Libraries

[Everything Community]

Here are some pictures of Connecticut libraries!

[TheFugitive]

Carnegie Library in my old neighborhood in Pittsburgh.


The HUGE Carnegie Library in Homestead, PA.  It has undergone an extensive remodel, and the auditorium is now used by a number of national acts as a concert venue.


Hillman Library on the University of Pittsburgh campus.  It occupies part of the site where Forbes Field used to stand.

[Everything Community]

Carnegie Library in my old neighborhood in Pittsburgh.


The HUGE Carnegie Library in Homestead, PA.  It has undergone an extensive remodel, and the auditorium is now used by a number of national acts as a concert venue.


Hillman Library on the University of Pittsburgh campus.  It occupies part of the site where Forbes Field used to stand.

Interesting!

[TheFugitive]

I just learned that the Carnegie Library in the top photo closed on Saturday
and will be shut down for a year as it undergoes a major expansion and renovation.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mount-washington-library-to-close-saturday-for-major-expansion/ar-AACQdIg

[Everything Community]

I just learned that the Carnegie Library in the top photo closed on Saturday
and will be shut down for a year as it undergoes a major expansion and renovation.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mount-washington-library-to-close-saturday-for-major-expansion/ar-AACQdIg

Good thing that libraries are still as relevant today! Here's a Carnegie Library in the Thompsonville section of Enfield, CT:

[Everything Community]

Another Carnegie library - this time in West Springfield, MA:

[Everything Community]

Plymouth Library Association in Plymouth, CT

Library is scheduled to close permanently on June 29th, as I was told. The reason of this closure is the lack of money to keep this historic library open and that books are being sold during their special library sale.

[TheFugitive]

Andrew Carnegie was sort of a divisive figure here in Pittsburgh.
His philanthropy was well documented, including the establishment of hundreds
of libraries in the region.

However, when I was a kid I can remember adults around me badmouthing him
in very profane terms, five decades after he had died.   He had the reputation of
being a tyrannical boss in his steel operations where working conditions were just
awful.  It seems just about everybody had a story about some relative who had
an awful experience working for him.  The #1 complaint seemed to be that if he
caught you trying to organize a union you'd be fired and blacklisted, and have
great difficulty getting any other decent job in town.

A few years ago the county raised property taxes to fund Carnegie Libraries.
The one near me appears to serve primarily a video rental store with no fees.

[Everything Community]

Andrew Carnegie was sort of a divisive figure here in Pittsburgh.
His philanthropy was well documented, including the establishment of hundreds
of libraries in the region.

However, when I was a kid I can remember adults around me badmouthing him
in very profane terms, five decades after he had died.   He had the reputation of
being a tyrannical boss in his steel operations where working conditions were just
awful.  It seems just about everybody had a story about some relative who had
an awful experience working for him.  The #1 complaint seemed to be that if he
caught you trying to organize a union you'd be fired and blacklisted, and have
great difficulty getting any other decent job in town.

A few years ago the county raised property taxes to fund Carnegie Libraries.
The one near me appears to serve primarily a video rental store with no fees.

The way things are being said about him are worthlessly unright beyond his funds for free libraries. By any means of free libraries, he always had a right to make contributions to each & every town who didn't offer access to free public libraries all over the world. Word on thought, he is as iconic as Benjamin Franklin!

[TheFugitive]

Andrew Carnegie, like any historical figure, was a complex and multi-faceted character.
Certainly his philanthropy is well documented, including the establishment of hundreds of
libraries.

But it is also true that his labor relations practices were rather abhorrent.  This might explain why the historical view of Carnegie is somewhat different here in Pittsburgh that in Connecticut.  People here actually have stories handed down through their families about how awful it actually was to work for the guy.

Like most people with a lot of money Carnegie was able to shape a generally favorable view of himself with the public.  I was a history major in college.  The word going around the history department was that if you wrote a well-researched, documented, and effective hit piece on Andrew Carnegie that the Carnegie Foundation would actually write you a check to not publish it.

[Everything Community]

If you enjoy using public libraries, here are some of our links to get you to our Facebook pages about them.

Everything Libraries:
https://www.facebook.com/EverythingLibraries

A Photographic Life of Public Libraries:
https://www.facebook.com/LibraryPhotography

Hope you enjoy browsing our page and don't forget to like any one of our pages if you can!

[Everything Community]

If you enjoy using public libraries, here are some of our links to get you to our Facebook pages about them.

Everything Libraries:
https://www.facebook.com/EverythingLibraries

A Photographic Life of Public Libraries:
https://www.facebook.com/LibraryPhotography

Hope you enjoy browsing our page and don't forget to like any one of our pages if you can!

There's another link for you if you like taking pictures of libraries

Everything Community on Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/publiclibraries/albums/72157702859144015

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

There's a library that sits on the U.S.-Canada border in Derby Line, Vermont, U.S.A./Stanstead, Quebec, Canada

[giantsfan2016]

There are talks that a new library needs to be built in my town - Southington, Connecticut. They says it's too small, poorly laid out, and parts aren't handicapped accessible. It is 22,500 Square Feet and was built in 1973. It's located at the corner of Main Street (Route 10) and Meiden Avenue (ROute 120).

The problem is there is no vacant land on Route 10 or anywhere else in the downtown area to build a new library. Next to the library's parking lot are 2 multi-family houses and 2 fire-damaged commercial buildings. In theory the town can purchase those properties, bulldoze them, and construct the new library there along with part of the parking lot. Then when the new library is finished they can bulldoze the existing library and expanded the parking lot. - That's what they did when they built the new senior center. (except they didn't have to buy any additional property).

[Everything Community]

When we visited this library last April of 2018, we didn't actually think twice if this library would either have their building renovated or move to their newer building. We guess it was our first thought that they were expecting a renovation/expansion to better serve residents. Don't know anything too much about this library (we live on the different side of Connecticut, particularly east of north-central Connecticut).

[Everything Community]

When we visited this library last April of 2018, we didn't actually think twice if this library would either have their building renovated or move to their newer building. We guess it was our first thought that they were expecting a renovation/expansion to better serve residents. Don't know anything too much about this library (we live on the different side of Connecticut, particularly east of north-central Connecticut).

As of today (6/29/19), while the new building project might be in the works, they have moved some of the things around... for quite a while! My guess is when some of the collection keeps increasing so steadily that they feel they don't have room for more materials, they may switch sides so there's additional room to store more books. Those things happen once in a while in all libraries (maybe in this case, it's Southington!).

Here's quite a slew of photos from our today's visit. You won't believe it when you see how this library has changed over time.

BTW, this library was built in 1974 and has seen only quite a bit of renovations since then, and it's not keeping up to date (lacking most of the modern 21st century in interior) how the library looks inside. Can't they just go ahead and revolve more with their project?

[TheFugitive]

Here are before-and-after shots of the remodeled Carnegie Library
closest to where I live.

[Everything Community]

Apollo 11

Here's some flashback!
It's a newspaper coverage from The Hartford Times about the time when those three men made history that are on the record books forever. This is Apollo 11, flown all the way onto the Moon. We will never forget tomorrow as that day marks its 50th Anniversary of a man who became the first human on Earth to make historic footprints on the Moon surface. Who is it?

You got it right, it's Neil Armstrong, followed by Buzz Aldrin & Michael Collins who also walked on the Moon.

This newspaper was found among other space artifacts on display at the Avon Free Public Library in Avon, Connecticut. Photo taken April 7, 2019!

[TheFugitive]

I was five years old.

When Armstrong stepped on the moon it was a few minutes before 10PM Eastern Time.
I was sleeping.  My father woke me up and planted me in front of our fifteen inch Motorola
black-and-white television set.

He told me "you are going to want to be able to tell your grandchildren that you saw this".

He was not wrong.

[deerwrecker2017]

I was five years old.

When Armstrong stepped on the moon it was a few minutes before 10PM Eastern Time.
I was sleeping.  My father woke me up and planted me in front of our fifteen inch Motorola
black-and-white television set.

He told me "you are going to want to be able to tell your grandchildren that you saw this".

He was not wrong.

I am sure some time in the future everybody who watches the first man (On Television and/or Online Streaming Sites and Platforms) to set foot on Mars will tell their own grandchildren that they saw that happen.

[Ameskid]

Two of the libraries I've been to on several occasions: the Main Branch of the Cincinnati Public Library...


...and the Lane Library in Hamilton, Ohio.

[JimSawhill]

I loved going to East Hartford's libraries. Raymond Library is beautiful...so was Wickham and Penny, which I think are both closed...

[Everything Community]

In the downtown section of good ol' Rockville (a section known as the Loom City, within the town of Vernon), just across the street from the hospital is the place where the world of reading exists. It is a place called The George Maxwell Memorial Library (known professionally as the Rockville Public Library). Housed in over 100,000+ books, periodicals, movies, & other resources, this is the place you might want to look forward into (if you haven't been there, I'm pretty sure you'll like it there). This is a reader's favorite place to read & relax!

I have been coming here for many years. This institution is one of the town's most recognized landmarks in existence. Opened in 1904, it had been an independent library up until just last year. It finally became a town department (in prior years, it was operated by the endowment given in dedication to the memorial of the late George Maxwell) in July of 2018 so the town of Vernon now takes full control of this 115+ year old landmark.

Now, once you walk inside the library by using the front entrance, you'll notice that they have a lot of historical, well-maintained elements from the time the doors were first opened to the public. Here, you'll see a lonely chair in the reading room (that hasn't been repurposed or recycled) that was there since 1904, along with a light fixture on the top of the ceiling.

In the Adult's Department, they have a lot of selection of books, ranging from bestsellers to biographies to books on Holocaust in the dedicated section about its historical event.

They don't just carry books, they also bring to you cupcake pans on loan.

Then, in the Teen section, they have their room with a lot of selection of these books. Yes, they have a teen librarian who runs it!

Next, you walk downstairs, and there you see a Children's room. A room that has a lot to offer for young children & tweens. There's a lot of children's books for all ages!

Every time I visit this library (I go there every couple of weeks, considering it's my hometown library!), there is something new I want to get carried on in my hands. A book, a movie, or even a magazine may excite me a lot as I always use my library card to check it out.

Annually, they bring in a month full of festive trees in December, a student art exhibit during early spring, etc...

You might want to consider making your stop at the library the next time you head out! Just to either get a library card (and have a book checked out!) or attend a library event.

Trust me, it's sincerely an awesome library, at its best. The best place in my hometown is here to help you make new discoveries, right HERE!

[Everything Community]

The central library in Calgary, Alberta (province of Canada) is home to one of North America's largest library systems, and the city now boasts an architectural masterpiece as the system's central hub. The downtown complex, designed by the Norwegian firm Snohetta, is flooded with natural light and features several aesthetic odes to its native land: walls made of cedart from nearby British Columbia, a curved facade meant to evoke cloud arches formed by the region's Chinook winds. Of course, the library also houses an extensive collection of books---over 450,000. But it's embracing its role as a broader educational center as well, offering learning labs, residency programs, and even a digital production studio built for podcasters and YouTubers. ~Wilder Davies

Source: Time (Vol. 194 Nos. 8-9 | 2019 - Sept. 2 / Sept. 9, 2019)

[Everything Community]

When was the last time you visited a library?

To myself, I personally feel that my love of libraries are as important as retail (sorry about that, guys; I just didn't want to disappoint you too much though you can care less about libraries so you might take this for granted, but I don't, so that's why libraries are important to me) just because reading is one major part of my life but I miss checking out books & even visiting those places because of this crazy outbreak that we have to currently deal with.

So I thought I just wanted to encourage you to see this. Before my library in Vernon, Connecticut renovated just a couple of years back, they still had these glass floors in the stacks area that dated back to the opening of my historic (beloved) library over 115 years ago. I've got pics to share with you about them.

Glass floors are pretty much a thing of the past, just like Sears & Kmart (almost; retail in general). They're outdated as modern libraries are modern and many of the historic libraries have started to replace them with more conventional flooring carpets. I don't get it at my local library.

Though I didn't visit my library that often during my younger years (didn't read too much books at that time), I think I can recall when they still had glass floors at the one time of my life visiting this wonderful place. Now that most of the glass floors are gone, quite a few have been reused for the counter in the local history section of my library.

Hope you enjoy these pics taken in my hometown. Most of these pics aren't mine (these were from Facebook) except the ones reused on the counter!

[Everything Community]

They sell discarded library books at Ollie's Bargain Outlet store in Manchester, CT

[Everything Community]

When I visited Enfield Square mall in Enfield, CT back in December 2019, what surprised me the most about the trip was that Enfield Public Library actually has the window shopping area like this where on certain weekdays when both the library and the mall are open at the same time, patrons can request those books and then have them borrowed for the limited time.

I think this is a very interesting concept for shoppers who experience window shopping and patrons who love reading books like me.

[Everything Community]

The new library will be in the Swift Factory, a community center in Hartford.
https://www.wfsb.com/2022/03/09/hartford-gets-new-public-library/

[Everything Community]

Opened last October
https://www.fox61.com/article/news/local/newest-hartford-public-library-branch-on-park-street/520-d9dd9278-9e71-45e7-9e4b-ca38f2baf3ab

[Everything Community]

Check out this group on Facebook dedicated to Connecticut libraries:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ConnecticutLibrary/