Winn Memorial Library

Infobox_nrhp | name =Woburn Public Library
nrhp_type = nhl


caption = Winn Memorial Library
location= Woburn, Massachusetts
lat_degrees = 42
lat_minutes = 28
lat_seconds = 44
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 71
long_minutes = 9
long_seconds = 18
long_direction = W
locmapin = Massachusetts
area =
built =1879
architect= H. H. Richardson; Norcross Brothers
architecture= Other, Romanesque
designated=December 23, 1987
added = November 13, 1976
governing_body = Local
refnum=76000290cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The Winn Memorial Library is a public library designed by noted American architect H. H. Richardson. It is located at 45 Pleasant Street, Woburn, Massachusetts, and is now a National Historic Landmark.

The library was built between 1876-1879 as the first of Richardson's series of library designs and in it he established his characteristic, asymmetrical plan for such buildings: an entrance and reception, usually with staircase tower; the reading room(s) with stacks; and an optional art gallery.

The library's front facade presents a long, single-story stack area (at left), with high, column-separated windows forming a strip below the peaked roof; a projecting, three-story set of reading rooms with entryway and High Victorian tower at center right; and picture gallery and octagonal museum at the right side. The facade is formed of brownstone with lighter stone trim, arranged in polychrome over the main arches, accented with a red tile roof.

A statue of native son and notable scientist Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, rises from the main lawn before the library.

References

* [http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Winn_Memorial_Library.html GreatBuildings page]
* [http://www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Winn_Memorial_Library ArchiPlanet page]
* Carolyn Pitts, "NHL Architecture Theme", in "CRM Bulletin", Cultural Resources Management, A National Park Service Technical Bulletin, Volume 10: No. 6, December 1987.
* Margaret Henderson Floyd, "Architecture After Richardson: Regionalism Before Modernism", University of Chicago Press, 1994, page 192. ISBN 0226254100.