Reading Rooms: Interpreting the American Public Library Mural, 1890-1930

From 1890 until 1930, a variety of public art projects flourished throughout the United States. The public library was a particularly important and appropriate destination for many kinds of civic enhancements, inviting buildings of distinguished appearance and contributions by leading artists, designers, and craftsmen. Previously, plans for American libraries featured monumental statues and reliefs, landscaped gardens with fountains, stained glass, and decorative mosaic designs. Mural commissions came into favor around the turn of the century and deserve to be recognized as the principal form of embellishment for many of the new buildings. Library patrons appreciated these wall paintings, interpreting them as evidence of rising cultural standards in their communities. Consequently, murals were soon found in many large urban libraries, like the ones in Boston, Detroit, Denver, or Los Angeles, as well as in seemingly more remote locales, such as Winona, Minnesota, or Washington, Connecticut.