Prescott Public Library

Prescott Public Library
Prescott Public Library, at 215 Goodwin Street
Prescott Public Library

Old Prescott Public Library, at 125 E. Gurley
Location 125 E. Gurley St., Prescott, Arizona
Coordinates 34°32′29.99″N 112°28′3.10″W / 34.5416639°N 112.4675278°W / 34.5416639; -112.4675278Coordinates: 34°32′29.99″N 112°28′3.10″W / 34.5416639°N 112.4675278°W / 34.5416639; -112.4675278
Area 0.2 acres (0.081 ha)
Built 1903
Built by Maxwell & Sines
NRHP Reference # 75000365[1]
Added to NRHP May 28, 1975

The Prescott Public Library is a public library in Prescott, Arizona.

The original Prescott Public Library was at 125 E. Gurley Street, a Carnegie library that is now an office building. It was the first Carnegie library in Arizona. This building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[1][2]

The current library location at 215 E. Goodwin Street was built in 1974[3] and renovated in 2006. The library sees nearly half a million visitors a year.

Historic Carnegie library

Prescott, founded in 1864, soon had a children's library that was a collection of books gathered by several women. A Prescott Library Association opened a public reading room space in 1870. But there was no regularly funded library until the Carnegie library at 125 E. Gurley Street was built in 1903. Its funding and construction was a project of the Monday Literary Society, a group formed in 1895.[2]

Julia M. Goldwater, Prescott resident wrote to Andrew Carnegie in 1899, appealing for help to build a library in Prescott:

June 1, 1899

Mr. Andrew Carnegie
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania

Dear Sir,
Your well known philanthropy has prompted me to appeal to you in the interest of a truly charitable work. In our little town of 3500 inhabitants, we have after much effort and work established a library of nine hundred volumes—good readable books in good condition, but we have no endowment, rents are high, and we have been compelled to charge for the tickets. It is our aim and hope to make the library free and to maintain a free reading room. In no place could such a room be more needed than in Prescott with its large floating population of young men, many of whom can not afford to keep their own rooms lighted and heated, and therefore have no recourse but the saloons and “dives” for there are no innocent amusements in the town. If we could get an endowment of $10,000 or even $8,000, we would at once, make the library free, for all the women on the library committee are willing to work very hard to keep the matter in good shape, to raise money to buy new books and to subscribe for periodicals. I truly believe that the amount of money I mention would do greatest good in this way than in any other. I have tried to write briefly so as not to demand too much of your valuable time, but if you are interested to investigate the matter, I shall taker pleasure in giving you all the information possible. I am privileged to refer to the Governor of the Territory, Hon. N. Oakes Murphy, Phoenix, Arizona, who will tell you I am sure that the library is in capable hands. Hoping that you will feel some interest in our necessities, in spite of the hourly calls on your charity, I am,

Very respectfully yours,
Julia M. Goldwater

Carnegie responded in 1899 with an offer of $4,000, conditional upon the people of Prescott matching that sum. The existing library collection was lost in a 1900 conflagration that burned much of downtown Prescott, but a $1800 insurance claim was paid for the loss, and other fundraising eventually raised enough to meet Carnegie's condition. Builders Maxwell & Sines constructed the library for $8,242. It was opened with 1300 volumes on November 24, 1903. Ownership was passed from the Monday Club to the city of Prescott in 1917.[2]

Modern library

The current library, built in 1974, is the center of the city-county library system. It was renovated in 2006.

The library is decorated by murals depicting Prescott's history that were completed in 2009.[3]

In 2014, working in conjunction with the Tribute Fence Preservation Project and the State Library's Arizona Memory Project, the library opened a digital museum of objects left by visitors paying tribute to the 19 fallen Granite Mountain Hot Shots after the Yarnell Hill Fire. The digital collection contains over 10,380 items.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 Marjorie Wilson (1975). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Prescott Public Library" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved November 22, 2016. with photos
  3. 1 2 Rhoda Spencer; et al. "Beyond Words: The Prescott Library Mural" (PDF). Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  4. ↑ Ruelas, Richard; Craven, Scott (24 June 2014). "Yarnell anniversary plans differ for Prescott, families". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 8 December 2014.

External links


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