Central Library (Somerville, Massachusetts)
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The Central Library is the main branch of the
Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81, ...
, public library system. It is an architecturally distinguished
Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...
brick building designed by
Edward Lippincott Tilton Edward Lippincott Tilton (19 October 1861 – 5 January 1933) was an American architect, with a practice in New York City, where he was born. He specialized in the design of libraries, completing about one hundred in the U.S. and Canada, inc ...
and was built in 1914 with funding assistance from philanthropist
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
. The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1989.


Services

The library is a member of the
Minuteman Library Network The Minuteman Library Network (MLN), founded in 1984, is a consortium of 41 public and academic libraries in the MetroWest and southern Middlesex County areas of eastern Massachusetts, US that share resources, patrons and services. The Network ha ...
and has a lending collection of books, CDs, and video media. It also provides access to a number of online databases, either in-branch or through the Internet, to city residents. It runs a variety of programs for adults, children, and immigrants, and has a conference room and other facilities available for community use.


Architecture and history

Somerville's Central Library is located at the eastern end of Central Hill, a cluster of civic buildings that includes the city's high school and
City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
. It is located at the northwest corner of Highland Avenue and Walnut Street, on a parcel that first contained the city's first fire station. Noted library architect
Edward Lippincott Tilton Edward Lippincott Tilton (19 October 1861 – 5 January 1933) was an American architect, with a practice in New York City, where he was born. He specialized in the design of libraries, completing about one hundred in the U.S. and Canada, inc ...
designed the two story
Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...
building, which was completed in 1914. The yellow brick building is topped by a truncated
hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...
made of green tile. The second story has nine
bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...
of high round-arched windows. The building is trimmed with limestone and terra cotta panels, and its entry is sheltered by a columned porch topped by an elaborate terra cotta shield. The city's first library, also a Romanesque structure, was built on the west side of Central Hill, near City Hill, and was designed by George F. Loring. The present building was funded in part by a grant from philanthropist
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
.


Gallery


See also

* West Somerville Branch Library *
List of Carnegie libraries in Massachusetts The following list of Carnegie libraries in Massachusetts provides information on Carnegie public libraries in Massachusetts, where 43 of them were built from 1901 to 1917, funded by 35 grants totaling $1,137,500 and awarded by the Carnegie Corpo ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Somerville, Massachusetts This is a list of properties and historic districts in Somerville, Massachusetts, that have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The locations of National Register properties and districts (at least for all showing latitude ...


References


External links


Somerville Public Library web site
{{authority control Library buildings completed in 1914 Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Edward Lippincott Tilton buildings Buildings and structures in Somerville, Massachusetts Libraries in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Public libraries in Massachusetts Carnegie libraries in Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Somerville, Massachusetts Education in Somerville, Massachusetts