| Auburn Public Library | |
| Location: | 306 Auburn Ave., Auburn, Washington |
| Coordinates: | 47.3094°N -122.2272°W |
| Architect: | Myers, David J. |
| Added: | August 3, 1982 |
| Area: | less than one acre |
| Refnum: | 82004221 |
The Auburn Public Library is a former library building located in Auburn, Washington listed on the National Register of Historic Places.The Auburn Carnegie library is a rectangular 2-story brick building with a cast concrete foundation. It has a hip roof with a slight flare at the projecting eaves. The roof is composition tile. The building measures 35feetby50feetft (byft), and there is a 4feetby10feetft (byft) extension at the center of the west facade.[1] The extension projects above the eaves. The gable is highlighted with a parapet trimmed with pressed metal. A 12feet cast stone entrance arch with two panel doors in the face of the extension forms the main entry.[1] Fenestration consists of long casement windows in front and smaller ones on the sides and in back. Above each is a small fixed window divided by muntins into eight triangular panes.[1]
Women volunteers promoted and staffed the early libraries of Auburn. In 1912, the city was promised $9,000 by Andrew Carnegie for a library. It opened in 1914. The land was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Authur C. Ballard, who originally had plated Auburn as the "Town of Slaughter." The donation contained a condition that the land would revert to the original owners when it ceased to be used for a library. The Carnegie building served the community for many years, but it ultimately proved too small to hold all the books and magazines it owned. In 1962, a $225,000 bond issue was approved by the voters and a new library opened in 1964. The proviso about the land being used for library purposes was then discovered and the property reverted to the Ballard family.[1] It is a pure example of the typical Carnegie Library and is unaltered. The architect made a conscientious effort to incorporate all Carnegie's suggestions for library design, and all the elements of what Carnegie considered important are faithfully represented.[1]