Niagara Falls Public Library

The Niagara Falls Public Library, located at 1425 Main Street, in Niagara Falls in Niagara County, New York. The Main Library is the largest library in the Niagara-Orleans-Genesee Library System. The Main Library in the Earl W. Brydges Building, was built in 1974 by Paul Rudolph, and the LaSalle Branch is located at 8728 Buffalo Avenue in the LaSalle District of Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls Public Library
Niagara Falls Public Library - Main Library
Location1425 Main St., Niagara Falls, New York
Coordinates43°5′56″N 79°3′16″W
Built1974
ArchitectRudolph, Paul.
NRHP reference No.74001282[1]
Added to NRHPJune 05, 1974

History

The Brydges Building opened March 9, 1974, after when the library's collections had outgrown the former Carnegie Library down the street. As of 1995, the library's Centennial, more than 400,000 printed volumes, periodicals, media, and a wide variety of other publications and documents were located within the library. The third floor is home to a vibrant Local History Department, containing more the 10,000 books and thousands of pictures and other ephemera, worked to preserve the rich history of Niagara Falls. Special youth collections and services were provided in a highly functional and attractive Children's Department, and the Audio Visual Department was expanding its services to meet the high demand for video recordings and other media.

The Niagara Falls Public Library was originally built in 1814 when head man General Parkhurst Whitney and a group founded the "Grand Niagara Library" with a collection of 40 books. The library extended to 502 books in 1852.[2] With the expansion of so many books, the library outgrew its old home and moved into the Frontier Mart on Falls Street. On Falls Street, the library was ran from two rooms in the Arcade Building. The library first opened on February 1, 1895 and February 28, 1895. The Niagara Falls Public Library opened fully and was signed by Melvin Dewey.[2]

In 1927, the Village of LaSalle became part of the Niagara Falls area bringing with it a library, post office, police office, and a jail. The library of LaSalle became a place of joint community where kids would read picture books and adults would meet in the main reading room.[2] The library was directed and ran by Mrs. Alfreda Walker and after Mrs. Fred Campbell. Throughout the thirty years that LaSalle was a part of the Niagara Falls library branch, many other libraries were introduced on Niagara Street, 14th Street, and Pine Avenue.[2] In the 1950s and 60s, bookmobiles were created and the one library to survive was the LaSalle branch. The library expanded once the post office relocated in the 1950s. Thus the externalities that come with a library flourished like staff number, collection size, and in 2008 LaSalle became the sole branch of the Niagara Falls Library branch.[2]

The Niagara Falls Public library offers online e-books, audiobooks, magazines, and videos. The library also online learning resources like tech tips, legal resources, and local attractions. Most importantly the Niagara Falls Public Library holds around 83,000 books.[2]

In the 2005 budget of the Niagara Falls, The Niagara Falls Public Library was written to get about 2 million dollars to fund to stay open and provide the necessary expenses to allow the library to do what it needed to do for the community.[3] Throughout the year, other amounts were placed to be given to the libraries to keep it open for the year and to be supported by Niagara Falls. The Niagara Falls Public library continued to be written in amounts due to them in further upcoming years.[3]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "Niagara Falls, NY Public Library". www.niagarafallspubliclib.org. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  3. "Niagara Falls Public Library wins lawsuit against city". American Libraries. 2005-11-01. Retrieved 2019-11-14.


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