Location: 201 East Spring St., New Albany. (Floyd County, Indiana)
Friends of the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library, Floyd County Historical Society, and Carnegie Center for Art & History, Inc.
ID# : 22.2005.3
Text
Side one:
New Albany School Board organized a public library on May 8, 1884. This library building, supported with funds from Andrew Carnegie, opened on March 2, 1904 with 11, 125 volumes. Building is Neoclassical style, constructed of brick and limestone. Public Library moved to new building 1969.
Side two:
Floyd County Museum opened here 1971. Carnegie building included in Downtown Historic District, listed in National Register of Historic Places 1999. One of 1, 679 libraries built in U.S. with funds from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Indiana built more Carnegie libraries than any other state.
Keywords
Carnegie Library, Buildings and Architecture
Annotated Text
New Albany School Board organized a public library on May 8, 1884.(1) This library building, supported with funds from Andrew Carnegie, (2) opened on March 2, 1904 with 11, 125 volumes.(3) Building is Neoclassical style, constructed of brick and limestone.(4) Public Library moved to new building 1969.(5)
Floyd County Museum opened here 1971.(6) Carnegie building included in Downtown Historic District, listed in National Register of Historic Places 1999.(7) One of 1, 679 libraries built in U.S. with funds from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Indiana built more Carnegie libraries than any other state.(8).
Notes
1) New Albany School Board Minutes, May 8, 1884, states that the board "decided to organize a City Public Library. A library committee was appointed." New Albany Daily Ledger, May 9, 1884 states that citizens requested the Board to establish a Public Library and that the Board voted unanimously to establish the library. New Albany [Daily?] Ledger, July 24, 1885 stated that the Public Library would be opened for circulation the next Monday, at the YMCA. The Library was the property of the city controlled by the Board of Trustees of the Public Schools.
2) Secretary James Bertram to New Albany Public Library Treasurer George Borgerding, March 14, 1902; New Albany Daily Ledger, March 20, 1902; New Albany Daily Ledger, April 8, 1902.
3) New Albany Evening Tribune, March 2, 1904; New Albany High School Souvenir, 1904, p. 1.
4) National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, (full nomination not included, cover sheet with date missing) 1999, NRHP Continuation Sheet, Section 7, p. 5, and Section 8, pp. 45-46.
5) New Albany-Floyd County Public Library, Dedication Program, December 7, 1969; Louisville Courier Journal, November 5, 1969 states that the new library will open 9:00am, Monday, December 1.
6) Louisville Courier Journal, March 8, 1971; New Albany Tribune, March 1, 1998 states that the Floyd County Museum opened in 1971 and has continued to offer full schedule of art and history exhibits. 1998 renovation will allow building to function more efficiently as museum and public building. The building now houses "The Carnegie Center for Art and History, a department of the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library . . . a contemporary art gallery and history museum, " accessed September 22, 2004.
7) NRHP Nomination Form, NRHP Continuation Sheet, Section 7, p. 5, and Section 8, p. 45-46; Historic Indiana, Indiana Properties Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, 2003-2004 (Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation), 21.
8) Standard text for Carnegie Library markers.