Webber Park Library is a public library in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Its primary service area is the Camden, Minneapolis community. The library was one of thirteen branch libraries established under the leadership of Gratia Countryman, the chief librarian of the Minneapolis Public Library from 1904 to 1936. After starting as a delivery station in a drugstore and being housed in two buildings within Webber Park, it was in temporary quarters in a shopping center from 2014 to 2017. The current building opened in May 2017 on the site of the previous buildings.
The minutes of the Minneapolis Library Board from May 6, 1895, noted that the residents of Camden Place had petitions for a library station in their area. The Camden Place library station was approved by the Minneapolis Library Board at the July 1, 1895 meeting. The 1895 Annual Report noted that Delivery Station E, Camden Place opened in September 1895 and was housed in Coffin's Drug Store. [1] William A. Coffin was a druggist and the postmaster for Camden Place. His store was located at 4169 Washington Avenue North, between 41st and 42nd Avenues N. [2] From 1897 to 1900, store ownership was taken over by Leslie A.Hanes. [3] After 1900, the store was owned by Nels A. Winslow. [4]
Despite a call to temporarily suspend the station in 1905, it remained active until a permanent library was created in 1910. [5]
The Webber Park field house was built in 1910 and the newly created Camden Branch of Minneapolis Public Library was housed in the second floor. [6] The Camden Library was part of a larger park project spearheaded by Charles C. and Mary Webber, who donated the funds for the library in memory of their son John Deere Webber, the great-grandson of tractor and farm implement magnet John Deere. The park was named Camden Park from when it was first planned in 1908 until 1939 when it was renamed after the Webbers. This library was created in the effort by library director Gratia Countryman to have libraries created throughout the city of Minneapolis. By the 1930s the population of the Camden community had grown to the point that more space was needed. [7]
In 1954 the library acquired the rest of the building from the Minneapolis Park Board and renamed it Webber Park Library. In 1979 the field house was razed to make way for a new swimming pool and a new Webber Park Library was built in 1980.
Webber Park and 14 other libraries of Minneapolis Public Library were merged into the combined urban/suburban Hennepin County Library in 2008.
The 1980 structure began to fail in 2013 and was closed and razed. [8] A temporary location opened in December 2013 at Camden Center, 4203 Webber Parkway. [9] A new library building was built with a building project process of community engagement. [10] The temporary location closed on April 29 and the new location on 4440 Humboldt Ave. N. opened on May 18, 2017. [11]
The new library on Humboldt has an exterior includes a veneer of Lake Superior green granite, echoing the composition of the Victory Memorial Parkway sign that is nearby. Other materials include zinc panels and Douglas fir wood columns that support the porch canopies. Inside, wood-finish ceilings, granite accents and fir structural columns echo the look and feel of outdoor spaces, as well. Window walls bring natural light into the indoor spaces. The library's early literacy play space for the youngest readers also works to bring the outside in. Children can pretend they are at a ranger station, a veterinary office or anywhere their imaginations take them. Providing inviting indoor and outdoor reading and gathering spaces, the building has a wraparound porch, facing Humboldt Avenue North, which echoes the fronts of the homes in the neighborhood. The new library has twice the space of the 1980 structure and open hours increase from 3 to 6 days a week. [12]
Nicollet Mall is a twelve-block portion of Nicollet Avenue running through Downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is a shopping and dining district of the city, and also a pedestrian mall and transit mall. Along with Hennepin Avenue to the west, Nicollet Mall forms the cultural and commercial center of Minneapolis.
The North Loop is a neighborhood in the Central community of Minneapolis.
The Minneapolis Public Library (MPL) was a library system that served the residents of Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. It was founded in 1885 with the establishment of the Minneapolis Library Board by an amendment to the Minneapolis City Charter. Lumber baron and philanthropist T. B. Walker and other city leaders such as Thomas Lowry were members of the first library board. In 2008, after some financial difficulties, the library was merged into the Hennepin County Library system. At the time of its merger, the library included Central Library in downtown Minneapolis and fourteen branch libraries. Its collection numbered about 3.1 million items with about 2.2 million of these housed in the central library.
Minneapolis City Hall and Hennepin County Courthouse, designed by Long and Kees in 1888, is the main building used by the city government of Minneapolis, as well as by Hennepin County, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The structure has served as mainly local government offices since it was built, and today the building is 60 percent occupied by the city and 40 percent occupied by the County. The building is jointly owned by the city and county and managed by the Municipal Building Commission. The Commission consists of the chair of the County Board, the mayor of the City of Minneapolis, a member of the County Board and a member of the Minneapolis City Council. The County Board chair serves as the president of the Commission and the mayor serves as the vice president. The building bears a striking resemblance to the city hall buildings in Cincinnati and Toronto. The City Hall and Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Gratia Alta Countryman was a nationally-known librarian who led the Minneapolis Public Library from 1904 to 1936. She was the daughter of immigrant farmers Alta and Levi Countryman. She pioneered many ways to make the library more accessible and user-friendly to all of the city's residents, regardless of age or economic position. Countryman was called the "first lady of Minneapolis" and the "Jane Addams of the libraries".
Nicollet Island is an island in the Mississippi River just north of Saint Anthony Falls in central Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to the United States Census Bureau the island has a land area of 194,407 square metres (0.075 sq mi) and a 2000 census population of 144 persons. The island makes up a large part of the city-designated Nicollet Island/East Bank neighborhood. The island is named for cartographer Joseph Nicollet, who mapped the Upper Mississippi in the 1830s.
Lind-Bohanon is a northern neighborhood within the Camden community in Minneapolis. It is located in Ward 4, represented by council member LaTrisha Vetaw.
Charles Morgridge Loring was an American businessman, miller and publicist. Raised in Maine to be a sea captain, Loring instead became a civic leader in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he was a wealthy flour miller and in Riverside, California where he helped to build the first city hall. He was a popular and generous man who enjoyed many friendships and business associations.
Hennepin County Library is a public library system serving Hennepin County, Minnesota, US. The current iteration of Hennepin County Library was formed by the merger of urban Minneapolis Public Library and suburban Hennepin County Library on January 1, 2008. The system has 41 library locations, deposit collections at nursing homes and correctional facilities, mail service to the homebound, and extensive outreach services. With more than 4 million items in its collection, the Hennepin County Library system is one of the largest public libraries in the United States. The library is a department of Hennepin County Government. The library headquarters are in the Ridgedale Library in suburban Minnetonka. The library system has an eleven-member advisory Library Board appointed by the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners. It is a member of the Metropolitan Library Service Agency, a consortium of eight Twin Cities library systems.
Sumner Library is a neighborhood library located in the Near-north neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Originally part of the Minneapolis Public Library, it became part of the merged Hennepin County Library in 2008. The Carnegie Library was a haven for Jewish immigrants to the city in the early 20th century. The Minneapolis Public Library moved its entire collection of Yiddish and Hebrew works to the branch library in response to a survey showing that 95% of the patrons were Jewish immigrants, some of whom learned English there and participated in social clubs in the building. The Tudor Revival building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Franklin Library is a public library on Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The library was one of thirteen branch libraries established under the leadership of Gratia Countryman, the chief librarian of the Minneapolis Public Library from 1904 to 1936. The library housed the largest collection of Scandinavian books, newspapers, and magazines within the system, which reflected the population living in the area. The library was funded by the Carnegie Corporation and designed by Edward Lippincott Tilton, a New York City architect.
Linden Hills Library is a public library in the Linden Hills neighborhood of southwest Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The branch library originally opened in 1911 on the first floor of the Lake Harriet Commercial Club building. In 1931, under the leadership of Minneapolis Public Library's chief librarian Gratia Countryman, the library moved into its own building on 2900 West 43rd Street. Area resident Joseph Victor Vanderbilt designed the library in the Tudor Revival style. Head librarian Edith Frost served for over thirty years. The library has also hosted community groups such as children's clubs, neighborhood groups, and women's organizations. The library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000 and renovated in 2002.
Hosmer Library, originally known as the Thirty-Sixth Street Branch Library, is a branch library of the Hennepin County Library system serving the Central neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It was named the Hosmer Library in honor of James Kendall Hosmer and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
Walker Library is a public library in the East Isles neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is on Hennepin Avenue one block north of Lake Street, adjoining the Midtown Greenway.
Marshall-University High School was a public junior high and high school serving grades 6–12 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Arvonne Fraser Library is a public library in Minneapolis, serving the University community. Designed by Ralph Rapson and built in 1963, the library is an example of brutalist architecture. The building originally housed a credit union for state and university employees before a 1967 repurposing, when it became the Southeast Library. Following a subsequent renovation from 2018 to 2020, the library was renamed after Arvonne Fraser, a women's rights advocate and political campaigner.
Northeast Library is a public library in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the Hennepin County Library system. Since opening in 1973, Northeast Library at 2200 Central Avenue Northeast in Minneapolis serves a vibrant metropolitan community, Northeast, Minneapolis. At 15,275 square feet, the space held about 30,000 books and featured a fireplace to welcome patrons in winter. The 1973 building was itself a replacement for a Carnegie library which was on the site from 1915 until 1972.
North Regional Library is a public library in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the Hennepin County Library system. Since opening in 1971, North Regional Library at 1315 Lowry Ave. N. in Minneapolis serves a diverse metropolitan community, Near North, Minneapolis.
Washburn Library, formerly Washburn Community Library, is a public library in the Hennepin County Library system. Opened in September 1970, Washburn Library, located at 5244 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis, began with a footprint of 14,451 square feet (1,342.5 m2) and approximately 18,000 books. Designed by Brooks Cavin, an architect who studied under Walter Gropius and Eero Saarinen, Washburn reflected mid-century modernism. Set near Minnehaha Creek, Washburn meets the needs of Southwest Minneapolis in a picturesque neighborhood.
Brooklyn Park Library is a branch of Hennepin County Library serving Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, United States. The current facility opened in June 2016, replacing an earlier library building at 8600 Zane Avenue North that opened in 1976. Prior to that the area was served by Hennepin County Library's bookmobile.