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About ECL |
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History
In 1903 Andrew Carnegie offered to donate $10,000 to the city of Eufaula for the construction of a public library. On February 9, 1903, the city council accepted Carnegie’s offer, noting that the library “will enhance the value of citizenship and result in good to all the people.” According to the Eufaula Times and News, the city also agreed to appropriate $1,000 annually “to keep the library up.”
Local architect Charles A. Stephens designed the building, and the construction contract was let to Algernon Blair of Montgomery.
By October 3, 1903, the first brick was laid in the foundation of the library lot on the corner of Eufaula Avenue and St. James Street. The building was completed and turned over to the city in March 1904.
The city council ordained that the library be managed by a board of trustees selected by the council to serve three-year terms. Among the first board members were John B. Whitlock, Cliff A. Locke, Frank L. McCoy, George H. Dent, Jake Stern, Henry C. Holleman, and Lillie Drewry Mitchell. The first librarian was Teresa Miller.
The Eufaula Carnegie Library began service with its formal opening on May 6, 1904. Its opening collection, largely donated by citizens, consisted of more than 1,000 books and magazines. The Eufaula Times and News reported that it would be “a fine place to while away the hours . . . wrestling with the bright minds of the world.”
The first librarian’s salary was $500 per year. The operating expenses for the library’s first six months totaled $525.60, with funds coming from donations, auditorium rentals, member fees and fines.
By 1908 the library was boasting 16,617 circulations per year. The annual budget was $829.81, including $21.94 in fees and fines.
In June 1930 the Eufaula Tribune reported “the books in the library are almost threadbare from so much reading and there are no funds to buy more.” During the Depression, the library received only $5 per month from the city.
By 1948, the annual budget had increased to $2,090, with the librarian’s salary set at $600 per year.
Over the years Eufaula Carnegie was used for many cultural and civic events. The library auditorium was headquarters for the City Federation of Women’s Clubs formed in 1912. In 1946 the U.S. Government rented the auditorium for training programs for veterans under the G.I. Bill of Rights.
For many years the library provided meeting rooms for the Boy Scout troop sponsored by the Eufaula Kiwanis Club.
An addition to the library was completed in 1990 at a cost of over $600,000. It doubled the size of the original facility and was carefully designed to complement and match the design of the original structure. Alabama Historical Association Executive Director Larry Oakes called the addition “one of the finest additions to a historical structure that we have seen anywhere.”
In May 2004 Eufaula Carnegie Library celebrated its one-hundredth anniversary with an open house and gala celebration. Today Eufaula Carnegie is one of only two Carnegie libraries still operating as libraries in the state of Alabama.
Architecture
Carnegie Libraries are known for their beautiful construction and such features as stained glass, fireplaces, marble, high ceilings, and impressive entrances. Eufaula Carnegie Library is no exception. Among the features any visitor should note are:
The building’s two-story brick façade with pressed yellow trim The arched transom of colored glass above the West (Eufaula Avenue) entrance The gabled portico with a set of round Doric columns outside the North (St. James) entrance The two front rooms of the library (now used as the genealogy/local history room and the director’s office) with identical corner fireplaces, and high wooden mantels supported by Ionic columns
One of the outstanding features of Eufaula Carnegie Library is its large second-floor auditorium. In the library’s early years, the auditorium was the scene of high school graduation ceremonies, dances, and public events. Local artists, as well as visiting ones, presented entertainments of all kinds on the auditorium’s stage: dramas, comedies, and many Shakespearean productions.
Dressing rooms originally flanked the auditorium on both sides. When the addition to the library was added in 1990, one of the dressing rooms was altered to create a walkway to the new area.
Both the stage and the remaining dressing room (now used for storage) have slanted or “raked” stages of the type popular in the early 1900s. It was believed that this type of stage afforded the audience a better view of everyone onstage.
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| 217 N. Eufaula Avenue - Eufaula, AL 36027 - Phone: (334) 687-2337 - Fax: (334) 687-8143 | |
