Saint Paul Public Library facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Saint Paul Public Library
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George Latimer Central Library
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| Location | 90 West 4th Street, Saint Paul, MN |
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| Built | 1914–17 |
| Architect | Electus Litchfield |
| Architectural style | Renaissance Revival |
| Website | http://www.sppl.org/about/locations/central-library |
| NRHP reference No. | 75001017 |
| Added to NRHP | September 11, 1975 |
The Saint Paul Public Library is a library system that helps people in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, find books and information. It has a main library, twelve smaller branch libraries, and even a bookmobile that brings books to different neighborhoods. This library system is part of a group called the Metropolitan Library Service Agency, which connects eight library systems in the Twin Cities area.
Contents
How the Library Started
The story of the Saint Paul Public Library began in 1856. At that time, a group called the YMCA opened a reading room where people could read. The next year, two more groups, the Saint Paul Library Association and the Mercantile Library Association, also started. In 1863, all these early efforts joined together to form the Saint Paul Library Association.
In 1879, a leader named Alexander Ramsey suggested that the city should take over the library's books and make it a free public library for everyone. Finally, on September 7, 1882, the city council agreed to give $5,000 to create the Saint Paul Public Library. By then, the library already had 8,051 books!
The library grew very quickly in the years that followed. People started asking for a new building as early as 1890. Instead, in 1900, the library moved into an old Market Hall building. Many city leaders still wanted a new, special building. But the library stayed in the Market Hall until a big fire in 1915 destroyed the entire building. The fire also burned most of the library's 158,000 books. Luckily, a new main library building was already being built when the fire happened.
Plans for the new main library started long before the 1915 fire. In 1909, Mayor Lawler began serious work on building a new library. They chose a spot near Rice Park. In 1910, the library board started talking about how to get the $500,000 they thought the new building would cost.
By 1912, a rich railroad owner named James J. Hill offered to give $700,000. This money was specifically for building and supporting a special reference library that would be connected to the public library. Around the same time, people raised $100,000 through a fundraising campaign. The library also received $30,000 from a gift left by Greenleaf Clark. The state government also allowed the city to sell $600,000 in bonds to help pay for the new building. By the end of 1912, the library board hired an expert from Boston, Charles Soule, to help plan the new building. Construction for the Central Library began in 1914. In the end, the whole building, including the Hill Reference Library, cost about $1.5 million.
Library Growth and New Buildings
The main Central Library opened its doors in 1917. In the same year, three other branch libraries also opened. These were the Arlington Hills Library, Riverview Branch Library, and Saint Anthony Park Library. These three branches were built with money from Andrew Carnegie, a famous businessman who helped build many libraries. All four of these buildings are still used as libraries today! The Central Library has been recognized as an important historical place since 1975.
In the 1920s, the library started a special division to provide books to public schools in Ramsey County outside of Saint Paul. This part of the library later became the Ramsey County Library in 1951.
The Saint Paul Public Library continued to grow in 1930 when the Hamline and Merriam Park libraries opened. These two branches were built thanks to a gift from Henry Hale. In 1993, a new and bigger Merriam Park library opened in the same spot. It cost $2.7 million and replaced the old building.
In 1945, a group called the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library was formed. Their goal was to encourage people to use and support the library.
The 1950s saw three more branches open: Rice Street in 1952, Highland Park in 1954, and Hayden Heights in 1955. The Highland Park library was updated and made bigger in 1975. It closed again in 1995 for more expansion and to connect it to the Hillcrest Recreation Center. A new Hayden Heights library started construction in 1977 and opened in 1979. In 2002, a new Rice Street library opened. It cost $3.7 million and was almost three times bigger than the first building.
The Centre Theater on University Avenue was changed into the Lexington branch library in 1967. This old theater building served as a library from 1967 to 2006. In 1970, the Sun Ray library also opened.
The 2000s brought even more changes to the library system. The Central Library closed in October 2000 for a big $16 million renovation project. It reopened on October 5, 2002, looking brand new. In 2004, the Dayton's Bluff branch opened inside the new Library and Learning Center of Metropolitan State University. The Rondo Community Outreach Library opened in 2006, replacing the Lexington branch. This new building also included 98 homes. Construction for a new library and recreation center in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood began in 2012. This new building, called the Arlington Hills Community Center, opened in 2014 and replaced the old Arlington Hills Library. The Sun Ray and Highland Park locations closed in 2013 for major renovations and reopened in 2014. On June 10, 2014, the Central Library was renamed the "George Latimer Central Library" to honor a former mayor of Saint Paul.
Working Towards Fairness
In 2014, the library started something called the Saint Paul Public Library Racial Equity Initiative. This project aimed to make sure everyone, especially people of color, had fair access to library services and jobs. The library made changes to its rules and how it worked. Because of this important work, the library was recognized as a leader in 2016 by the Urban Libraries Council. They even won an award for fairness! To help people learn more, the library also created a special online guide called "Resources on Race."
The library has also paid for and published children's books in languages like Karen, Amharic, and Oromo. They did this because there weren't many books in these languages in the U.S., and many people in Saint Paul speak them. Saint Paul has the largest and fastest-growing group of Karen people in the U.S.
In 2019, the library stopped charging fines for overdue books. This change was also part of their work for fairness. They noticed that people in poorer areas and people of color were more likely to have their library cards blocked because they couldn't pay fines. Removing fines helps everyone use the library more easily.
Programs and Services
The library offers many cool programs. One is called Read Brave Saint Paul. This reading program uses books to start conversations about important and sometimes difficult topics, like homelessness. Read Brave often highlights young adult (YA) novels that deal with these topics and is open to people of all ages.
Library Leaders
- Kit Hadley (2009–2015)
- Jane Eastwood (2015–2017)
- Catherine Penkert (2018–present)
See also
In Spanish: Biblioteca Pública de St. Paul para niños
