Columbus Public Library

### Renovation Years

1990  (Interior Renovations done by the firm Noble Rose Architects, whilst maintaining historical accuracy to the building).2013  (Parking Lot Added).

May 24th 2023  (Roof Maintenance).

### NRHP?

Yes;Added on November 15th 1990.

The **Columbus Public Library** as its name suggests is the Public Library of Columbus Wisconsin. It is located at 223 West James Street.

## History

Columbus formed a library association in 1910. That same year, The Columbus Women's Civic Club solicited the Carnegie Foundation for a $10,000 grant for construction of a library. On October 14th 1910 the city purchased two lots at James Street and Dickason Boulevard. The Women's club subsequently raised additional funds to furnish the library. The library was built in 1912 by Louis W. Claude and Edward F. Starck of the Madison firm of Claude and Starck. The library was dedicated on November 1st 1912 for the contracted cost of $9,888.10, and has been in continual use ever since. The downstairs area was used for many different things over the years, for instance Red Cross classes in First Aid and Home Nursing met here during World War II, in the 1950's the Women's Club furnished it to be used as a dining room and kitchen, and subsequently continued to use the area to hold their meetings until disbanding in 2002. It was also briefly used as the Senior Citizens Center for a couple of years in the 1970s and even a pre-school, before finally being converted into its present form as a children's area and meeting room in 1990. In the fall of 2013, a parking-lot was added in the empty lot to the right-hand side of the library's front entrance. A house known as the Swarthout property previously existed here, but was sold and relocated in February 2002, when the library board purchased the lot for future expansion. The library was added to the Natural Register of Historic Places on the 15th of November 1990.

## 1990 Renovations

The architectural firm of Noble Rose Architects was hired to provide modern updates for the interior of the library, whilst still maintaining its historical accuracy as much as possible. This included the downstairs finally being converted into a children's area with an adjacent meeting room, improved lighting, a relocated circulation desk, an elevator, and a handicapped accessible entrance at the front of the library. Apart from the addition of the handicapped accessible entrance, the exterior of the library has remained remarkably unchanged since its opening in 1912.

## Trivia

* Like most Andrew Carnegie libraries, a framed portrait of him can be found here, on the wall going upstairs.
* The Library used to have some VHS Tapes, but these were phased out by the mid-2000's and the remaining ones were removed in the mid-2010's.
* There is a small section upstairs full of non-order-able items, related to local history, including a wide variety of past yearbooks from the High-School, dating all the way back to the early 20th Century.
* Interestingly, the Calendar on the library's website let's you go all the way back to the month of January 100 AD, 1812 years and 10 Months before the library opened, and 1740 years before the founding of Columbus.

## Gallery

The Library as it appeared in 1912.The Library in 1920.A 1937 Postcard of the Library.Another Postcard of the Library from around 1937.The backside of a used version of the Postcard, discussing the then upcoming construction of the Post-Office.The Library in 1950.The Side Entrance in 2008.The Library's Historic Marker.The Main Entrance in 2013.The arrangement of the upstairs bookshelves prior to rearrangement in 2023.The upstairs seating area by the fireplace, prior to rearrangement in 2023.