The Troy Public library is the main public library building in the city of

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...

, and is located across the street from

Russell Sage College Russell Sage College (often Russell Sage or RSC) is a co-educational college with two campuses located in Albany and Troy, New York, approximately north of New York City in the Capital District. Russell Sage College offers both undergraduate ...

in downtown Troy. Currently, the library has one other location, the Lansingburgh branch, which had been temporarily closed in 2009 due to budget concerns. The Sycaway branch was also temporarily closed in January 2009 but has been closed permanently since 2011. The first library began in 1799.

History

The current building was completed in 1897 and is 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 ...

, both in its own right and as a contributing property to the

Central Troy Historic District The Central Troy Historic District is an irregularly shaped, area of downtown Troy, New York, United States. It has been described as "one of the most perfectly preserved 19th-century downtowns in the ountry with nearly 700 properties in a var ...

It is one of the oldest cultural institutions in Troy and was established by the Young Men’s Association. Funds to construct the downtown library, the Hart Memorial Building, were donated by Mary E. Hart to honor her late husband, William Howard Hart. Designed by the New York City architectural firm of

Barney and Chapman Barney and Chapman was an American architecture firm based in New York, active from about 1892 through 1908. The partnership designed significant municipal buildings, churches, private estates, and an asylum complex for the state of New York. Jo ...

, the library is an example of the American Renaissance style, which had evolved with the success of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Other examples of the style include the Villard Houses (1886), The Low Library at Columbia University (1894) and the

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse'') of the Commonwea ...

The official opening of the Lansingburgh branch of the Troy Public Library was on November 22, 1980. The Hart Memorial Building was occupied by the Troy Public Library and was constructed in 1896-97 and was at the time, “one of the finest examples of Italian Renaissance.” On January 26, 1946, Dr. Ray Palmer Baker(Dean of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at the time) was elected president of the board of directors of Troy’s Public Library at an annual meeting. January 29, 1946, books that were added totaled 1,869 and over 1,000 books withdrawn because they were either outdated or worn out. There were around 75,446 volumes in the library at this time. On February 26, 1946, Henry Christman ran a Rensselaer County Historical Society meeting where he discussed the “Anti-rent Movement in Rensselaer County. At around 1953, the Troy Public Library received approximately $50,000 per year from the city of Troy which was stated to be a municipal budget. The library received a grant in 1959 from the City of Troy in order to fulfil operating costs. On December 6th, 1980, the library representatives requested a $40,000 increase for the operating costs but it remained at $160,000 for the year. On December 9th, 1980, the Troy Public Library was at risk of closing due to unfulfilled funding requests to maintain the Library and its services for the community. For many years prior to 1980, the Lansingburgh branch of the Troy Public Library was housed at an old academy building at 144th street and 4th ave. The building was owned by the Lansingburgh School District. It was soon sold to the City. The library's operating expenses began increasing through 1971 at 15 cent per cent a year with the same influx of income. Under these conditions the Library was at risk of closing.(1887).

Exterior Description

The exterior west and south walls of the Troy Public Library are constructed of white Vermont marble. The walls are rusticated on the first story, and are contrasted with dressed stones, Ashler Masonry, on the upper story. The facades are articulated carved stone courses,

water table The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. T ...

, and cornice. The ornament surrounding the three windows on the Second Street side are highly detailed. The Ferry Street side of the building is a five bay

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

at the second story level. This building is topped by a stone

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

, with a balustrade over the entrance. The building was described in the 1972, as "one of the finest examples of

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

style in this country". The building also boasts a

tiffany glass Tiffany glass refers to the many and varied types of glass developed and produced from 1878 to 1933 at the Tiffany Studios in New York City, by Louis Comfort Tiffany and a team of other designers, including Clara Driscoll, Agnes F. Northrop, an ...

window depicting the Venetian scholar and printer Aldus Manutius.Troy Public Library. ''Tiffany Windows in Troy''.

References

External links

Troy Public Library websiteHistory of the Troy Public Library
{{authority control Library buildings completed in 1897 Public libraries in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Troy, New York National Register of Historic Places in Troy, New York Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Tourist attractions in Rensselaer County, New York Historic district contributing properties in New York (state) Troy NY Times Records 1946, 1967 Old Fulton NY Postcard 1971