Salt Lake City Public Library system
The Salt Lake City Public Library system is a network of
There are nine locations: the
Territorial years
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints oversaw many of the libraries in early Salt Lake City and the rest of the Utah Territory, founded in 1850.[3] While many locals tried to promote public lending libraries, private libraries were the most prosperous in early Salt Lake. For many years private libraries were the only ones accessible to the people of the city.[4]
Over these territorial years several groups attempted to establish a free public library, including a small group of women called the Ladies Library Association and a
State Street
By 1900 the library had outgrown its housing, and attention was turned to acquiring a larger, more permanent location. Again the Ladies Literary Society helped out by persuading the mining millionaire John Quackenbos Packard to donate land and money for a new location.[4] The new location was at 15 South State Street in a building that cost $100,000 at the time. The new library opened in 1905 with a new librarian, Joanna Sprague, for whom the Sprague branch is now named. This building would serve as the main branch library until October 1964, when a new library was built at 209 East 500 South.[3]
During this library's service, the library system was expanded to include eight branches. The Chapman branch was originally located at 610 West North Temple but moved to 577 South 900 West in 1917 when the city was awarded $25,000 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to build a Carnegie library. The new Chapman branch opened on May 28, 1918. The Sprague branch in the Sugar House District opened in 1914, originally at 1035 East 2100 South, but moved to its present location at 2131 South 1100 East in 1928. In 1935 the American Library Association dubbed the branch the "Most Beautiful Branch Library in America".[3] The Main Branch library on State Street was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and the Sprague Branch was listed in 2003.[5]
Branch expansion
When this library began to outgrow its home in the 1960s, a new site was acquired at 209 East 500 South. The groundbreaking ceremony occurred on December 28, 1962, and the building was finished on October 30, 1964. Though many old library branches were closed down during the latter half of the 20th century, several more were built. The Rose Park Branch opened in 1965, and the Corinne and Jack Sweet Branch in The Avenues and Anderson-Foothill Branch both opened in 1985. In 1996 the Rose Park Branch was replaced by the Day-Riverside Branch.[3]
After celebrating the library system's 100th anniversary in 1998, taxpayers were asked to fund the building of a new
See also
References
- ^ "Salt Lake City Public Library". Salt Lake City Public Library. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
- ^ "Community gathers for grand opening of Marmalade Branch Library in SLC and there is also the Magna Branch in Magna, Utah". fox13now.com. 2016-02-28. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
- ^ a b c d e f g "History of The City Library". Salt Lake City Public Library. 2003. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- ^ a b c John S. H. Smith (August 7, 1979). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Salt Lake City Public Library". National Park Service."Accompanying 4 photos, from 1979". National Register of Historic Places Inventory.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.