Revisiting the Carnegie Public Library built form

The design and early history of three Illinois Carnegie Library buildings

Bibliographic Data

ID21792829
AuthorsAlistair Black (0000-0002-9368-7299, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Oriel Prizeman (0000-0003-4835-9824, Welsh Government)
Year2020
Volume36
Issue2
Pages89-115
Publication date2020-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLibrary & Information History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1758-3489 • E-ISSN: 1758-3497
PublisherEdinburgh University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.3366/lih.2020.0019
OpenAlexW3041664517
LanguageEN
References cited2

Despite the challenges involved in re-cycling older library buildings, it is important not to underestimate the value of extant Carnegie libraries, which in many places are among the most celebrated and cherished structures in the community. Any tendency to underestimate the possibilities for extant Carnegie library buildings can be reduced by revisiting their original designs and challenging popular impressions that are based on unwarranted retrospective history. Case studies of three Illinois Carnegie libraries are presented: Decatur (opened 1903), Paxton (opened 1904), and Park Ridge (opened 1913). These case studies are followed by a positive interpretation of the built form of the three libraries studied, by drawing on recent accounts of the material culture of Carnegie public libraries in the decades immediately prior to the First World War, as well as by referring to contemporary policy on architectural control by Carnegie's office and critical reporting in the later stage of the Carnegie programme on its successes and failures

Archaeology · Extant taxon · History of architecture · Library history · Library science · Sociology · Computer Science · History · Library Science and Administration · Architecture

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