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Encyclopedia Dubuque

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CARNEGIE-STOUT PUBLIC LIBRARY: Difference between revisions

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[[File:grandopenoing.jpg|left|thumb|350px|Grand opening. Photo courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/pages/You-know-you-grew-up-in-Dubuque-Iowa-if-you-remember/130170407077838]]
[[File:grandopenoing1.jpg|left|thumb|350px|Grand opening. Photo courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/pages/You-know-you-grew-up-in-Dubuque-Iowa-if-you-remember/130170407077838]]
[[Image:0125.jpg|left|thumb|250px|]]CARNEGIE-STOUT PUBLIC LIBRARY. The Carnegie-Stout Public Library is a local landmark funded in part by [[CARNEGIE, Andrew|Andrew CARNEGIE]]. It was placed on the [[NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES]] on August 1, 1975.
[[Image:0125.jpg|left|thumb|250px|]]CARNEGIE-STOUT PUBLIC LIBRARY. The Carnegie-Stout Public Library is a local landmark funded in part by [[CARNEGIE, Andrew|Andrew CARNEGIE]]. It was placed on the [[NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES]] on August 1, 1975.



Revision as of 05:19, 27 February 2014

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CARNEGIE-STOUT PUBLIC LIBRARY. The Carnegie-Stout Public Library is a local landmark funded in part by Andrew CARNEGIE. It was placed on the NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES on August 1, 1975.

Early efforts at offering library services included that of R. Spaulding. a book seller, music dealer and generally a patron of art. His book store was the first in Dubuque. Early in 1848 Spaulding established and maintained a library of standard periodical literature, to which persons were admitted upon the payment of $3 per annum.

One of the first attempts to establish a library came through the DUBUQUE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, a group of young professionals and businessmen formed to bring a lecture course to Dubuque. At the same time, J. S. Blatchley, an attorney, made his one hundred fifty-volume library available to anyone for a fee of five dollars.

Funds from the lectures, first given in 1857-1858, were used to purchase additional books. By 1859, with the donation by the Blatchley library to the lecture committee, the number of volumes reached four hundred. The library was relocated to the back of Gilbert's Book Store. W. J. Gilbert, owner of the store, was the first librarian.

In 1859 the lecture committee reorganized as the Young Men's Literary Association of Dubuque. This group maintained the library until 1901. In 1893 the books were moved to the ODD FELLOWS TEMPLE when the collection had grown to fourteen thousand volumes. After this relocation, the collection was cataloged according to the Dewey Decimal System. The library, while open to the public, was not municipally owned or free.

Interest in establishing a free library grew during the 1890s. Andrew Carnegie, a person familiar with Dubuque, agreed to endow the city with a $60,000 building provided a lot could be found on which to build. In response, Frank D. STOUT donated property on the corner of 11th and Bluff STREETS. A donation of $15,000 for the new building and $10,000 for new books was given by the Young Men's Literary Association. Construction began in October 1901. The library was opened to the public on October 20, 1902.

Commemorative paperweight. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding
Image courtesy: Mike Day. Kendall C. Day family collection.

In the summer of 1981 a new wing was designed by architect Charles Kurt of the Durrant Group, was opened to the public. The addition used limestone facing similar in appearance to the original building and allowed increased use of the library by the public. The additional space increased the capacity of the library by approximately 188,000 volumes.

In 2010 a $6.5 million renovation to the library was completed. The City of Dubuque was the single largest donor by committing to half the cost. The State of Iowa made a grant award of $250,000 from the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs when Dubuque was named an Iowa Great Place in 2006. The private sector contributed to the remainder.

Planning for the Library’s second renovation began in 2000 and was actually started in December of 2008. The library brought aesthetics, function, and sustainability together and became the first City of Dubuque building to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification through the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

At the end of 2009 there were 31,535 projects registered with USGBC. Of these there were three libraries that had achieved LEED-Existing Building status. Carnegie-Stout Public Library was the first public library in the Mid-West to achieve this status and the first public library in the United States to achieve this designation while also being on the National Register of Historic Places.

The library’s Grand Opening was September 16 – 19, 2010.

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Source

Dubuque 2.0. "Carnegie-Stout Public Library - Making History Being Historic and Sustainable." online

Dubuque Carnegie-Stout Public Library, IA. Homepage

Oldt, Franklin T. History of Dubuque County. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/franklin-t-oldt/history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl/page-9-history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl.shtml