page_title: Houston Public Library
section_title: Houston Lyceum and the Carnegie Library
hierarchical_section_title: Houston Public Library / History / Houston Lyceum and the Carnegie Library
caption_attribution_description: English: 1907 Sanborn map. Houston, Texas. McKinney Street at Travis Street, Houston, Texas. Includes Carnegie Library and Houston Lyceum. Deutsch: 1907 Houston, Texas stadtplan (Sanborn's). McKinney Strasse bei Travis Strasse. Español: 1907 Mapa de Houston, Texas, E.E.U.U. (Sanborn's). Esquina de calles McKinney y Travis. Français&#160;: 1907 Plan de Houston, Texas, U.S.A. (Sanborn's). Le coin de la rue McKinney et la rue Travis. Italiano: 1907 Carta geografica de Houston, Texas. Angolo di stradas McKinney e Travis.
context_page_description: Houston Public Library is the public library system serving Houston, Texas, United States.
context_section_description: The Houston Public Library system traces its founding to the creation of the second Houston Lyceum in 1854.  The lyceum was preceded by a debating society, a special-interest mechanics' lyceum, and a circulating library. The lyceum's library eventually split into a separate institution at the end of the 19th century.
  In 1892, William Marsh Rice, a Houston businessman and philanthropist who later chartered Rice University, donated $200,000 for the construction of a free public library. The facility opened in 1895 and obtained its own building in 1904 with financial assistance from Andrew Carnegie. Betty Trapp Chapman wrote in The Houston Review that the city's women "were instrumental" in the library's establishment and that the educated women "had long recognized the need for a library to serve the community." Julia Ideson was named its first librarian and she hired one employee. Located at the corner of Travis and McKinney in what is now known as Downtown Houston, it originally housed 10,000 volumes. By 1907, 10,000 Houstonians held accounts at the library. By 1913, the library counted seven persons on its payroll. The city changed the name from Carnegie Library to Houston Public Library in 1921. By this time, they had outgrown their space and relocated several staff members to the Harris County Courthouse. A few years later, the library sold its property to raise money for a larger facility.
caption: 1907 Sanborn map showing the location of the Carnegie Library and Houston Lyceum.
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