Troy Public Library

The Troy Public library is the main public library building in the city of Troy, New York, and is located across the street from Russell Sage College in downtown Troy. It has two other branches, the Lansingburgh branch and the Sycaway branch. Both branches were temporarily closed in January 2009. The first library began in 1799. The current building was completed in 1897 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, both in its own right and as a contributing property to the Central Troy Historic District.

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 J. Stewart Barney and Henry Otis Chapman Architects, the Hart Memorial Building, now known as the Troy Public Library, is a distinguished and early example of the American Renaissance style. When they came to design the Troy Public Library, Barney and Chapman were working in an emerging and exciting new style. This style evolved with the architectural success of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago which introduced the general public to what had been a more intellectual movement with a limited number of completed projects. Examples of the style prior to construction of the Troy Public Library include the Villard Houses (1886), The Low Library at Columbia University (1894) and the Boston Public Library (1887).