History
The idea to establish a Library, to provide a room for reading and games for the local young people, came about in 1896, when Iowa City had already existed for fifty-seven years. At this time, there were approximately 7500 residents and 1300 students attending the University of Iowa. When the Library first opened its doors on January 21, 1897, it contained 1300 books and twenty magazines and newspapers. It was located at 211 Iowa Avenue, and took up two rooms above a steam laundry.
Over the years, the Library would move or modify its location five times: in 1901, to 212 East College Street; in 1904, to a Carnegie library at 212 South Linn Street; in 1963, when an addition was added to the Carnegie library; and in 1981, to 123 South Linn Street. On June 12, 2004, the Library opened the doors of its new facility, built at the same location but nearly double the size of the previous building. The new Library was designed by Engberg Anderson Design Partnership, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and built by Knutson Construction. It covers 81,276 square feet (7,550.8 m2) on two floors in a building that also contains rental space.
Read more about this topic: Iowa City Public Library
Famous quotes containing the word history:
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—William Faulkner (1897–1962)
“The history of modern art is also the history of the progressive loss of art’s audience. Art has increasingly become the concern of the artist and the bafflement of the public.”
—Henry Geldzahler (1935–1994)
“The myth of independence from the mother is abandoned in mid- life as women learn new routes around the mother—both the mother without and the mother within. A mid-life daughter may reengage with a mother or put new controls on care and set limits to love. But whatever she does, her child’s history is never finished.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)