These are the times in which St.
Louis Public Library is born into, a time of great prosperity and national
significance. It is no wonder Andrew
Carnegie chose to bestow a generous library grant to St. Louis. The Central branch of the St. Louis Public
Library had humble beginnings as a subscription library for the St. Louis
Public School. It was known then as the
Public School Library Society. Ira
Divoll, the Superintendent of Schools, believed that there was a need for
supplemental free reading materials for the new public school. His first attempt to set up the library was
in 1860, but as the Civil War began he was unable to gain funding for this
project (Van Ausdal 5). In 1865, a
charter was approved by the Missouri legislature that allowed Divoll and
private citizens to establish a public school library and lyceum. Although the school board was not required to
provide space for the library, they were able to use shelving in the school
board session room in the Darby building to house a collection, which by
December 1865, had grown to over three thousand books. In December they were able to lease another
room in the building, and formally opened the reading room and stacks to the
public (7). The library was intended
for use by the entire community, but was initially viewed as a children’s
library due to the large number of juvenile materials. The efforts to enroll children were mainly
headed by John J. Bailey, whose story times were described as spellbinding and
unforgettable (7). As the
library grew out of its space with an ever expanding collection, ownership of
the library was transferred to the school board in April 1869. This transfer allowed the library to move
into the second floor Polytechnic Building, where it had better lighting and
more space to continue growing. The
profession of librarianship was also growing in this era, the American Library
Association was formed, the government was issuing special reports on the profession,
and a professional journal was being published.
Bailey, who became head librarian in 1865, was restricted and criticized
by the school board for his professional decisions. He was also insistent that the board begin
collecting novels, which it found to be in poor taste despite public interest
(8). These disagreements
eventually led to Bailey’s dismissal, allowing Frederick Crunden’s era to
begin.
Frederick
Crunden had little library background when he accepted the position of
director, however he would remain one of the most important director’s in the
history of the library. Crunden’s first
years as director were initially met with criticism that he catered only to the
rich, and was told to generally keep out of school board business. He was able to navigate the fine line between
answering public demands for population fiction, while reassuring the board
that these were not the only books read in the collection. The profile of the library on both local and
national levels was increased as Crunden hosted a variety of entertainment
events and exhibitions (11).
Crunden also oversaw a major renovation of the library in which the
rooms were filled with rich decoration and elegant architectural pieces, as the
library moved into the new Polytechnic Building. In an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Crunden notes that his inspiration for the
organization of the new library space was drawn from a recent meeting of the
ALA in September, 1890. The library now
held permanent displays including specimens, paintings, drawings and sculptures
(11). The reading room became a
popular space for the entire spectrum of society. As the library had no restrictions on age,
children and young adults were frequent visitors, come to study, meet friends,
and flirt (12). The influx of
users continued to grow, as did material and service costs. In order to offset the cost of materials and
operating funds, membership fees were raised and the library board was told
that it would have to raise the budget.
In 1885, after a failed attempt the year before, the legislation passed
a bill that would allow city residents to vote on raising taxes to support the
library. The bill was not put to a vote
for taxpayers until 1893, while the library managed to fit in few expansions
and updates with their limited school board budget. The bill was passed by an overwhelming
majority: 36,235 to 6,188. What followed
was a battle of wills between Crunden and the school board, who demanded rent
and thousands for the current furniture from the new board. Crunden even shut down the library for a day,
while the board closed the elevators. Crunden was nearly dismissed, but he refused
to leave without the board proving just cause to fire him. Finally, after the infighting and bureaucratic
squabbles, the library was passed to the Free Library Board in March 1894.
Within a year of opening, the library would see its collection grow to become
the largest west of the Mississippi and would see a fourfold increase in
circulation and registration (13).
As the library became the St. Louis Public Library, it garnered national
attention, and the attention of its greatest benefactor.
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