Albright Memorial Library
In 1889, the city of Scranton decided it was ready to start a public library. The city council stipulated that $25,000 be raised by the citizens of Scranton in order to ensure interest in having a public library.
The Citizens' Subscription Fund was started. 141 people contributed over $25,000, ranging in donations of three dollars to over a thousand.
At the same time, as good fortune would have it, a former Scranton resident was looking for a way to memorialize his parents. His name was John Joseph Albright, and he was a resident of Buffalo, NY. His parents, Joseph Jacob and Elizabeth Sellars Albright, had recently passed away.
Mr. Albright and his brother and sisters donated the land on which the Library would be built. It was the site of the old family homestead, on the corner of Vine Street and North Washington Avenue. The building itself was a gift of Mr. Albright, and he asked that it be named after his parents.
Scranton City Council accepted the gift in 1890. Thus, plans for the Scranton Public Library Albright Memorial Building were underway. Work began on the building in 1891 and was completed in 1893.
The architects who worked on the building were Messrs. Green and Wicks of Buffalo. The building was designed with the idea of giving the principal view of what would be a splendid exterior from the intersection of the two streets.
The Library was modeled after the French chateau monastery, Musee de Cluny, which was in the style of the early renaissance. This was considered the best period of French architecture.
The exterior of the building is composed of Indiana limestone in a warm gray color above a base of brown Medina stone, all laid in course ashlar. The building has high, steeply-pitched roofs; there are twelve dormer gables covered in black Spanish tiles. In the panels of the dormers and on other parts of the building, there are symbols of notable bookmakers elaborately carved in the stonework.
The window sash are made of iron in an English casement style, with the glass leaded in various patterns.
There are large stained-glass windows placed in prominent portions of the building. The subjects of these windows were the majestic book bindings of past centuries.
These bindings were designed for the likes of such famous historical figures as Queen Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici. The windows are in a transom set up, in which one window is built over another window that is hinged to a horizontal crossbar. Each window has its own design, ornamentation, and color scheme.
The beautiful quartered oak woodwork inside the Library was fashioned by John Benari & Son. The floor of the entrance hall is composed of marble mosaic. The ceiling of the enclosed foyer is also a mosaic.
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