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Wireless
Internet
access
is now available at the Carnegie Branch Library for Local History
(and all the Boulder Public Library
branches).
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Branch &
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Carnegie Branch Library
for Local History
A BRIEF HISTORY
In the 1970's, Boulder's old Carnegie Library
sat empty and neglected. A few blocks away, the Boulder Public Library owned
valuable local history materials but had no place to keep them. A perfect
match was made, and today the renovated building has been reopened as the
Carnegie Branch Library for Local History.
The Collection
Very few public libraries have collections of local history materials as
comprehensive or as exciting as those in the Carnegie Branch Library for
Local History. Over 200,000 photographs show what life was like in the
towns, farms, and mining camps of early Boulder County.
A manuscript collection of 700,000 items, many created before the name
Colorado was given to this area, includes diaries, letters, maps, oral
histories, newspaper clippings, papers of pioneer families and businesses,
and records of churches, clubs, and mining districts. Because the materials
are stored under conditions to insure their preservation, several
historical societies have donated or placed on permanent loan their entire
document and photograph collections to the Carnegie. The A. A.
Paddock collections of the Boulder Historical Society are known and admired
by historians nationwide.
To keep track of such a large number of photographs and manuscripts, in
1988 Carnegie librarians began an ambitious program to catalog the materials
into the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries (CARL) computerized
database. Over $200,000 of federal and corporate grant money was raised by
Carnegie staff for this innovative cataloging project.
Librarians are also busy on another pilot program - the Photo Image
Access Project. To protect the fragile old historic photos, the Boulder
Public Library Foundation sponsored the development of special CARL software
to make it possible for patrons to view digitized images of photos on the
same PAC screens that contain the catalog records. The images are as clear
and detailed as the original photos. The Carnegie is the first library in
the United States to have its historic photos viewable on the PAC.
For those wanting to trace their roots, the Boulder Genealogical Society
collections are also housed in the Carnegie. Society volunteers offer
research assistance from 2 - 4 pm daily and from 7 - 9 pm on Mondays and 10
- 12 pm on Wednesdays.
The Building
The library was built in 1906 with money donated by steel tycoon Andrew
Carnegie. 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. 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 Carnegie
Library was able to keep up with the town's needs until the population
doubled the decade after World War II. By 1961, the attractive little
building was bulging with books and patrons, and a new library was built at
1000 Canyon Boulevard. The Carnegie, used for recreation programs and later
as a city warehouse, showed signs of deterioration and neglect as its role
in the community diminished.
In 1983, it became a library again when the Boulder Public Library
reopened it as the Carnegie Branch Library for Local History. Oak ceiling
beams, pine flooring, leaded windows, and a marble fireplace were restored
to their original beauty. A large, secure document storage room was added,
and a new mezzanine was furnished with heavy oak tables from the original
library. So once again, the people of Boulder can be proud of their Carnegie
Library.
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