Revisiting the Carnegie Public Library Built Form: The Design and Early History of Three Illinois Carnegie Library Buildings

Reference Type Journal Article
Year of Publication
2020
Contributors Author: Alistair Black
Author: Oriel Prizeman
Journal
Library & Information History
Volume
36
Issue
2
Pagination
89-115
Language
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Region
Library Type
Chronological Period
Abstract
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.