Central Library (Indianapolis)

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Coordinates: 39°46′42″N 86°9′24″W / 39.77833°N 86.15667°W / 39.77833; -86.15667
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Central Library
Central Library in 2012
Map
General information
LocationIndianapolis, Indiana
Address40 E. St. Clair St.
CountryU.S.
Coordinates39°46′42″N 86°9′24″W / 39.77833°N 86.15667°W / 39.77833; -86.15667
OpenedOctober 8, 1917; 106 years ago (1917-10-08)
Renovated1975, 2007
OwnerIndianapolis Public Library
Technical details
Floor count6
Floor area293,000 square feet (27,200 m2)
Design and construction
Architect(s)Paul Philippe Cret
Architecture firmZantzinger, Borie & Medary
Renovating team
Architect(s)Woollen, Molzan and Partners
Other information
Parking397 spaces
Public transit accessLocal Transit IndyGo 39
Bike transport Indiana Pacers Bikeshare
Website
www.indypl.org/locations/central-library
Central Library (Indianapolis–Marion County Public Library)
Central Library (Indianapolis) is located in Indianapolis
Central Library (Indianapolis)
Central Library (Indianapolis) is located in Indiana
Central Library (Indianapolis)
Central Library (Indianapolis) is located in the United States
Central Library (Indianapolis)
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
NRHP reference No.75000045[1]
Added to NRHPAugust 28, 1975

Central Library is the main branch of the Indianapolis Public Library in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The building was designed by Philadelphia-based architect Paul Philippe Cret (with Zantzinger, Borie and Medary).[2] The original Central Library building was constructed in Greek Doric style architecture, faced with Indiana limestone on a Vermont marble base. Central Library opened to the public on October 8, 1917.[3] The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Central Library (Indianapolis–Marion County Public Library) on August 28, 1975.

It is the third-oldest library in Indianapolis still used for its original purpose, preceded by the East Washington (1911) and Spades Park branches (1912).

History[edit]

Library director Eliza Gordon Browning oversaw the opening of Central Library in 1917

Central Library was built on land donated by the poet James Whitcomb Riley. The library opened on October 7, 1917.[4]

Central Library has undergone a number of expansions and renovations over the years. A 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) annex to the Central Library was completed in 1975 and the restoration of historically-significant architecture was completed in the 1980s.[3]

Central Library temporarily relocated to Old Indianapolis City Hall from December 2002 to December 2007 while expansion construction commenced.

On October 7, 2017, the Indianapolis Public Library commemorated Central Library's 100th anniversary with the opening of a time capsule, musical performances, and a birthday cake.[4]

Collections[edit]

Center for Black Literature & Culture[edit]

The 3,800-square-foot (350 m2) Center for Black Literature & Culture opened in 2017, provided by $1.3 million in grant funding from the Lilly Endowment. The center houses some 10,000 books, magazines, DVDs, and e-books with plans to q­ruple the collection to 40,000 items over the next five years. The center's window banners pay tribute to local Black figures, including former Indiana Fever basketball player, Tamika Catchings, poet and playwright, Mari Evans, and Congresswoman Julia Carson.[5] Phase II of the project commenced after an Indianapolis City-County Council committee issued $5.3 million in bonds for facility upgrades and projects in July 2020.[6]

Chris Gonzalez Collection[edit]

Main article: Chris Gonzalez Collection

In 2019, the Indianapolis Public Library, in partnership with Indy Pride and others, dedicated the Chris Gonzalez Collection, named for LGBTQ activist and Indiana Youth Group co-founder Christopher T. Gonzalez. The collection of 7,000 items relating to local and national LGBTQ+ history and culture was merged with the Central Library collection.[7]

Nina Mason Pulliam Indianapolis Special Collections Room[edit]

Main article: Nina Mason Pulliam Indianapolis Special Collections Room

The Indianapolis Special Collections Room is named for newspaper executive Nina Mason Pulliam. The collection contains various archival adult and children's materials, both fiction and nonfiction books by local authors, photographs, scrapbooks, typescripts, manuscripts, autographed editions, letters, newspapers, magazines, and realia. The collection features Kurt Vonnegut, May Wright Sewall, the Woollen family, James Whitcomb Riley, and Booth Tarkington.[8]

Architecture[edit]

Cret building[edit]

Architectural rendering of the Central Library's south elevation from 1913

Central Library contains a number of distinguished architectural design elements. The main reading room 100 feet (30 m) by 45 feet (14 m) inside the main entrance has two flights of Maryland marble stairs, two 30 feet (9.1 m) diameter bronze light fixtures, and an ornamental ceiling designed by Clarence C. Zantzinger. The ceiling includes oil-on-canvas medallions and printers' colophons accompanied by a series of bas-relief plaster plaques depicting early-Indiana history. Reading rooms at the top of each staircase have wood paneling above oak bookcases and large leaded glass windows.[3] Central Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 28, 1975.

Writing for the Architectural Forum in 1918, architect Ralph Adams Cram described Central Library as "one of the most distinctive and admirable contributions to architecture that have been made in America."[9]

Woollen building[edit]

Atrium of the library's contemporary wing in 2008

In 2001, Indianapolis-based architectural firm Woollen, Molzan and Partners was commissioned to renovate the historic building, expand with a six-story addition, and incorporate an underground parking garage. The new curved glass curtainwall façade and atrium would connect to the Cret-designed building, replacing the annex built in the 1970s. Evans Woollen III, principal architect, conceptualized the library's design as a secondary terminus to the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza immediately south.[10]

The $104 million project doubled the size of the library but proved controversial due to a number of design and construction flaws.[11] The renovated Central Library and its new atrium addition opened on December 9, 2007, two years behind schedule and over budget.[12][13][14]

Clowes Auditorium, a 329-seat theater on the library's northwest side.

Art[edit]

Public art[edit]

Arts, Sciences and Letters adorns the north entrance to Central Library

In response to the George Floyd protests, a coalition of Indianapolis cultural leaders organized a grassroots public art project matching 22 Black artists with businesses interested in displaying messages of racial justice. In total, 24 pieces were painted on plywood-covered windows in downtown Indianapolis. To ensure their preservation, each mural was photographed and printed onto 3-foot (0.91 m)-by-5-foot (1.5 m) vinyl banners and exhibited at Central Library's Center for Black Literature and Culture. The banners are available for loan to the public for educational purposes.[25][26]

"Meet the Artists"[edit]

During Black History Month, Central Library hosts "Meet the Artists," an annual art exhibition showcasing work by local African American artists. The idea for an exhibition was prompted by artist-in-residence Anthony Radford's firsthand experiences finding few spaces in the city featuring the work of Black artists. Radford pitched his idea to the library's African American History Committee in 1988, earning their support. The first exhibition in 1989 included 11 artists and drew 200 visitors.

"Meet the Artists" has grown to include an opening night gala of music, workshops, and a fashion show, followed by a month-long exhibition, regularly drawing more than 1,500 participants. More than 400 Black visual artists, poets, dancers, authors, and musicians have been featured since the event's establishment.[27]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD)" (Searchable database). Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. Retrieved 2016-08-01. Note: This includes Lawrence Downey (July 1975). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Central Library (Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library)" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-01. and accompanying photographs.
  3. ^ a b c Bodenhamer, David J.; Barrows, Robert G. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. pp. 789–791. ISBN 0-253-31222-1.
  4. ^ a b Mitchell, Dawn (October 6, 2017). "Over a century of reading at Central Library". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  5. ^ Bahr, Sarah (October 23, 2017). "Indianapolis Public Library Debuts New Center For Black Literature And Culture". Indianapolis Monthly. Indianapolis: Emmis Communications. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  6. ^ Quinn, Samm (July 22, 2020). "City-County Council committee approves $5.3M bond for library upgrades". Indianapolis Business Journal. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  7. ^ "Indianapolis Central Library unveils LGBTQ+ exhibit". WRTV. Indianapolis. November 15, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  8. ^ Central to Our History: Indianapolis Special Collections Room, n.d., brochure, Indianapolis, IN: Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library.
  9. ^ Cram, Ralph Adams (September 1918). "The Indianapolis Public Library". The Architectural Forum. Vol. 29, no. 3. Boston, Mass.: Rogers and Manson Co. hdl:2027/hvd.32044029361193. ISSN 0003-8539. Retrieved January 21, 2023 – via HathiTrust. p. 68: Altogether I cannot help feeling that this Indianapolis Library is one of the most distinctive and admirable contributions to architecture that have been made in America.
  10. ^ Gadski, Mary Ellen (2021) [1994]. "Woollen, Molzan and Partners". Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indianapolis Public Library. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  11. ^ McLaughlin, Kathleen (April 8, 2010). "Marion County library may close six branches". Indianapolis Business Journal. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  12. ^ Fernandez, Megan (June 2010). "The Pillar: Evans Woollen". Indianapolis Monthly: 73. Retrieved December 18, 2017. See also: "Biographical" Sketch in Woollen, Molzan and Partners, Inc. Architectural Records, ca. 1912–2011. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society. 2017.
  13. ^ Woollen, Molzan and Partners website project page [1] Archived July 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Swiatek, Jeff (December 21, 2007). "Storybook ending?: Next chapter in Central Library saga could yield a commercial boom for surrounding area". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  15. ^ "Athur St. Clair Memorial". indyartsguide.org. Arts Council of Indianapolis. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  16. ^ "Arts, Sciences and Letters". indyartsguide.org. Arts Council of Indianapolis. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  17. ^ "Arts, Sciences, and Letters, (sculpture)". Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database. Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS). 1993. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  18. ^ "The Book of Life". indyartsguide.org. Arts Council of Indianapolis. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  19. ^ "Light, Words, Life". indyartsguide.org. Arts Council of Indianapolis. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  20. ^ "Peace Dove". indyartsguide.org. Arts Council of Indianapolis. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  21. ^ "RIOS (Random Information Organization System)". indyartsguide.org. Arts Council of Indianapolis. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  22. ^ "thinmanlittlebird". indyartsguide.org. Arts Council of Indianapolis. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  23. ^ Hoppe, David (May 12, 2009). "Peter Shelton's public art". NUVO. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  24. ^ Hoppe, David (May 6, 2009). "'thinmanlittlebird' land at Library". NUVO. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  25. ^ Bongiovanni, Domenica (September 14, 2020). "Downtown's racial justice murals have been coming down. Here's where they're headed next". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  26. ^ Verderame, Jyoti (December 2022). "Black Lives Matter Murals". Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indianapolis Public Library. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  27. ^ Verderame, Jyoti (June 2022). "Meet The Artists". Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indianapolis Public Library. Retrieved January 22, 2023.

External links[edit]

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