The Pawtucket Public Library, formerly known as the Deborah Cook Sayles Public Library, is located at 13 Summer Street in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Its main building, designed by

Ralph Adams Cram Ralph Adams Cram (December 16, 1863 – September 22, 1942) was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic Revival style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partner ...

and built in 1899-1902, and was a gift to the city from Pawtucket's first mayor, Frederic Clark Sayles, in memory of his recently deceased wife. In the late 1970s, an addition was built to connect the library to the neighboring Pawtucket Post Office, which had been built in 1896, had served as the post office until 1941, and which now forms part of the library's infrastructure as the renamed Gerald S. Burns Building.

History

The library was founded as the Pawtucket Library Association in 1852. This group purchased private libraries around the city, and in 1876 gifted its 4,700 volumes to the town for public use. The library's first librarian was Minerva Sanders, who worked there until her retirement in 1910. Sanders was nationally recognized for her innovative services such as allowing open access to book stacks and permitting children to use the library. By 1898, it became clear that the library needed a permanent home. A competition, held to select a design for a new library building, attracted entries from twenty-four architects. The winner was submitted by the Boston firm of Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson. The building's cornerstone was laid on Nov. 18, 1899, and the building opened on Oct. 15, 1902. The library was the first in the nation to allow patrons to browse the shelves directly, instead of requiring a librarian to retrieve books for them. Architect Raymond Hood, a Pawtucket native, and sculptor

Lee Lawrie Lee Oscar Lawrie (October 16, 1877 – January 23, 1963) was an American architectural sculptor and a key figure in the American art scene preceding World War II. Over his long career of more than 300 commissions Lawrie's style evolved through ...

, a team who much later became known for their work on Rockefeller Center, worked on the library building while in the employ of Boston architectural firm Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson. An expansion to the library in the 1960s has been called "awkward and insensitive." The library's main building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975; the connected former Pawtucket Post Office building was listed in 1976. Efforts began in 1979 to renovate and join the two buildings, with work completing in 1982. The post office building was dedicated as the Gerald S. Burns building, and together with the Deborah Cook Sayles Public Library building, became what is known today as the Pawtucket Public Library.

Deborah Cook Sayles Public Library building

The Classical Revival building features ionic columns, a pediment, egg-and-dart moldings, with high relief panels on its wings. The main façade is closely styled after the north porch of the

Erectheion The Erechtheion (latinized as Erechtheum /ɪˈrɛkθiəm, ˌɛrɪkˈθiːəm/; Ancient Greek: Ἐρέχθειον, Greek: Ερέχθειο) or Temple of Athena Polias is an Classical Greece, ancient Greek Ionic order, Ionic Ancient Greek temple, t ...

on the

Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...

Athens, Greece Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Reliefs

The six bas-reliefs above the library windows depict scenes from literature and mythology. Depicted are scenes from the German epic poem Nibelungenlied, Dante's Inferno, and scenes from Shakespeare and

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

. Across the library's front doors are depictions of

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

, as well as Egyptian, Greek, and Roman figures of law and wisdom. The sculptures were designed by

and carved by Hugh Cairns. These reliefs were Lawrie's first ever commission. Lawrie would go on to become "one of the country’s foremost architectural sculptors."

Gerald S. Burns building

Construction of the Pawtucket Post Office, on a trapezoidal site at the intersection of Summer and High streets, began in 1896 under the supervision of U.S. Treasury architects William Martin Aiken, and James Knox Taylor. Built of red brick on a granite base, and with a domed tower, the Beaux-Arts inspired building was completed in November 1897. The tower entrance, now closed, is framed by granite Doric columns supporting an entablature, on top of which sit two stone eagles. The principal facades radiate diagonally away from the entrance, each with five arched windows separated by 3/4 columns, each facade terminating at a pedimented secondary entrance. The building served as the post office until 1933, when the City of Pawtucket acquired it, changed its use, and renamed it the Municipal Welfare Building. In the late 1970s, the city renovated the building again to convert it to library use, and to join it to the Deborah Cook Sayles Public Library. The building was later rededicated as the Gerald S. Burns Building. The Burns Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

References

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