About this Book

One natural outcome of the educational reform movement of the 1840s was the growth ofthe American public library. Though the first public libraries were housed in post offices and townhalls, even in local drug stores, growing book collections soon forced cities and towns to recognizethe need for larger, more appropriate buildings. Some 450 public libraries were built in the latterhalf of the nineteenth century. The most important and influential architect of the era who builtlibrairies was Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886), perhaps best known for his design of Boston'sTrinity Church.The primary focus of Kenneth Breisch's Henry Hobson Richardson and the Small PublicLibrary in America is on Richardson's designs for public libraries in Woburn, North Easton, Quincy,and Malden, Massachusetts, as well as an unbuilt proposal for the Hoyt Library in East Saginaw,Michigan. In addition to placing them within the broader history of American library design, Breischoffers a close examination of these buildings as participants in the cultural, political, andeconomic developments of the period. Since more than 80 percent of the public libraries built in thelatter half of the nineteenth century were privately endowed--as were all of Richardson's librarycommissions--his discussion of the role of philanthropy, in particular, illuminates the perceivedmeaning and function of public libraries to the monied classes, as well as their function asmemorials to deceased family members.Breisch also examines the role played by the library professionin the development of modern library planning theory during this period, a role that often clashedwith the goals of the architects commissioned to design the library buildings. Although thisconflict eventually led the American Library Association to condemn Richardson's buildings asunsuitable for library work, his designs still had enormous influence on the architecturalvocabulary of the institution. The fact remains that Richardson invented and refined a significantprototype for the smaller American public library building.