One for the books

In the early 1900s, in hundreds of small towns across America, a new Carnegie Library was the most impressive, most prized structure in town.

Although each building was slightly different — each style was chosen by the community — most tended to be simple and yet rather formal structures. Nearly all of them had steps leading to a large doorway; some also had steps inside leading to the open stacks of books. These steps were symbolic — a person who entered this library was elevating himself in a conscious way.

In the open stacks, patrons could wander among the books, looking for what they wanted to read. Before Carnegie, closed stacks were the norm; you pretty much had to know the name of the book you wanted.

By 1920, some 23 Carnegie libraries had been built in Utah, which placed the state at 24th on the list. (Indiana was first with 165 libraries, followed by California at 142.)

Over the years, many of the Carnegie libraries were replaced by larger county and city libraries, and the buildings turned into museums, offices, community centers. Many were even torn down.

But some still continue to serve their communities in the ways originally envisioned. Two communities in Cache Valley — Richmond and Smithfield — are among those still using their Carnegie libraries.

According to Richmond city histories, in 1912 the residents of the town petitioned the City Council for a special election to determine public support for a library. A special election was held on July 1, and 95 voters were in favor of the petition, while 12 voted against it.

Five days later the City Council met to appoint a library board, and three months later, on Oct. 14, 1912, the council passed a resolution accepting an $8,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie. The library opened in 1914.

A description in a historical preservation survey describes the building as "in no particular style, but the symmetrical facade, the division of the facade by pilasters, the raised basement, the capitals of the pilasters, the wide cornice and the parapet above the cornice reflect Classical Revival influences."

That's pretty much the building you see if you visit it today. About the only change, says current librarian Juliene Parrish, is that the downstairs originally was used as a club room, "but when we outgrew the top, we moved our books down." That floor now houses the children's library, teen fiction and nonfiction and adult fiction."

But, she says, last summer when heavy rains caused a basement flood, "we found the original horsehair padding under the carpet. It was so great, we didn't even have to replace the carpet."