[LIB5226] Website
Friday, December 23, 2011
1954 E.C. Scranton Library, Madison, Connecticut
[LIB5225] The inadequacies of this situation were resolved in 1900 when Miss Mary Eliza Scranton offered the Association the use of a new, completely furnished, library building which she had had built on the corner of Wall Street adjoining her family's old home. The offer was accepted, books moved in, and in 1901 the Association dissolved and the E. C. Scranton Memorial Library was incorporated.
The building was designed by Henry Bacon, an eminent New York architect who later designed the Lincoln Memorial. A New York firm of "contracting designers" were in complete charge of the architecture, construction, decorations and furnishings, the total cost of which was about $30,000. [Read more at the Website]
Library, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
[LIB5224] Designed by New York architect William Appleton Potter, the original Berkshire Athenaeum building was erected in 1874-1876 as a gift from railway magnate and native son Thomas Allen. It is in the High Victorian Gothic style, constructed of dark blue limestone from Great Barrington, red freestone from Longmeadow and red granite from Missouri. The 1876 building became the Berkshire County Registry of Deeds in 1975 when the Berkshire Athenaeum moved to the current library building two doors away. [Wikipedia]
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Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts
[LIB5223] - Fun Fact! The first library to establish a space specifically designated for children. The Children's Room was opened at the BPL in 1895 and offered more than 3,000 books within the unhampered reach of young children.
Memorial Library, Eustis, Florida
[LIB5222] Website
Designed by Alan J. MacDonough in the Classical Revival style of architecture.
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Public Library at Copley Square, Boston, Massachusetts
[LIB5219] - Special Collection Aarons, Jules Collection (Print Department, 617.859.2280)
Photographs by Boston street photographer Jules Aarons taken in the neighborhoods of Boston, including the West End and North End, from 1947 to 1976.
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Wednesday, December 21, 2011
1940 Norway Memorial Library, Norway, Maine
[LIB6130] The lot on which the library stands had been vacant since the fire of 1894. The brick materials blend with other Main Street buildings built after the fire, and the neo-classic design of the library was provided by the Boston architect William B. Coffin. Philip D. Wight of Norway submitted a bid of $31,190 to construct the building. There was an official ceremony on December 15, 1938 to open the new library building, which at the time housed a collection of about 9,000 books. [Read more at the Website]
Main Reading Room, New York Public Library, New York
[LIB6128] Here, patrons can read or study at long oak tables lit by elegant bronze lamps, beneath fifty-two foot tall ceilings decorated by dramatic murals of vibrant skies and billowing clouds. Since the General Research Division’s opening day on May 23, 1911, vast numbers of people have entered the main reading room. Literary figures such as Norman Mailer, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Elizabeth Bishop, E. L. Doctorow, and Alfred Kazin have cited the division as a major resource for their work. [Read more at the Website]
Carnegie Library, Flora, Indiana
[LIB6118] - The Carnegie building served its public well until January 1990, when a structural engineer deemed it unsafe for further use. After the building was condemned, the library applied for and received an LSCA Construction grant in the amount of $225,000.00.
A new 9,285 square foot building was planned and fund raising efforts raised the necessary matching funds ($300,000.00) in 18 months. A former Flora resident and high school alumnus, Marion Thomas “Tom” Hall, donated his expertise as an architect to design the new building. The new Flora Public Library, rebuilt on the same site, was completed in the fall of 1992 and the dedicated on March 1993. [Read more at the Website]
Public Library, Logansport, Indiana
[LIB6117] - March 17, 1941 --A tragic fire destroyed the building and 25,000 volumes from the collection.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
Public Library, Detroit, Michigan
[LIB6098] - Looking north from Hotel Webster Hall, Cass Ave. at Putnam. Note the surrounding buildings: Fisher Building; General Motors Building; Belcrest Apartments; Art Center Apartments; Wardell Apartments; and the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
1906 Memorial Building and Public Library, Lowell, Massachusetts
[LIB6018] - Lowell's first public library was established in 1844. Originally located in rooms of the old City Hall on Merrimack Street, the holdings of this library constituted approximately 3,500 volumes. Some 28 years later, outgrowing this space, the library was moved to the Masonic Temple, also on Merrimack Street.
In 1889, the Lowell City Council passed a resolution providing for the erection of a new City Hall. Shortly thereafter, as a result of a petition by Lowell citizens, the Council authorized a second building to be located adjacent to this new City Hall, to be dedicated to the memory of the Lowell men who had lost their lives in the Civil War. This building would also be the site of the new library.
During the ceremony to lay the cornerstone, Edward T. Russell, Commander of the B.F. Butler Post of the G.A.R., said the new building would be "a monument to the heroism of the past and a storehouse of knowledge for the future."
For almost 90 years the building was known simply as Memorial Hall and the library it housed was called the Lowell City Library. In 1981, it was renamed the Pollard Memorial Library in memory of the late Mayor Samuel S. Pollard. [Website]
Library, Peterborough, New Hampshire
[LIB6017] - The Peterborough Town Library enjoys the distinction of being the first public library in the United States to be supported by tax dollars.
In 1833, when the library was established, Peterborough residents must have recognized that they were creating more than just a building. They were affirming the role of libraries in creating and fostering community, and they understood that a library accessible to the public would be crucial to the educational, cultural, and economic development of the town. [Website]
Monday, December 12, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
1911 Public Library, Petoskey, Michigan
[LIB6117] - The existing Carnegie Library building is one of the most significant historic buildings in Petoskey, architecturally as the most outstanding example of the neo-classical revival style, and historically as one of an ever-decreasing number of remaining Carnegie libraries in the country. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places by its inclusion in the Downtown Petoskey Historic District. It is the oldest municipal building in Emmet County in continuous original use.
The building was designed by the Grand Rapids firm of Williamson & Crow, Architects. It was constructed in 1908 and dedicated in 1909. Only the best stone and brick were to be used on the exterior, with black ash woodwork used extensively inside. A fireplace, pictures, plants and suitable furniture were all added to enhance its beauty and cultural atmosphere. In the basement a large handsomely equipped assembly room which sat 125 people was created for meetings of an “educational and patriotic nature.” [Website]
1923 Public Library, Portland, Indiana
[LIB6116] - In 1902 a grant of $15,000 from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation was used to construct the Portland City Library on East Walnut Street. The building was expanded in 1973. In 1976 the library taxing district was enlarged to include several townships in the county and the name was changed to Jay County Public Library. The building has been replaced (1996) and demolished. [Website]
1944 Thompson Memorial Library, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York
[LIB6115] - When Vassar opened in 1865, the library was a mere single room in Main with a collection of only three thousand books. In 1893 Frederick Ferris Thompson, a Vassar trustee, gave the college an extension to Main hall that served as a library until the new Thompson building was completed in 1905 by Mary Clark Thompson as a memorial for her husband. Mrs. Thompson's continuing generosity enabled the library to be enlarged in 1918, and in 1924 her bequest to the College became an endowment for its support. [Wikipedia]
1953 Memorial Library, Boothbay Harbor, Maine
[LIB6114] - Originally designed as a private home, this beautifully proportioned Greek Revival temple-style structure was built in the 1840's by William Maxwell Reed. In 1923, the town of Boothbay Harbor purchased the property on Oak Street from the heirs of Chapman Reed. The dedication ceremony was held in July of 1923. The Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library was incorporated the next year with a 15 member board of trustees.
The original homestead has been remodeled three times. To create the Library in 1923, the front door was relocated from the ell to the center front of the main room which is today known as the Great Room. A Greek revival front was added and a World War I memorial plaque was placed over the fireplace. In 1966 a reading room was added, and in 1976 the building was extended along Howard Street to add a children's room. In 1969 the Hyde House next door, which now houses the Friends of the LIbrary Used Bookstore, was willed to the Library. The contents were auctioned and the proceds added to the Endowment Fund. The Library is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. [Website]
Public Library, Camden, South Carolina
[LIB6113]
Free Library, Manchester, United Kingdom
[LIB6111]
Can anyone verify if this is the Library in Manchester UK?
1939 Public Library, Bangor, Maine
[LIB6110] - It all began with seven books in a footlocker. In 1830, a small chest was kept in the publishing office of John S. Sayward on Exchange Street. It contained the first library of the Bangor Mechanic Association. Members could check out two books at a time; their sons or apprentices could check out one. As the collection increased, it was moved to ever-larger reading rooms in several downtown locations. [Read more here]
Hubbard Hall, The Library of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine
[LIB6109] - Hubbard Hall 1903 by Henry Vaughan - The College took sixty years to outgrow a library designed to serve the needs of an indefinite future. When the Hawthorne-Longfellow Library was completed in 1965, the former main library room of Hubbard Hall, to the left of the large lower hall, was turned into the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum. Thomas Hubbard would have been pleased, for he was president of the Peary Arctic Club from 1908 until his death in 1915. [Read more here]
Memorial Library, Fairfield, Connecticut
[LIB6108] - On June 4, 1903, a new library building, situated on the corner of the Post Road and Old Post Road, was dedicated. This two-story colonial with three floors for stacks, was designed so that it could be added to gracefully, in future years. In 1950 the Library's operation was taken over by the town and the name was changed to Fairfield Public Library. Additions to the building were completed in 1930, 1959 and 1981. [Website]
1916 Public Library, Hudson, Massachusetts
[LIB6107] - Hudson Public Library began to serve the public late in 1867 with 720 volumes. The very same citizen, for whom the town was named, the Honorable Charles Hudson, inaugurated free library services in Hudson. [Website]
The Edward L. Doheny, Jr. Memorial Library, University of Southern California
[LIB6106] - The historic Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library has served as an intellectual center and cultural treasure for generations of students, faculty and staff since it opened in 1932. Created as a memorial to Edward L. Doheny Jr., a USC trustee and alumnus, this landmark building was USC's first freestanding library. [Website]
1913 Carnegie Library, Washington, DC
[LIB6105] - The Carnegie Public Library is located in Mt. Vernon Square.
1944 Public Library, Winchester, Massachusetts
[LIB6104] - The Winchester Public Library was founded in 1858, and the present building was constructed in 1931, at a cost of $137,000. Designed by architects Kilham, Hopkins & Greeley, the Library's English Norman exterior is of rough-faced Massachusetts granite with joints of dark mortar and trim of cut limestone. The building's innovative design, combining both an art gallery and library, was featured in the June, 1932, issue of The Architectural Forum.
An addition to the building, designed by Kilham, Hopkins, Greeley and Brodie, was completed in 1966. It provided for a larger reading and reference room, an enlarged children's room, a workroom, and increased storage capacity. [Website]
Public Library, Jersey City, New Jersey
[LIB6103] - August 16, 1899, the cornerstone was set in place. On January 14, 1901 the new building, today's main library, was dedicated. [Website]
1913 Farnsworth Public Library, Oconto, Wisconsin
[LIB6102] - In his Library Dedication Address, Mr. Farnsworth spoke of coming to Oconto a poor man and wanted to leave an acknowledgement of the good he had received during his life here. He decided on something very useful to benefit the community—a free public library. [Website]
Library, Benedict College, Columbia, South Carolina
[LIB6101] - Founded in 1870, Benedict College is a private, co-educational liberal arts institution located in Columbia, SC.
1909 Ladies Library, Ypsilanti, Michigan
[LIB3100] - The Ladies Library/Starweather House is a wonderful brick building that once housed the Ladies Library. Built in 1858 as a private residence, it was later willed to the Ladies Library Association-the ladies added the carved limestone sign above the door. At the turn of the century, the building was turned over to the City of Ypsilanti, and it served as the city's public library until the mid-1960s. [Waymarking]
Friday, December 9, 2011
McCord Memorial Library, North East, Pennsylvania
[LIB6074] - The North East Free Library Association was founded in 1899 and housed in several locations until 1916. In 1913, Mr. John McCord, a Chicago resident who formerly lived in North East, bequeathed $25,000 to the people of North East for the construction of a public library building. In 1975 the original building was expanded to better accommodate a growing community. [Library website]
1929 City Library, Wellington, Kansas
[LIB6073] - On April 1, 1914, at the spring election the voters approved the support of a public library by a vote of 3-1. In May 1914, the Wellington City Library board held its first meeting and voted to begin the process of erecting a library building. On April 10, 1915, it was voted to buy a site from the Long-Bell Lumber Co. at the corner of Seventh Street and Jefferson Avenue for $3,500.00. The board had begun negotiations with Andrew Carnegie, and on April 19, 1915 the Carnegie Corporation stated that it would give $17,500.00 for a library building.
The name of the architect has been lost, but the contract was awarded to J. H. Mitchell. The building was completed in December 1915, but remained vacant for some time due to a delay in the receipt of the new furniture. Meanwhile, Miss Flower and Miss Hackney, the librarians, cataloged books. The library building was accepted from the contractor on June 12, 1916, was dedicated June 19, 1916, and was informally opened to the public July 1, 1916. [Library website]
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Pubic Library, Montclair, New Jersey
LIB6052] - 1904 After 35 years and six different locations, the Montclair Public Library had its first purpose-built library building on the former site of the Munn Tavern. The library at 73 Church Street served as the Main Library for 50 years. This building is now part of the Unitarian Church, located at the intersection of Valley Road and Church Street.
1916 Public Library, Upper Montclair, New Jersey
[LIB5061] - Free Public Library, Upper Montclair Branch is located in Montclair, New Jersey. The building was built in 1914 and still serves as a Bellevue Branch of the Montclair Public Library. It is listed on the state and federal registers of historic places. [Wikipedia]
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
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