Thirty-sixth Street Branch Library
About this property
Hosmer Library, originally known as the Thirty-Sixth Street Branch Library, is a public library that serves the Central neighborhood within the Powderhorn community of Minneapolis, Minnesota. A member of the Hennepin County Library system, it is named after James Kendall Hosmer, the former president of the American Library Association and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. The Thirty-Sixth Street Branch Library was constructed during a time of significant immigration to Minneapolis. As the tenth library built in the city, it officially opened on March 8, 1916. At the time it was built, the library was in a sparsely developed Scandinavian neighborhood and one block away from the since-demolished Central High School. In 1926, the branch was renamed in honor of James Kendall Hosmer, who was Minneapolis' second city librarian. It is the last of the three Carnegie library branches remaining in Minneapolis, with the others being the Franklin and the Sumner libraries. The construction of the library was led by librarian Gratia Countryman and funded by the Carnegie Corporation. The building features a Tudor Revival style, characterized by polygonal towers on either side of the main entrance, a crenellated parapet and terra cotta trim. The two granite lion-dogs outside the entrance were donated by family of Mrs. Lewis Gillette. Following Countryman's research-based proposal to secure funding from the Carnegie Corporation, she prepared a compelling summary of library circulation and analyzed the city's residents. This analysis identified demographic and ethnic patterns, which led to tailored programming designed for each neighborhood’s library. Construction of the 90 by 54 foot building began in May 1914, with total costs amounting to $27,700 for plans designed by Henry D. Whitefield, a New York-based architect and the brother-in-law of Andrew Carnegie. It is one of nine Minneapolis libraries that still exist today, directly attributed to Countryman's significant efforts in building the library infrastructure to serve a growing immigrant population. When it was built, Hosmer was situated in a neighborhood with few residents, primarily of Scandinavian descent. In 1969, in response to the changing demographics of the area, an African American reading room was dedicated at Hosmer to better serve its patrons. Today, Hosmer is one of eight Minneapolis public libraries listed as historic landmarks in the National Register of Historic Places. For many years, Hosmer Head Librarian Roy Woodstrom was at the vanguard of innovation in delivering services to patrons. Following significant budget cuts in 2004, the City of Minneapolis elected to reduce libraries' hours of service. At Hosmer, open days dropped to four days a week. Neighbors rallied in 2004, when the Bancroft Neighborhood Association voted to give $7,000 to the Hosmer branch following a presentation by Woodstrom so that the library could be open five days a week. On behalf of Hosmer, Woodstrom explored becoming a 501(c)3 corporation, a non-profit, to raise the money to grow the library's open days from four to five. He successfully petitioned the Kingfield Neighborhood Association in October 2004 for a Social Services Grant in the amount of $5,000 towards for cultural and community programs.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Thirty-sixth Street Branch Library listed on the National Register?
Thirty-sixth Street Branch Library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 25, 2000.
What type of historic resource is Thirty-sixth Street Branch Library?
Thirty-sixth Street Branch Library is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Thirty-sixth Street Branch Library?
The period of significance for Thirty-sixth Street Branch Library is recorded as the industrial era.
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