The Tacoma Public Library - Tacoma, Washington
Posted by: 
Hikenutty
N 47° 15.135 W 122° 26.672
10T E 542030 N 5233345
This is the main branch of the Tacoma Public Library System. It was built in 1903 and was the first Carnegie Library in Washington State.
Waymark Code: WM1GNP
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 05/05/2007
Views: 33
The following excerpt is from
Washington: A Guide to the Evergreen State from the Tacoma "Points of Interest" section.
The TACOMA PUBLIC LIBRARY, 1120 Tacoma Ave., organized in 1886, is housed in a brick building in the French Renaissance style, erected in 1903 with the aid of Carnegie funds; Jardine, Kent and Jardine, of New York, were the architects. The library has approximately 200,000 volumes, including a special collection of forest products, lumber and wood pulp and another on the history of Tacoma and the Northwest. A new library building at 11th St. and Tacoma Ave. is due to be completed in 1951 at a cost of $1,125,000 and will have stack space for 300,000 volumes. In addition to the central library, the city maintains five full-time and five part-time branch libraries.
Tacoma Public Library was built in 1903 with a grant of $75,000 received from the Carnegie Foundation. It was designed by the New York firm of Jardine, Kent and Jardine, and its design reflects the popular eclectic Renaissance architectural influences prevalent at the turn of the century. Originally the library had a dome but it was removed during later additions to the library.
When a new addition was made to house the library's expanding collection the Carnegie portion was turned into the Handforth Gallery which showcases the work of local artists. The upstairs of the library houses the Northwest Room and Special Collections. These collections include a wealth of unique databases, hundreds of thousands of photographs, genealogical records and much more, all focused on the history of Tacoma and the Pacific Northwest.
The library system now consists this downtown locaton, two regional libraries serving the city's north and south end, and seven neighborhood libraries.