|
A line forms alongside the APL bookmobile as it makes
neighborhood rounds in the mid-1950s.[PICA 01442]
The Austin Public Library celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2001, and to help commemorate the important milestone, the Austin History Center presented an exhibit entitled, "Austin Public Library Jubilee: 75 Years of Building Community." The exhibit traced the history of the Austin Public Library from its humble beginnings in a small upstairs room on Congress Avenue in 1926 all the way up to present day and was on display May 4-October 28, 2001.
|
|
Architectural rendering by Hugo F. Kuehne of the Italian Renaissance Central Library, completed in 1933. The building, located on the corner of 9th and Guadalupe Streets, served as Austin's Central Library until a new Central Library was built next door in 1979. The Kuehne building now serves as home to the Austin History Center. [PICA 01492]
|
Cozy view of the Children's Room within the new Central Library, November 13, 1933. This room now serves as the Reception Room of the Austin History Center. [PICA 25449]
|
Viewers were offered an intriguing and informative look at some of the people, organizations, programs, and challenges that shaped the organization in various ways over the years. A wonderful collection of historical photographs was gathered for the exhibit, including images of the APL bookmobile in the 1950s and some beautiful interior/exterior scenes of Austin's Central Library in the 1930s and 1940s. The exhibit featured artifacts, a pictorial timeline, and plenty of library memorabilia.
|
|
|
Library Commission members (l to r) O. Douglas Weeks, Mrs. Claude Hill, Esther Buffer, and A.W. Harris take a moment to pose in front the newly arrived "bookmobile #2," December, 1953. The first bookmobile, a gift from the Austin Chapter of the American Association of University Women, was launched in 1951. [PICA 01439]
|
Central Library customers patiently wait to check out books, c. 1962. [PICA 28201]
|
|
|
|
With an armload of books, librarian Margaret Bagley enters the Northwest Station Branch at 5923 Burnet Road in 1958. Northwest Station opened in 1956 as Austin Public Library's third branch library. [PICA 01539] |
Proud of their accomplishments, and rightly so, are these Book Week award winners at the George Washington Carver Branch, c. 1961, [PICA 28046] |
|
