[LIB6170] - By 1901 the library had outgrown its location in the old City Hall building. In the same year, Andrew Carnegie made a gift of $50,000 for the construction of a new library. On August 17th, 1904, the new library was dedicated and opened for business. For almost 70 years the Carnegie building served the community well, but in 1973 the building sustained structural damage due to the settling of the northwest corner of the foundation (where poor quality material used to fill the former railroad ravine was settling). The collection was moved that year to temporary quarters in Contois Auditorium in City Hall, then a few months later to the basement of Memorial Auditorium.
In the early to mid 1970's there was some pressure from the citizenry to demolish the Carnegie building and rebuild on the site. In response, a group of Burlington residents formed The Committee to Save the Fletcher Free Library Building. A petition was circulated, and as a result, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in May of 1974. In 1977, an E.D.A. grant of $234,000 made possible the stabilization and external repair of the building. [From the library website]
