Jacksonville began its library program in 1870, but the library did not have a permanent home for its first three decades. The original program was a members-only program based out of the county courthouse. A free reading room opened in 1874, and the City of Jacksonville took control of the library in 1881; at this time, it was relocated to the city's YMCA. The library moved to a larger space in a building on South Main Street in 1897, but by this point it was growing fast enough to need a separate building. Lawyer L. O. Vaught petitioned Andrew Carnegie for a donation to build a library in 1901; the Carnegie Foundation gave the city $40,000 for a building. The library was built in 1902 and opened to the public in February of the following year.[2]
The library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 24, 2000.[1] The building was expanded in the 1990s and continues to house the city's library.[3]
Architecture
Chicago architects Patton & Miller, who designed over 80 library buildings, designed the library. The two-story library has a Classical Revival design and a cross-shaped plan, the preferred library plan of Carnegie's secretary James Bertram. A portico supported by four Corinthian columns covers the front entrance; the front door features glass sidelights and transoms. A dentillated and bracketedpediment tops the entrance, and a dentillated cornice runs along the library's roof line. Double pilasters mark each corner of the building.[2]