The Carnegie Library

Italian Renaissance Facade

     The Italian Renaissance Style used in the construction of the Sacramento Central Library echoed the elements of the second renaissance revival that was often found in the design of larger-scale buildings. Often faced with stone or marble, the emphasis was on simplicity and order. "California Carnegie libraries exemplifying the Italian Renaissance are generally urban, more sophisticated, and often built adjacent to the street" (Senville 2001, para. 2). The facade of the Sacramento City Library is decorated with horizontal course lines of rose colored brick, as well as terra cotta tiles from Gladding McBean.




                                        
                                       Gladding McBean

Terra cotta lion on Central Library       

       A chance discovery in 1874, led Charles Gladding, Peter
       McGill McBean and George Chambers to spend twelve
       thousand dollars in gold to form a company that has
       become famous for its decorative terra cotta. A large deposit
       of fine-grained potters clay was discovered in Lincoln,
       California. The factory of Gladding, McBean and Co. began
       by producing sewer pipe, but by the 1890s, the company
       had expanded its line to include fire brick, roof tile, chimney

Gladding McBean Factory

       pipes, and ornamental pottery. It
       was the architectural terra cotta that
       made the company famous.




Examples of Gladding McBean's work can be seen all over Northern California, as well as in Hawaii, Tokyo, Chicago, Texas, and New York (Reid, 2010).





                                     Layout of the Library

Ground Floor Landing as seen from I Street

 


Although the Carnegie Corporation advocated for efficient one story libraries "that allowed a single librarian to supervise the entire library", the Sacramento Central Library was designed as a three story building with two wings connected by a main stack, and featuring an elegant lobby and staircase (Van Slyck, 2009, para 2).            









   Main Floor:

In 1918 the main floor of the new Carnegie Library consisted of a Periodical Room, and the Children's Reading and Story-Telling Rooms.


Periodical room:

Periodical Room as it appeared about 1918

 
     "Magazines and Newspapers designed for a female audience at the end of the 19th century give today's readers insight into the concerns and expectations of women at that time"(Library of Congress, 2000, para.5). For the most part, the primary audiences for these publications were middle-class white women. The articles were mainly uplifting, and "reinforced the domestic sphere as the world for women" (para.8).

 Women's Periodical Advertisements

     
   
        In the Sacramento Carnegie Library the Periodical Room was
        located at the east end of the first floor, with the magazine and
        newspaper racks at the far end of the room.

        The advertisements in such periodicals can be as enlightening
         as the text. "The products that were available and how they
         were pitched to readers offer strong indications about
         self-image, ongoing concerns, and the everyday lives of the
         readership" (para. 8).

Children's Reading Room and Story Telling Room:

Children's Reading Room as it appeared about 1918

      "Whereas earlier libraries had been exclusively adult affairs only the smallest Carnegie library failed to provide a special reading room for the use of children" (Van Slyck, 2009, para. 9). By the end of the 19th century, a number of elements came together to bring about the development of children's services. These included an increase in children's literacy rates, a growing number of librarians that became interested in the library needs of children, an improvement in the quality of children's books, and a desire to segregate juveniles from adults (Black & Rankin, 2009).
                                                                          

Boy working in a factory about 1910

 
 Carnegie's prevailing philosophy was that all people (and especially immigrants) should be given the opportunity to better themselves. For some children the library served as a shelter from the reality of substandard homes and harsh street life. By the early part of the 20th century there was a growing awareness "that children's surroundings needed to be attractive and well-decorated, with furniture and fittings appropriate to the ages and needs of children" (Black & Rankin, para. 7).




   Second Floor:

The original Library's second floor consisted of a Main Reading Room and a Reference Room.

Second Floor Landing and Main Reading Room Entrance

Reading Room:

     Before moving into the new building, the Sacramento Free Library had segregated reading rooms for men and women, "though counter-intuitively women's rooms required extra supervision with "mutilation of papers, particularly those containing fashion plates being far too common" (Gibb, 2011, para. 1). The Carnegie library no longer segregated women into ladies' reading rooms.
     Popular books from that time included a range of religious works, "from volumes of theological reflection to works that exemplified the era's strong currents of anti-Catholic and anti-Mormon bigotry" (Library of Congress, 2000, para. 1). Readers also enjoyed books about recreational tourism, natural history, and books on educational subjects. Popular works for women offered advice, and a glimpse into the variety of work that was now available to them.


Reference Room:

Reference Desk and Stacks as they appeared around 1918

"From her post at the desk the librarian was at the center of library activities" (Van Slyck, 2009, para.6). The librarian was always in view to the public as well, and soon began to personify the institution for most users.
The Central Library's open stacks held 20,000 volumes. "Readers were now allowed to fetch their own books directly from the shelves lining the walls which surrounded them" (Van Slyck, para.8). This move toward open access was driven by scale, professional thinking, and technical developments. "The adoption of the Dewey Decimal System allowed a logical arrangement of books that helped direct the user to a particular item"(Gibb, 2011, para. 3).



Third Floor:

The third floor of the Central Library contained the Branch and School Department and Staff Offices.

Branch and School Department as it appeared about 1918

Branch and School Department:

     The new Carnegie libraries were designed to serve the community in a number of ways. "The transition from private libraries to free public libraries broadened access immeasurably, and transformed the library into a major civic facility"(Martin, 2002, para. 2). Although they were less dramatic than the monumental spaces of 19th century libraries, the rooms were also less intimidating.
     "The vast majority of Carnegie libraries have generous windows that at the time were the primary source of light" (Van Slyck, 2009, para. 8).





                                                  Renovation


     "Carnegie libraries are notoriously difficult to expand and turn into functional modern libraries, but creative efforts have been made to do so" (Scheppke, 2009, para. 1). By the 1980s it was obvious that the original Central Library no longer functioned well. Plans were made to expand and modernize the library without losing the integrity of the original. A full block "Library Plaza" now contains the restored Carnegie, a new library alongside the old with a connective element, a galleria, an office building, and a parking structure with retail space.

Renovation of Old Library: Exterior View from 9th Street of Galleria and Interior View from New Library's Lobby