Tour of Central Library

From MyTracs

INTRODUCTION

Central Library occupies the southern half of the space formerly known as Missouri Park. The section where Central Library sits was purchased by the city of Saint Louis from the Lucas family. The site was purchased in 1854, however, the rest of land surrounding Central Library was given to the city by the family. The Library only occupies the southern half of the plot because city authorities wanted to expand Locust street. The northern half of the plot was originally turned into a garden, but now it is a park. The cost of the building was about 1.5 million dollars. $500,000 of it was donated by famous philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie.

Here is a breakdown of what was included in the $1.5 million price tag. $65,000 purchased furniture and $30,000 went to the marvelous lighting fixtures that can be seen both inside and outside of the library.

The architecture of the library was created by Cass Gilbert, who was chosen from a library design competition.

The library was opened to the general public on January 6, 1912. Every room of the library is filled with books, documents, photos, and artifiacts from various time periods, authors, and cultures. There is something special in every room besides books. Take the Steedman Room for example The Steedman Room is an impression of a 16th century British gentleman's library. The room was completed in 1930 and it is right next to the Fine Arts Reading Room.

This room can be found within the Fine Arts section located on the main level of the library. Every room is different. Some have similar ceilings, others have different ones. One section has a balcony while the rest do not. You could go into one room and go into another room that is completely different in size or design. Every year, things are added or removed. Maybe a painting or a book. But the Library still remains magnificient.

Written by Lemesha B., Jackie H., Amanda A. and Taylor R..

[edit] Outside & Inside The Library

On the Outside

Here is an interesting fact about some of architecture of the library. The

greenish color you can see around or underneath some of the outside light posts is there for a reason. The rain, hail, sleet, snow, and hot sun has caused the structures to erode.

The Great Hall and Departments

As you enter Central Library, the first place you find yourself is in the foyer. Although this is the main entrance, and you are in the main lobby, you might be surprised to find that you are located on the second floor. One of the first things you'll notice in the foyer are the large columns. Along with the columns, you may notice several lamps that are placed throughout the library. While some of these lamps are no longer in use, they are used as ornate decorations because of their detailed carvings.

Humanities is located on the west side of the Central Library's main floor. It is directly across from Great Hall from History & Genealogy. This room features a beamed ceiling painted with symbols. The symbols designate long life (evergreen trees), wisdom (owl), hope (dolphin), and prosperity (cornucopia). Andrew Carnegie felt these symbols could be obtained by the love and use of books. This department provides materials on urban and social issues, sports, politics, education, and economics, government, sociology, labor, culture & folklore, religion & philosophy, literature & literary studies, and how to write for publication. They also feature foreign language materials that include dictionaries, books, tapes and more for learning to speak the language as well as a small collection of fiction titles in French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish.

Fine Arts is also on the main level of the library in the Great Hall. The Fine Arts collection has over 45,000 books including materials about paintings, sculptures, architecture, drawing, music, dance, movies, radio, and television.The balcony in the fine arts building was added in the 1950s. The Fine Arts department was modeled after the Church of LaBadia. The LaBadia is a church in Florence, Italy. It was built in 1285 and then they remodeled it in 1625. The balcony in Fine Arts was added to provide more shelving for books and other items. The History and Genealogy department can be found on the east end of the Great Hall. The beamed wooden ceiling was designed with painted symbols that stand for learning, wisdom and strength. There is a very interesting painting on the wall that displays bold colors and shapes. This picture is called: “Education Through Television.” It was painted in 1955 by Fred Conway. The books in the history and genealogy department are unbelievable. There are so many it would forever to read all of them.

Written by Sean L., Amanda A., Alison H.

[edit] Central's Lower Level

Teen's Space (Young Adult Area)

This area of the library is packed with everything a teen would love to come to the library for! There is an expansive selection of fiction books that are at a reading level that teens enjoy to read and learn from. The books offered range from Guitar Girl and Eclipse to Inkheart and Hoot. There is an author and a book for every personality. There are also many new releases of graphic novels and comic books, such as Batman and One Piece. In addition to books, there are a variety of CDs and Audiobooks. For students that are somewhat reluctant to pick up a book Central has many popular books on tapes and CDs. There are also CDs of bands and vocalists with recent releases. Central Library strives to make sure there is a book for every type of person, so everyone can "KNOW BETTER."

Books for Bambinos! (Children's Library)

Central Library demonstrates that you can never start to read too young! In Central Library's Story Area librarians and volunteers read and engage even the youngest kids. The Story Area caters to those who merely enjoy a fun (and educational) book. For students doing research, children playing games, or just "surfing the Net" there are many Internet Computers in the Kid's Area. There are also several catalog computers that are used for looking up books from the Central's catalog. The reference computers have databases that will help make any research paper or project a snap. If all of these options don't turn up the results that you were hoping for, you can always go to the Customer Service Desk for help or to check out your materials.

In the Children's Section there are many different types of books which include: Reference Books, Picture Books, Board (or Beginners) Books, and Chapter Books. There is an enormous selection of these genres of books and there is definitely a book for every child. Playaways are a new addition to Central Library. These are books in the MP3 format. They are worn around your neck and check out for three weeks like paper books. You can purchase headphones for one dollar and there are many books to chose from. Book Kits are a collection of paperback books that come with a tape. This is great for students that are just learning how to read, because they can follow along with the tape. No matter what your age, books expand your horizons, challenge your mind, and spark your curiousity and imagination. (Julia E.)

Popular Library

The Popular Library is across from the Children's and Young Adult library. Popular library has just about every type of popular topic such as fiction, non-fiction books; biographical, cookbooks, health , mystery, romance, science fiction, and travel guides. Popular library also has a collection of large print books; books on tapes and CDs; popular DVDs, and circulating CD-ROMs. (Kalen P.)

Microforms

The microform room is on the lower level at the west end of the building. Microforms preserves old documents that enables a person to step into the past. The materials are printed on microfilms, micro-cards, and microfiches-which give evidence of past reports, files and vital records. This room also contains past and present newspapers such as the St.Louis Post Dispatch, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Christian Science Monitor, Washington Post, and The Sunday Times. (Tavon W.)

Job and Career Center

The job and Career Center can be found in the hallway between Business, Science and Technology and the Microforms library. Job and Career Center has a lot of books about how to find a job and also books about different types of colleges. The center has learning opportunities for many ages. It gives information about scholarships and student financial aid. There is also information about the ACTs and SATs-including study guides. They even have computers that list colleges for a two and four year college in the United States. The only way you can get on the computer databases is if you have a library card. But if you do not have a library card then you can still look at the books but you cannot take it out of the building. There are a lot of great information in the job and career center if you are looking for a job are planning to go to college. (JoAnn H.)

Business, Science & Technology

Directly across from the Microforms Room is the Business, Science and Technology (BST) library. There are many different books, articles and even checklists within the areas of business, science and technology. BST library staff have developed a business checklist to help people who want start or expand their business. Copies of the checklist can be found on St. Louis Public Library's website at: http://www.slpl.org.Aside from information about business, BST also has books about astronomy, physics, chemistry, and biology. (Daniel C.)