Denver Public Library

Last updated
Denver Central Library
Denver Public Library 1.jpg
Central Library in Denver is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 1995 addition to the building was designed by Michael Graves.
Denver Public Library
General information
Location10 W. 14th Ave., Denver, Colorado
Coordinates 39°44′14″N104°59′18″W / 39.737313°N 104.988246°W / 39.737313; -104.988246
Children's reading room, 1900 Review of reviews and world's work (1890) (14597454757).jpg
Children's reading room, 1900
The original 1910 Denver Carnegie library; still stands today as the McNichols Civic Center Building. Americana 1920 Libraries - Denver Public Library.jpg
The original 1910 Denver Carnegie library; still stands today as the McNichols Civic Center Building.

The Denver Public Library is the public library system of the City and County of Denver, Colorado. The system includes the Denver Central Library, located in the Golden Triangle district of Downtown Denver, as well as 25 branch locations and two bookmobiles. [1] The library's collection totals more than 2 million items, including books, reference materials, movies, music, and photographs. Of that total, more than 347,000 items are in specific collections including the Western History and Genealogy Department, Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library, and Reference Department holdings. [2]

Contents

History

The Library's humble beginnings started in 1859 as an outdoor facility built from a carpenter's bench under a tree. It was founded by Arthur Pierce, one of the pioneers during the gold rush era. [3] The library later evolved from the 1878 donation of books to the city's board of education, which were then maintained in a wing of East Denver High School. [4] John Cotton Dana was named chief librarian and the "Denver Public Library" was officially established in 1889. The library moved into its own building in 1910, a Greek revival design funded by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie that was located in Civic Center Park downtown. (The 1910 building was repurposed to serve the Board of Water Commissioners for many years, and survives as McNichols Civic Center Building, in the Civic Center Historic District (Denver, Colorado).) Between 1913 and 1920, Carnegie also underwrote construction of the library's first eight branches. Previously the city relied on traveling trunks of books. [4]

Central Library

In the 1950s the city commissioned the architectural firm Fisher & Fisher and designer Burnham Hoyt to build a new Central Library to be located on Broadway and West 14th Avenue. [5] The property had previously been an auto dealership for the Ford Model T, Model A, and Model B before being condemned by the City in 1953. [6] The Fisher/Hoyt Central Library in the city's Golden Triangle opened in 1956 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. [7] As part of the dedication of the new library when it opened, Yale Library loaned a collection of books that included the 1455 Gutenberg Bible and 1640 Bay Psalm Book that are both rare and valuable artifacts. [8] Throughout the 1950s and 1970s, Denver experienced an explosion of growth and quickly required more branches to be open to serve the new neighborhoods that branched out to the southeast and southwest. Among these branches were four Ross branches, funded with a $100,000 donation from Frederick Ross who was a Denver Real Estate Investor and the Library Commissioner. [8] In the 1990s Denver voters approved a $91.6 million bond issue to add onto the Fisher/Hoyt building; the new 540,000-square-foot (50,000 m2) structure, designed by the 2012 Driehaus Prize winner Michael Graves and the Denver firm of Klipp Colussy Jenks DuBois, opened in 1995. [5] The seven-story exterior is finished with limestone and pre-cast concrete with copper accents throughout. Murals are painted inside by the artist Edward Ruscha and fossils are embedded in its floor within the Schlessman Hall. There is also an art gallery within the Level Five Gates Western History Ready Room. [8]

Collections

The Denver Public Library has a large Western History collection, which began under the direction of City Librarian Malcom G. Wyer and includes 600,000 photographs, 3,700 manuscript archives, 200,000 cataloged books, pamphlets, atlases, maps, and microfilm titles as well as a collection of Western fine art and prints. The quality of its collection of oil paintings rivals that of the Denver Art Museum next door. The library's collection includes western landscape paintings by Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Remington, Charles Marion Russell, Thomas Moran and Otto Kuhler, as well as a portrait of Colorado historian and Denver Post writer Caroline Bancroft.

The Western History Department holds the Otto Perry collection of railroad photographs, numbering 20,000 negatives from all parts of North America made available for viewing on the Internet. [9]

The Western History and Genealogy departments merged in 1995 and are located on the fifth floor. The Genealogy department includes 60,000 books, 75,000 pieces of microform, and hundreds of magazine and newsletter titles, charts, clippings, atlases and manuscripts. From 1995 until 2015, The Western History Department worked on digitizing over 100,000 of its images to make them available online. [8]

The Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library serves as an educational and cultural resource focusing on the history, literature, art, music, religion, and politics of African Americans in Colorado and throughout the Rocky Mountain West. The Library opened in 2003 and houses a full service branch library, research archives and the Western Legacies Museum, an exhibition space that spans more than 7,000 square feet (650 m2) and includes an African American Leadership Gallery, a replica of the Office of Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb, and rotating exhibits which highlight historical periods, notable individuals and local Denver history.

Current Services

Computers and Technology

All locations offer patrons access to public computers with Internet service, Microsoft Office 2013, copying, printing, and scanning. Wireless Internet (WiFi) is also available to all visitors. [10]

Library of Things

The Denver Public Library offers library card holders access to equipment and experiences to check out. Current items include bicycle repair kits, State Park Pass, Chromebooks, draft check meter, GoPro camera, museum and cultural passes, power check meter, Speck indoor air quality meter, video projector, and WiFi hotspot. [11]

Makerspaces

The Denver Public Library system provides access to makerspaces, called ideaLABs, at various locations. [12]

Museum Passes, Cultural Tours and Ticket Vouchers

Denver Public Library offers library card holders free passes to participating local museums and cultural institutions. Institutions include the Butterfly Pavilion, Denver Center for the Performing Arts Behind the Scenes Tours, Denver Firefighters Museum, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver Trolley, Denver Zoo, History Colorado Center, Molly Brown House Museum, and Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. Card holders can also enter drawings to win vouchers to plays and concerts held at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company and Colorado Symphony. [13]

Branch libraries

Former branch libraries include the Dickinson Branch Library, a Carnegie library listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library</span> Library baranch in Denver Colorado, US

The Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library is a branch of the Denver Public Library in Denver, Colorado, in the United States that opened in 2003 and serves the Five Points neighborhood. It is also a research library with collections focusing on the history of African Americans in Denver and the American West. As of 2017, the library sees 135,000 visitors a year, including school groups visiting the third-floor museum. The library’s mission is to “collect and preserve the history and culture of African Americans in Colorado and throughout the Rocky Mountain West.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denver Museum of Nature and Science</span> Museum in Denver, Colorado, U.S.

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is a municipal natural history and science museum in Denver, Colorado. It is a resource for informal science education in the Rocky Mountain region. A variety of exhibitions, programs, and activities help museum visitors learn about the natural history of Colorado, Earth, and the universe. The 716,000-square-foot (66,519 m2) building houses more than one million objects in its collections including natural history and anthropological materials, as well as archival and library resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture</span> Public research library in New York City

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a research library of the New York Public Library (NYPL) and an archive repository for information on people of African descent worldwide. Located at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard between West 135th and 136th Streets in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, it has, almost from its inception, been an integral part of the Harlem community. It is named for Afro-Puerto Rican scholar Arturo Alfonso Schomburg.

The San Antonio Public Library (SAPL) is the public library system serving the city of San Antonio, Texas. It consists of a central library, 29 branch libraries, and a library portal. SAPL was awarded the National Medal for Museum and Library Service in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dallas Public Library</span> Public library system in Texas, USA

The Dallas Public Library (DPL) is a public library system in the city of Dallas, Texas, United States. With more than 4 million items and 30 locations, the Dallas Public Library is the largest public library system in North Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffalo & Erie County Public Library</span> Library system in western New York (USA)

The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library is located on Lafayette Square, Buffalo, New York. The current facility, designed by Kideney Architects and built in 1964, replaced the original Cyrus Eidlitz Buffalo Public Library Building dedicated in February 1887. The first Buffalo Public Library, in turn, replaced the Erie County, New York courthouse, which occupied the parcel from 1816-1876.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History Colorado</span> Historical society

History Colorado is a historical society that was established in 1879 as the State Historical Society of Colorado, also known as the Colorado Historical Society. History Colorado is a 501(c)(3) organization and an agency of the State of Colorado under the Department of Higher Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allen Tupper True</span> American illustrator and painter

Allen Tupper True was an American illustrator, easel painter and muralist who specialized in depicting the American West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Paso Public Libraries</span>

The El Paso Public Libraries is the municipal public library system of El Paso, Texas. The library serves the needs the public in El Paso, Texas, Chaparral, New Mexico and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. It consists of 14 branches and one Bookmobile service. Multiple outreach services are also available including a Homebound service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Randolph Ross</span> American architect

Albert Randolph Ross was an American architect, known primarily for designing libraries, especially those funded by Andrew Carnegie. His father, John W. Ross, was an architect based in Davenport, Iowa, and the architect of its city hall.

Gladys Caldwell Fisher was an American sculptor and animalier, born in Loveland, Colorado and based in Denver. Best known in Colorado, she was nationally recognized for her work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library</span> Public library system in Evansville, Indiana

The Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library (EVPL) is a public library system serving Evansville and Vanderburgh County in Indiana, USA. The EVPL also supplements the services provided by the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation and has the authority to approve the tax levy of the independently run and operated Willard Library.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Evans (arts patron)</span> American arts patron

Anne Evans was an American arts patron. She devoted her life to the founding and support of some of Colorado's largest cultural institutions, including the Denver Art Museum, the Central City Opera, and the Denver Public Library. She had decades of experience in leadership positions, particularly in the field of art. She was also a leader of a conservation effort and a fundraiser during World War I.

Merrill H. Hoyt was a prominent American architect, business man and leader in the building design community of Denver, Colorado from 1910 to 1933.

Herndon Davis (1901–1962) was an American artist, journalist, illustrator, and painter. He worked at the National War College in Washington, D.C., creating maps of China and Japan. Davis was an illustrator for New York, Washington, D.C., and Denver newspapers. He was also commissioned to make paintings and murals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delaware Public Library</span> United States historic place

The Delaware Public Library is a former public library in Delaware, Ohio. The building was funded by Andrew Carnegie and built in the neoclassical style. It opened to the public in 1906. The library's collection of books and volumes rapidly expanded during its operational history. By the 1970s, the Delaware Public Library started to run out of space. In 1984, a new public library was constructed, and Delaware County, Ohio started using the Delaware Public Library for office space. The building was tripled in size during a construction and restoration project that lasted from 1999 to 2001. The Delaware Public Library is currently used to house a number of Delaware County agencies, including the Delaware County Board of Commissioners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Main Library (Columbus, Ohio)</span> Columbus, Ohios main lending library

The Main Library of the Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) system is located in Downtown Columbus, Ohio, United States. The public library is the largest in the library system and holds approximately 300,000 volumes. It includes numerous rooms, including separate spaces for children, teens, an adult reading room, newspaper room, auditorium, gallery, gift shop, and a cafe. The third floor includes a computer lab and houses the Franklin County Genealogical & Historical Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henrietta Bromwell</span>

Henrietta Bromwell (1859–1946) was an artist, author, and a socialite from Denver. She is known for her landscape paintings and literature. She was a co-founder of the Artists' Club of Denver, which led to the founding of the Denver Art Museum. She taught oil and watercolor painting in downtown Denver and was an organizer and jurist at local art exhibitions. Bromwell was a genealogist, with multiple volume publications, and a publisher of her and her father's works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Ragland</span> American artist (1938–2021)

Bob Ragland was an artist and teacher based in Denver, Colorado. He is best known for his oil paintings and his found object sculptures, as well as his practical "Non-Starving Artist" philosophy. The Bob Ragland Branch of the Denver Public Library is named in his honor.

Dr. Jennie Mae Rucker was a librarian and educator in Denver, Colorado. She was one of the founding faculty of the Community College of Denver, and was inducted into the Blacks in Colorado Hall of Fame.

References

  1. ↑ Central Library Maps and Call Number Guide(PDF Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine ). Denver Public Library. Retrieved: 2011-03-30.
  2. ↑ Facts & Figures Denver Public Library. Retrieved: 2012-02-29.
  3. ↑ CAYTON, C., & Cayton, C. (1982). Daring to be different: the Denver public library. Wilson Library Bulletin, 56, 504–510.
  4. 1 2 History of the Denver Public Library
  5. 1 2 Burnham Hoyt: Architect of the North Wing of the Central Library
  6. ↑ O’Meara Ford family marks 100 years
  7. ↑ "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form". National Park Service. November 15, 1990.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "The History of the Denver Public Library". Denver Public Library History. 30 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "Otto C. Perry Images". www.drgw.org. Retrieved 2008-11-16.
  10. ↑ DPL Computers & Equipment
  11. ↑ DPL Library of Things
  12. ↑ DPL ideaLAB
  13. ↑ DPL Museum Passes
  14. ↑ Denver Public Library Locations & Hours, retrieved: 2022 November 16
  15. ↑ "Bob Ragland (1938 - 2021)". Denver Public Library History. 2022-08-02. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  16. ↑ "Denver Library Re-Named John 'Thunderbird Man' Emhoolah Jr. Branch To Honor Native American Culture". CBS Colorado. 2021-11-13. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.