Boulder Public Library
The Carnegie Branch Library is housed in the original Boulder Public Library. The library was built in 1906 with money donated by steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie.
Carnegie donated $15,000 for the library to be built with the agreement from the city that $1500 would be set aside each year to maintain the building and the collection.
Located at 1125 Pine Street, it can be recognized by the two Greek columns that give it the neoclassical look chosen by architect Thomas McLaren of Colorado Springs. Because the people of Boulder were proudly calling their town the "Athens of the West," McLaren patterned the library after a small Greek temple that had been unearthed in 1905 near Athens. The exterior is built of sand-lime facing brick with sandstone detail.
The windows have glass segmented by a metal frame in a fish scale pattern. The ceiling is patterned tin, and the floors are pine. The green marble fireplace was imported from Vermont. Inside, a large open two-story room, complete with fireplace, greets patrons who cross through the airlock entry. The open spacious design allowed the librarians over the years, to move the furniture and stacks to meet the demands of a growing collection.
The Carnegie Library was able to keep up with the town's needs until the population doubled the decade after World War II.
The mission of the Boulder Public Library is to enhance the personal and professional growth of Boulder residents and contribute to the development and sustainability of an engaged community through free access to ideas, information, cultural experiences and educational opportunities.
You may search the Carnegie Branch Library's catalog for a photograph, document, newspaper clipping, map or other historic material. On our catalog search page, the default keyword search prompt will enable you to enter the name of a person, the name of a business, an area of historical significance or a local address using the same method as you would to search for a book. Before you press the submit button, change the "Search Location" from "View entire FLC collection" to "Carnegie Branch Library for Local History". This will enable you to search specifically within the Carnegie Branch Library collection.
If a match is found, a list of titles will appear. Click on each individual title to see the description of the collection in which the item appears. The full cataloging record will appear, showing you the contents of the folder or envelope in which the materials are placed. Usually some background history or a summary will provide you with additional information. The call number will appear at the bottom of the page. If you desire to view that material within the library, please write it down before you come in to avoid duplicating your efforts once you are in the library.
If no match is found, try to reword your search. Instead of "street cars", you might try "street railroads". If you are searching for information on your house, remember that we do have materials in our collection that are not cataloged, and therefore will not appear in a catalog search. Also, we might not have information in our collection that pertains to your particular research topic. Feel free to Ask a Librarian if you can't find the item for which you are looking.
If you are searching for photographs in the collection, many of them are already scanned and viewable online. Make sure to type in the subject of photograph for which you are searching and include the word "photographs" in your keyword search. For instance, if you are searching for photographs of Chautauqua, type in "Chautauqua photographs" in a keyword search. If you are looking for a photograph of your house, type in your complete street address with the word "photographs" following it, i.e. "1125 Pine Street photographs". If these images are scanned, they will show on the results page after you click on the specific title that you want.
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