Brown Memorial Library

Brown Memorial Library
Country United States
Type Public
Established 1900
Location Clinton, Maine
Collection
Size 10,835
Access and use
Circulation 2,683
Population served 3,340
Other information
Budget $51,156
Director Cheryl Dickey-Whitish
Staff 2
Website

web site

Brown Memorial Library
Coordinates 44°38′19.7″N 69°30′11.5″W / 44.638806°N 69.503194°W / 44.638806; -69.503194Coordinates: 44°38′19.7″N 69°30′11.5″W / 44.638806°N 69.503194°W / 44.638806; -69.503194
Area 1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built 1899 (1899)
Architectural style Romanesque
NRHP Reference # 75000099[1]
Added to NRHP April 28, 1975

Brown Memorial Library is the public library of Clinton, Maine. It is located in an architecturally distinguished 1899-1900 Richardsonian Romanesque building at 53 Railroad Street in the town center. It was donated to the town by William W. Brown, in honor of his parents.[2] The building was designed by architect John Calvin Stevens and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[1]

Architecture and history

The Brown Memorial Library is located in the village center of Clinton, at the northeast corner of Railroad and Winn Streets. It is a single-story masonry structure, set on an elevated basement and covered by a hip roof. The building is basically rectangular, with a slight projection to the rear, and a polygonal bay projecting from the front right corner. The main entrance is to that projection's left, set in a rounded arch opening, above which is a gabled wall dormer. The exterior uses materials and coloring typical of the Richardsonian style, with pink-toned granite walls and red sandstone trim. The interior is organized with the large reading room to the right of the entrance, the main stacks to the left, and the former librarian's office, now a children's reading room, to the rear. Also at the rear is a small fireproof vault housing the town's archives.[3]

The library was a gift to the town by William W. Brown, who provided the land, funds for construction, and a seed collection of books, as well as a small endowment for its maintenance. It was the town's first public library. The building was designed by noted Portland architect John Calvin Stevens, and was completed in 1900. It is one of the state's purest expressions of the Richardsonian Romanesque style, as applied to library buildings.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ History of Brown Memorial Library
  3. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for Brown Memorial Library" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.