Sayles, Deborah Cook, Public Library - Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Posted by: BruceS
N 41° 52.722 W 071° 23.078
19T E 302129 N 4639058
Historic public library building in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Waymark Code: WMCQAD
Location: Rhode Island, United States
Date Posted: 10/02/2011
Views: 3
From historical marker:
Deborah Cook Sayles Building
1899-1902
The Deborah Cook Sayles Public Library is an impressive example of Classical Revival architecture, designed by the Boston firm of Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson. Built of the finest grain white granite, the library features its soaring pillars, decorative ceilings, and glass-floored north balcony. The facility was one of the first in the country to provide open access to the stacks, and to open on Sundays, affording mill workers the opportunity to use the library on their one day off. Minerva Sanders, the first librarian, is credited with making the library one of the first in the nation to serve children under the age of fourteen. The old Post Office (1896-97) was connected to Sayles Library in 1981 to form the combined structures now known as the Pawtucket Public Library.
The building is in very good condition and appears to be a very active library.