The Main San José Carnegie Library was a Carnegie library in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

. It opened in 1903 and operated as a part of the San José Public Library, until being transferred to

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

in 1936 and demolished in 1960.

History

In 1901,

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

awarded the City of San Jose $50,000 () to build a public Carnegie Library, and on June 27, 1901, the

California State Normal School San Jose State University, San José State University traces back to 1857 when the institution operated as a normal school for the San Francisco Unified School District, San Francisco public school system. It grew in size and scope until May 2, 1862 ...

(now

San José State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State Universit ...

) agreed to donate the northwest corner of its campus, on 4th and San Fernando Streets, for the new construction. Built in a

Classical Revival style Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of the most promin ...

, it was completed in 1903 and served as the central library of the city of until 1936, when the central library moved to the old Post Office building (now the San José Museum of Art) and the building was sold back to San José State University, who converted into its

Student Union A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizatio ...

. The building was demolished in 1960 to make way for an expansion of the university’s Wahlquist Library. That library was later demolished in 2000 and replaced by the current King Library in 2003, which once again became the city’s central library.

References

{{Authority control Library buildings completed in 1903 Neoclassical architecture in California Public libraries in California Carnegie libraries in California Libraries in Santa Clara County, California San Jose State University Former library buildings in the United States Student activity centers in the United States Demolished buildings and structures in California Buildings and structures demolished in 1960

History

See also

References