Carnegie Free Library, Beaver Falls

About this property

The Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls is a historic Carnegie library in the city of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, United States. Erected as Beaver County's first library building, it was financed by Andrew Carnegie and designed by a leading Pittsburgh architect in grand architectural style that helped to redefine the image of the typical Carnegie library. Numerous community organizations have used its space, which remains in continued use as a library, and it has been named a historic site. In late 1883, community leaders formed a private library association, and a related lecture series was held to raise money through ticket sales. Small enough that it could fit in a grocery store, the resulting collection experienced enough use that it could be seen to be too small for the community's needs, even though it was a subscription library. The association continued sponsoring lectures, and one of their invited speakers was Andrew Carnegie: finding himself unable to accept their invitation, Carnegie donated a small amount of money to the association's finances. His willingness to assist the association spurred leaders to seek money from him to construct an entirely new building. After several years of negotiations, the industrialist agreed to contribute $50,000 toward a library building. Their finances secured, the association bought a parcel of land in downtown Beaver Falls and contracted with Pittsburgh architect Frederick J. Osterling to design its new home. Osterling's office produced a grand Neoclassical design, and construction began in 1899, although the building only opened for public use a week before Christmas 1903. It quickly gained recognition: locals saw it as a landmark, and its grandeur attracted the attention of Carnegie and his assistant James Bertram. Its construction marks a turning point in the architecture of Carnegie libraries in Pennsylvania: Carnegie and Bertram's disgust at the grand architecture of libraries such as Beaver Falls induced them to announce that future Carnegie libraries would be substantially smaller buildings with simpler standardized floor plans. The first building in Beaver County built as a library, it immediately became a community center as well. As property of the local school district, the library was soon integrated into scholastic activities; arts performances and commencements were held on its stage. Moreover, it was the first building anywhere in Beaver County with space for stage performances, so it also hosted community events unrelated to the school board's activities. Growing numbers of children in the city forced the school board to use some of the second floor for classrooms starting in 1915, and only in 1931 were all children able to be moved to a normal school building. As the twentieth century progressed, events at the library became fewer, but it has remained a prominent piece of the community's culture and built environment.

Location

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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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