1928 Curtis Memorial Library, Meriden, Connecticut

[LIB648] Click on the image to order a reproduction of this postcard!

1912 Forest Park Library, Springfield, Massachusetts

Forest Park neighborhood residents outgrew the provisional circulating library that was set up at Park Memorial Baptist Church and residents wanted a full service branch library. In 1908, industrialist Andrew Carnegie provided $50,000 for three branch libraries that included Forest Park Branch Library. Carnegie required that neighborhood citizens subscribe for land to match his donation of money for the building. Over 500 prominent Forest Park citizens subscribed for land and soon Forest Park Branch Library was completed in 1909. [http://www.springfieldlibrary.org/branches/fp.html]

[LIB644] Click on the image to order a reproduction of this postcard!

1926 Carnegie Library, Rice Lake, Wisconsin

In 1902, the library circulated 9,586 books and in 1919 it rose to 24,000. By 1932, circulation rose to 71,426, then increased slowly to the 1971 count of 75,173. In 1972, the board considered the renovation and modernization of the library, but found that was not feasible. The board looked at adding on to the west to preserve the library's architecture, but when the Erickson firm offered to sell its grocery store building at Main and Marshall Streets for $150,000, the board opted to make the move.

The city purchased the Erickson building and sold the Carnegie library to the adjacent Dairy State Bank. The old library was razed in the summer of 1985. The new library was dedicated in April of 1978.

[LIB642] Click on the image to order a reproduction of this postcard!

1940s Public Library, Easton, PA

[LIB0141] - a reproduction of this postcard is available for purchase!