home for Monterey Public Library for the next 40 years. It featured separate reading rooms for adults and children and a basement smoking room with a fireplace for gentlemen only. On June 30, 1911, the Monterey Daily Cypress predicted that the new gentlemen's smoking room would be quite popular with laborers because the entrance was situated so that a fellow could drop in for a read and a smoke without having to dress up. Today, the Carnegie building, which has been expanded and remodeled, is home to the library for Monterey Institute of International Studies. [website]


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