Public Library of Enid and Garfield County

36°23′45″N 97°52′45″W / 36.39583°N 97.87917°W / 36.39583; -97.87917Location120 W Maine Ave, Enid, Oklahoma 73701Established1899Other informationWebsiteCity of Enid Oklahoma: Library

The Public Library of Enid and Garfield County, is a public library located in Enid, Oklahoma, the county seat of Garfield County, Oklahoma.

History

The library began as a one-room library in the Patrick and Bray building on the downtown square sponsored by the Enid Study Club in late 1900.^[1] In 1905, the city of Enid acquired the library. In May 1909 Enid received a $25,000 grant from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation to build a Carnegie library.^[2]^[3] The Enid Carnegie Library was a Mission Revival style building designed by A. A. Crowell and built by DC Bass and Sons Construction.^[4] The Enid Library merged with the Garfield County Library in 1960.^[5] By the late 1950s the library system had outgrown the Carnegie library, storing 60,000 books in a facility that was built to hold 20,000 books,^[6] and the building itself was falling into desrepair as the oldest government building in the city.^[7] It was located at 402 N. Independence,^[6] and was in operation from October 8, 1910^[2] until October 18, 1964, when a new mid-century modern style building was opened at 120 W. Maine, the library's current location.^[8] Following years of vacancy, the Carnegie library was demolished in 1972, and is now a vacant lot.^[9] In 2010, the library underwent renovations modeled after the San Jose Public Library System.^[10] The library building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. The Enid and Garfield Library made national headlines in 2022 when the library board enacted a policy that banned displays about gender and sexuality, and as result meetings of a local romance book club.^[11]

Gallery

402 N. Independence, former location of Enid's Carnegie Library.
A piece of Enid's Carnegie Library sits on display in the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center
The members of the Enid Study Club, the women who founded the library in 1899.
Plaque from 1910 details the architects, trustees of the library.
Plaque from 1964 details those involved in creating the new building.

References

^ "The members of the Enid Study Club". The Enid Eagle. 22 November 1900. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Carnegie Library dedicated to city after years of patient effort". The Enid Daily Eagle. 9 October 1910. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
^ McClure, Mabel (24 November 1935). "Carnegie Library Notes". The Enid Morning News. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
^ Buchanan, James Shannon, "Carnegie Libraries", Chronicles of Oklahoma: Volume 79, Oklahoma Historical Society, 2001, pg 461
^ "Joint meeting of Enid-Garfield County Library Board is held". The Enid Morning News. 23 February 1960. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Will request library vote on July 31". The Enid Daily Eagle. 10 July 1962. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
^ "Facts about the library". The Enid Daily Eagle. 9 March 1957. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
^ City of Enid, Oklahoma: Overview Archived 2011-01-25 at the Wayback Machine
^ Dyer, Daniel "Lament for a Library Lost: Enid's Carnegie Public Library, 1910-1972: R.I.P. Archived 2012-08-25 at the Wayback Machine"
^ Barron, Robert, "The San Jose Way: Renovation designed to make Enid's library more user-friendly", Enid News & Eagle, December 7, 2010
^ Willingham, AJ (23 April 2022). "A library's canceled romance book club calls attention to growing censorship". CNN. Retrieved 5 February 2024.