The Carnegie Library of Washington D.C., also known as Central Public Library, now known as the Apple Carnegie Library, is situated in

Mount Vernon Square Mount Vernon Square is a city square and neighborhood in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. The square is located where the following streets would otherwise intersect: Massachusetts Avenue NW, New York Avenue NW, K Street NW, and 8t ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

History

The library was donated to the public by entrepreneur

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...

, it was dedicated on January 7, 1903. It was designed by the New York firm of Ackerman & Ross in the style of

Beaux-Arts architecture Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporat ...

. It was the first Carnegie library in Washington, D.C. and D.C.'s first desegregated public building. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

, as "Central Public Library", in 1969. with It was used as the central public library for Washington, D.C. for almost 70 years before it became overcrowded. The central library was then moved to

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (MLKML) is the central facility of the District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL). Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed the 400,000 square foot (37,000 m2) steel, brick, and glass structure, and it is a r ...

. After being shut down for ten years, it was renovated as part of

University of the District of Columbia The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1851 and is the only public university in the city. UDC is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall ...

Historical Society of Washington, D.C

In 1999, it became the headquarters for the

Historical Society of Washington, D.C. The Historical Society of Washington, D.C., also called the DC History Center, is an educational foundation dedicated to preserving and displaying the history of Washington, D.C. The society provides lectures, exhibits, classes, and community ev ...

The City Museum of Washington opened in the library in May 2003, but closed less than two years later. In 2014,

Events DC Events DC is the official convention, sports and entertainment authority for the District of Columbia. Events DC is a quasi-public company based in Washington, D.C. that owns and manages the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Entertainment & ...

twice sought to move the

International Spy Museum The International Spy Museum is an independent non-profit museum which documents the tradecraft, history, and contemporary role of espionage. It holds the largest collection of international espionage artifacts on public display. The museum opened ...

into the library, but failed to win historic preservation approval.

Apple Carnegie Library

In September 2016,

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

proposed renovating the library into D.C.'s second

Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell various Apple products, including Mac personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad tablet computers, Apple Watch smartwatches, Apple TV digital m ...

location. In December 2016, Events DC announced an agreement with the company for conversion of the space into a new store designed by

Foster and Partners Foster + Partners is a British architectural, engineering, and integrated design practice founded in 1967 as Foster Associates by Norman Foster. It is the largest architectural firm in the UK with over 1,500 employees in 13 studios worldwide ...

. The building was renamed the Apple Carnegie Library, and the Apple Store within opened on May 11, 2019. Apple hosts free daily sessions focused on photography, filmmaking, music creation, coding, design and more. On October 9, 2019 the first episode of

Oprah's Book Club Oprah's Book Club was a book discussion club segment of the American talk show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey started the book club in 1996, selecting a new book, usually a novel, for viewers ...

, a television series produced by Apple, was filmed with a live audience in the Library. The episode premiered on November 1 of the same year. The building also now houses the DC History Center on the second floor, and the Carnegie Gallery (featuring historic photographs and documents about the origins and history of the building) in the basement.

References

{{Authority control Carnegie libraries in Washington, D.C. Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. Beaux-Arts architecture in Washington, D.C. Mount Vernon Square

History

Historical Society of Washington, D.C

Apple Carnegie Library

See also

References