St. Louis Public Library
Encyclopedia
The St. Louis Public Library is a municipal public library
system in the city of St. Louis, Missouri
. It operates sixteen locations, including the main Central Library location. Although similarly named, the St. Louis Public Library is unrelated to the St. Louis County Library
system.
made a large donation which was used for expansion, including building the current central library. By 1938 the collection included 900,000 items, and by 2011, 4,600,000 items.
and was designed by Cass Gilbert
. The main library for the city's public library system has an oval central pavilion surrounded by four light courts. The outer facades of the free-standing building are of lightly rusticated Maine granite. The Olive Street front is disposed like a colossal arcade, with contrasting marble bas-relief panels. A projecting three-bay central block, like a pared-down triumphal arch, provides a monumental entrance. At the rear, the Central Library faces a sunken garden. The interiors feature some light-transmitting glass floors. The ceiling of the Periodicals Room is modified from Michelangelo
's ceiling in the Laurentian Library
. Renovation and expansion of the building began in 2010 and is scheduled to finish in 2012 .
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
system in the city of St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. It operates sixteen locations, including the main Central Library location. Although similarly named, the St. Louis Public Library is unrelated to the St. Louis County Library
St. Louis County Library
St. Louis County Library serves residents of St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. It is the busiest public library in Missouri, circulating nearly 12 million items in 2010. It consists of 20 branches, including the Headquarters branch, which is located at 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd in Ladue....
system.
History
The library was founded as a members-only private library in 1865 with a collection of 1,500 books. It was opened to the public in 1874 and reestablished as a publicly-supported free lending library in 1893-94, by which time the collection included 90,000 books. In 1901, Andrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
made a large donation which was used for expansion, including building the current central library. By 1938 the collection included 900,000 items, and by 2011, 4,600,000 items.
Locations
The St. Louis Public Library operates sixteen libraries, including the main Central Library building. Branches include Baden, Barr, Buder, Cabanne, Carondelet (closed for renovation as of 2011), Carpenter, Central Express, Charing Cross, Julia Davis, Divoli, Kingshighway, Machacek, Marketplace, Schlafly, and Walnut Park. In addition to the Central Library building, Barr, Cabanne, Carpenter and Carondelet branch buildings were Carnegie libraries.Central Library
The Central Library building at 13th and Olive was built in 1912 on a location formerly occupied by the St. Louis Exposition and Music HallSt. Louis Exposition and Music Hall
St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall was an indoor exposition hall, Music Hall and arena in St. Louis, Missouri from 1883 to 1907.Three national nominating conventions were held in three separate buildings in or near the complex between 1888 and 1904...
and was designed by Cass Gilbert
Cass Gilbert
- Historical impact :Gilbert is considered a skyscraper pioneer; when designing the Woolworth Building he moved into unproven ground — though he certainly was aware of the ground-breaking work done by Chicago architects on skyscrapers and once discussed merging firms with the legendary Daniel...
. The main library for the city's public library system has an oval central pavilion surrounded by four light courts. The outer facades of the free-standing building are of lightly rusticated Maine granite. The Olive Street front is disposed like a colossal arcade, with contrasting marble bas-relief panels. A projecting three-bay central block, like a pared-down triumphal arch, provides a monumental entrance. At the rear, the Central Library faces a sunken garden. The interiors feature some light-transmitting glass floors. The ceiling of the Periodicals Room is modified from Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
's ceiling in the Laurentian Library
Laurentian Library
The Laurentian Library is a historical library in Florence, Italy, containing a repository of more than 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500 early printed books...
. Renovation and expansion of the building began in 2010 and is scheduled to finish in 2012 .
Services
- Children's Sections
- Reference Services
- Programs, Special Events, and Author Visits/Book Signings
- Periodicals & Nationwide/Worldwide Newspapers
- Audio-Visual Material including DVDs, VHS Tapes, Books on tape & CD, Music CDs and Music Cassettes
- MetroBus and MetroLinkMetrolinkMetrolink, MetroLink, or Metro-link is the name of several transport services throughout the world:Australia*Metro-link Bus Lines, a bus operator in Sydney, New South Wales...
(St. Louis Light Rail System) Schedules and Information - Neighborhood Specific Material
- Interlibrary loanInterlibrary loanInterlibrary loan is a service whereby a user of one library can borrow books or receive photocopies of documents that are owned by another library...
(ILL) - Computers with High Speed Internet, Printing, Word Processing capabilities
- Voter Registration
- Computer Visitor Passes