[LIB3063] Click on the image to order a reproduction of this postcard!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
University Library, Bethlehem, PA
[LIB3063] Click on the image to order a reproduction of this postcard!
Public Library, Philadelphia, PA
Initiated by the efforts of Dr. William Pepper, the Free Library of Philadelphia was chartered in 1891 as "a general library which shall be free to all." Pepper received initial funding for the Library through a $225,000 bequest from his wealthy uncle, George S. Pepper. However, litigation arose as several existing libraries claimed the bequest. The Free Library finally opened in March of 1894 after the courts decided the money was intended to found a new public library. [SOURCE] [LIB3062]
Public Library, Ashland, Kentucky
In December 1930, the Ashland Memorial Library Association was organized to establish a free public library for the city. In 1935 city commissioners adopted a resolution supporting construction of a library. The land was part of Crabbe School property that the School Board deeded. Public subscriptions supplemented the WPA grants to build the library. Ground was broken on April 22, 1935 and the building opened in December 1936. On October 7, 1936 the first meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Ashland Public Library was held in the mayor’s office. At that time, the Association transferred all assets to the new organization. The first book cataloged in the records of the new library was Miss Bishop by Bess Aldrich. [SOURCE] [LIB3060]
Free Public Library, Lancaster, PA
On May 21, 1952 the Lancaster New Era announced that over half a million dollars was available to start construction of the new Lancaster Public Free Library. First the old library and the buildings on either side had to be demolished to make way for the new and current Lancaster Public Library. The old library was located in the former A. Herr Smith house on Duke Street and had been library headquarters since 1903. The cornerstone of the new library was laid on May 17, 1953. [SOURCE] [LIB3058]
Monday, April 27, 2009
Interior View, Cumberland County Library, Bridgeton, NJ
Opened 5th May, 1968, 17,000 square feet.[LIB3045]
Public Library, Bar Harbor, Maine
[LIB3048] "The Library was at one time considered a luxury: now it is regarded as a necessary part of the equipment of every American community." - S. Weir Mitchell, Jesup Memorial Library dedication, August 30, 1911.Friday, April 24, 2009
1941 Home of Library Society, Walterboro, SC
The Walterboro Library Society Building, constructed in 1820, is significant in the areas of architecture, literature and history. This building has served since 1820 as a center of literary activity for the Colleton County area. At the time of its nomination, the building was noted as being adaptively used as headquarters for the Colleton County Historical Society. The strong influence of the library society was evidenced by the town boundaries being fixed as “3/4 of a mile in every direction from the Walterboro Library” when Walterboro was incorporated in 1826. The library is a small, white, frame Federal style building with a side-gabled roof. The front façade’s Palladian-style door surround contains double, four-paneled doors with four-paned sidelights and a simple entablature capped by a fanlight. The sidelights and fanlight, in addition to the standard windows on either side of the entrance, have green louvered shutters. The small building’s remaining elevations each contain a similar Palladian-style window with green louvered shutters. Listed in the National Register October 14, 1971. [SOURCE] [LIB2650]1908 Ruins of the Chelsea Public Library, Great Fire, MA
Just north of Boston is Chelsea Massachusetts. A great conflagration took place there in April 1908. It was a spectacular fire that destroyed much of the city. The second Great Chelsea Fire occurred in 1973. [LIB2649] [SOURCE]Saturday, April 18, 2009
Given Library, Mt. Holly Springs, PA
A very nice photo album:Amelia S. Given Public Library in Mt. Holly Springs, PA., 1890. James T. Steen, architect (from Pittsburgh). Moses Ransom, woodwork. Click here
An introduction to the architecture of the library written by Paul Tucker can be found here as a PDF
Friday, April 17, 2009
1908 Wallace Library and Art Building, Fitchburg, MA
1885Rodney Wallace builds and furnishes the Wallace Library and Art Gallery at the corner of Main Street and Newton Place as a gift to the people of Fitchburg.
1967
The new Wallace Library is dedicated. Named for George R. Wallace, Jr. and his wife Alice G. Wallace, who gave a magnificent gift for the library building. [SOURCE] [LIB2693]
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
c1910 Plumb Memorial Library, Shelton, CT
In the winter of 1891, David Wells Plumb, a successful Shelton businessman, chaired a meeting of city residents who voted to establish a public library. The residents raised nearly $2000 at that meeting, and in October 1892 they voted to appropriate a three-quarter mill tax toward the library's support. They also appointed six people as library directors, with Plumb serving as library president. [SOURCE] [LIB2690]
Library journal By Melvil Dewey, Richard Rogers Bowker, L. Pylodet, American Library Association, Charles Ammi Cutter, Bertine Emma Weston, Karl Brown, Helen E. Wessels
Library journal By Melvil Dewey, Richard Rogers Bowker, L. Pylodet, American Library Association, Charles Ammi Cutter, Bertine Emma Weston, Karl Brown, Helen E. Wessels
1972 Goodwin Public Library, Farmington NH
The Public Library Association was formally organized on December 8, 1890. In 1927 the land on which the present library stands was purchased from E.T. Wilson. George Goodwin of West Milton was persuaded to build a library and thus provide not only a source of learning for the youth of the community but to create an enduring memory to his name. The corner stone was laid on August 23, 1928, the Goodwin Library was dedicated on May 10, 1929 and was opened for business the next day. Today the library contains approximately 17,000 volumes and has a circulation of 20,000. [SOURCE]
Monday, April 13, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
1910 Public Library, Anderson, Indiana
The first circulating library of Anderson was owned and maintained by a few private citizens, and was founded in 1881. To promote the cause of the Y. M. C. A., it was afterwards donated to that institution. When the free public library was established by the city, the books of the old subscription library and of the Y. M. C. A. were used as a foundation, Mr. Marcus Kilbourne serving as the first librarian.The present library, which is now known as the Public Library of Anderson, Indiana, is an outgrowth of these libraries, and was opened to the public in 1894 with about 1,000 volumes. The first borrower's card was issued November 3, of that year, bearing the number one; the serial numbers now run into fourteen thousand, which gives some idea of the growth in membership. [SOURCE] [LIB2684]
1915 ISTC The Library, Cedar Falls, Iowa
Iowa State Teachers College The College of Education is the oldest department on campus; in fact, UNI began as a teacher preparation school in 1876. The university was renamed the Iowa State Teachers College in 1909, and the State College of Iowa in 1961. [SOURCE] [LIB2686]Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
1902 Billings Library, University of Vermont
This library, now the student center at the a University of Vermont, was named for Frederick Billings, an alumnus of the university and later a lawyer in Northern California credited with saving the Northern Pacific Railroad from bankruptcy; Billings Montana was named for him. Billings donated a valuable collection of books to the University of Vermont and sponsored the building of the library. [SOURCE][LIB2661]
1912 The New Library, Springfield, MA
Card no. 3602, published by Danziger & Berman, New Haven, CT. [LIB2660]
Memorial and Public Library, Westerly, Rhode Island
The Memorial and Library Association of Westerly was established in 1892 to commemorate the volunteer soldiers and sailors who fought in the Civil War. Westerly Public Library opened its doors in 1894 through the initiative of local industrialist-inventor, Stephen Wilcox. Mr. Wilcox donated the land on which the library is situated, as well as $25,000 to be matched by citizens of the community. [SOURCE] [LIB2659]