of Missoula ran a much overdue article on this century plus year old Carnegie Library in Missoula. It is reproduced below.
A Carnegie Library in Missoula
What makes a great library experience, besides exploring and getting lost inside different books, is spending time in a great historic building, which can add a relaxing and rewarding atmosphere. A famous example is the New York Public Library. Although Missoula does not yet have such a large library, it does have an old Carnegie library building. Though it currently houses the Missoula Art Museum (a fabulous destination for all people), you can still enjoy the historic building that is part of Missoula’s early
history
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was a successful Scottish-American businessman. Among his many philanthropic projects was the founding of over 2,500 public libraries throughout the world, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and Fiji.
Montana alone had seventeen
Carnegie libraries.
A. J. Gibson, a famous local architect, built Missoula’s original Carnegie library in 1903. The building is in the architectural style of Classical Revival. In 1912, architect Ole Bakke designed the expansion of the library. The second floor of the building has a Prairie architectural style, a departure from the typical “Classic Carnegie”. The third expansion of the library occurred in mid-2000s. Today, the building has an interesting and controversial juxtaposition of modern and the earlier architectural styles.
The Carnegie library is at the downtown corner of Pattee and Pine Streets, next to the East Pine Street Historic District. If you are interested in seeing the Missoula Art Museum, its website is located at
http://www.missoulaartmuseum.org/
From The Examiner