The Elizabeth Public Library is the free public library of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Serving a population of approximately 127,558, its collection contains 342,305 volumes, circulating 190,581 items annually [1] from its four locations. [2]
The Elizabeth Public Library is the free public library of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Serving a population of approximately 127,558, its collection contains 342,305 volumes, circulating 190,581 items annually [1] from its four locations. [2]
Mid-Town Historic District | |
    | |
| Coordinates | 40°39′42″N74°12′55″W / 40.661539°N 74.215199°W Coordinates: 40°39′42″N74°12′55″W / 40.661539°N 74.215199°W |
|---|---|
| NRHP reference No. | 95001143 |
| NJRHP No. | 2665 [3] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 5, 1995 |
| Designated NJRHP | September 29, 1994 |
Elizabeth's Main Library was built during the "free library movement" at the turn of the 20th century in part with the impetus of Charles N. Fowler, [4] US Congressman from Union County. It is one of New Jersey's original thirty-six Carnegie libraries, which by the 1940s had become one of the busiest libraries of its size in the USA. [5] Records show that millionaire Andrew Carnegie granted $130,810 made February 3, 1910, for the main and no longer existing Liberty Plaza branch libraries. [6] [7] Opened in 1912, the building, reminiscent of an Italian palazzo and the Boston Public Library was designed by Edward Lippincott Tilton, [8] who had designed many other Carnegie libraries as well as the immigration station at Ellis Island. It is a contributing property to the Midtown Historic District, a state and federal historic district established in 1994–1995. [3] The Main Library is the Federal Depository Library for Union County.
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States and the fourth largest in the world. It is a private, non-governmental, independently managed, nonprofit corporation operating with both private and public financing.
A Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. A total of 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, including some belonging to public and university library systems. 1,689 were built in the United States, 660 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, 125 in Canada, and others in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Serbia, Belgium, France, the Caribbean, Mauritius, Malaysia, and Fiji.
The San Diego Public Library is a public library system serving the city of San Diego, California.
For other Carnegie Libraries, see Carnegie library (disambiguation)
The Jacksonville Public Library is the public library system of Jacksonville, Florida. It primarily serves Jacksonville and Duval County, and is also used by the neighboring Baker, Nassau, Clay, and St. Johns Counties. It is one of the largest library systems in Florida, with a collection of over three million items. A division of the city government, the library has the third largest group of city employees after the city's Fire Department and Sheriff's Office. There are twenty branches and a Main Library in the system.
The Oakland Public Library is the public library in Oakland, California. Opened in 1878, the Oakland Public Library currently serves the city of Oakland, along with neighboring smaller cities Emeryville and Piedmont. The Oakland Public Library has the largest collection of any public library in the East Bay, featuring approximately 1.5 million items. It consists of a main library located in downtown Oakland, and 16 branch libraries throughout the city.
Multnomah County Library is the public library system serving Portland and Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. A continuation of the Library Association of Portland, established in 1864, the system now has 19 branches offering books, magazines, DVDs, and computers. It is the largest library system in Oregon, serving a population of 724,680, with more than 425,000 registered borrowers. According to the Public Library Association, it ranks second among U.S. libraries, based on circulation of books and materials, and ranks first among libraries serving fewer than one million residents. In this respect, it is the busiest in the nation.
The Davenport Public Library is a public library located in Davenport, Iowa. With a history dating back to 1839, the Davenport Public Library's Main Library is currently housed in a 1960s building designed by Kennedy Center architect Edward Durell Stone. The Davenport Public Library system is made up of three libraries—the Main Library at 321 Main Street; the Fairmount Branch Library at 3000 N. Fairmount Street; and the Eastern Avenue Branch Library at 6000 Eastern Avenue.
Albert Randolph Ross was an American architect. Born in Westfield, Massachusetts, he was a son of architect John W. Ross.
The Santa Monica Public Library (SMPL) is the public library serving residents of Santa Monica, California and surrounding areas. SMPL is directed by a City Librarian, who reports to the Santa Monica City Manager's Office and is overseen by a Library Board consisting of five members appointed by the Santa Monica City Council.
The Carnegie Public Library in East Liverpool, Ohio is a public library located at 219 East Fourth Street. The construction of the library, which opened in 1902, was funded by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, whose uncle lived in East Liverpool. Along with the Steubenville, Ohio library, it was the first library in Ohio funded by Carnegie. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in March 1980.
The Camden Free Public Library Main Building is the first former main library of the Camden, New Jersey public library system. Designed by Herbert D. Hale and Henry G. Morse, the building was constructed with a grant from the Carnegie Corporation and opened in 1905. It closed in 1986 with the relocation of the library's main branch to the former South Jersey Gas, Electric and Traction Company Office Building. In 1992, the building was placed on the state and national registers of historic places. The building has fallen into state of serious disrepair. In 2003, funding was found for its stabilization, with the hope that it would be preserved and re-used.
The Perth Amboy Public Library is the free public library in the city of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, located at 196 Jefferson Street.
The Edgewater Public Library is located at 48 Hudson Avenue in Edgewater, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.
The Bayonne Public Library is the free public library of Bayonne, New Jersey. Incorporated in 1890, it serves a population of approximately 62,000.
The Belleville Public Library and Information Center is the free public library of Belleville, New Jersey located at 221 Washington Avenue. Serving a population of approximately 36,000 the library in 2011 included a collection of 105,452 volumes and had a circulation of about 39,000 items per year.
The Freehold Public Library the free public library of Borough of Freehold, New Jersey located at 28½ East Main Street.
The East Orange Public Library is the free public library of East Orange, Essex County, New Jersey
The Montclair Public Library is the public library for the township of Montclair located in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. It serves the residents from two buildings, the Main Library and the Bellevue Avenue Branch. It is a member of the Bergen County Cooperative Library System.
One project I'm especially proud of is the Elizabeth Public Library, also in New Jersey. At the turn of the last century, Andrew Carnegie was benefactor to hundreds of libraries in the United States, and this is a Carnegie library. In the 1940s, it was one of the busiest libraries in the country for its size. But by the 1960s, with the shift to suburban development, circulation had seriously declined. In the 1990s, the city brought in a new librarian. He hired me to bring the building up to date. It hadn't been significantly renovated since the early 1960s. The carpets were ripped, the furniture was ancient and the roof was leaking. Some of the book collections hadn't been updated in more than 50 years. My team and I built a 2,000-square-foot room at the front of the building. There, we assembled the library's media collections, which had previously been kept out of sight: videotapes, audiotapes and CD's. We put these on prominent display in the new room. People loved it; circulation went way up. We also moved the children's area to the ground floor of the library. It had been next to the reference room, up a gigantic flight of stairs. Imagine all those noisy children next to people studying, or a mother having to push a stroller up all those stairs. The changes were a huge success. On the day of the dedication, one of the patrons came over to me and said, You gave us back our old library -- and gave us a new one.
| Authority control: International |
|---|
