Salt Lake City Public Library system

The Salt Lake City Public Library system is a network of public libraries funded by Salt Lake City. The Free Public Library of Salt Lake City first opened on February 14, 1898. The system is under the direction of a library board and circulates more than three million items each year.

There are six locations: the Main Branch library downtown, the Anderson-Foothill Branch, the Chapman Branch in Glendale, the Day-Riverside Branch in Rose Park, the Sprague Branch in Sugar House, and the Corrine & Jack Sweet Branch in the Avenues.

History

The Salt Lake City public library system began in 1896 when Utah was admitted to the union as a state. The newly formed legislature passed a law establishing free libraries. Previous to this the only libraries were a small reading room set up by a group of women from 1872 to 1876 and a library run by the Masonic Order from 1877 to 1891. In 1891 the Masonic library was donated to the newly-formed Pioneer Library Association, which lasted until statehood.

The City's first government-run free public library was founded in 1898 on the top floor of the Salt Lake City and County Building It consisted of 11,910 books and was run by Annie E. Chapman, for whom the Chapman branch is named. In 1900 the library had outgrown its housing and was proposed to move to a new locale on State Street, which opened in 1905 with a new librarian Joanna Sprague.

In November 1998 taxpayers were asked to fund the building of a new main library building downtown. Voters approved a $84 million bond. Several architects submitted plans, but the firm of Moshe Safdie and Associates was eventually chosen. Ground broke in October 2000 with construction completed in February 2003. The downtown library is inspired by the Central branch of the Vancouver Public Library, also designed by Moshe Safdie and Associates.

See also

* Salt Lake County Library Services

External links

* [http://www.slcpl.lib.ut.us/index.jsp Official Site]