Jacksonville Public Library

The Jacksonville Public Library is a Carnegie library located at 201 West College Avenue in Jacksonville, Illinois. The library was built in 1902 to house the city's library program, which began in 1870. Chicago architects Patton & Miller designed the Classical Revival building. The building still houses the city's public library and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Jacksonville began its library program in 1870, but the library did not have a permanent home for its first three decades. The original program was a members-only program based out of the county courthouse. A free reading room opened in 1874, and the City of Jacksonville took control of the library in 1881; at this time, it was relocated to the city's YMCA. The library moved to a larger space in a building on South Main Street in 1897, but by this point it was growing fast enough to need a separate building. Lawyer L. O. Vaught petitioned Andrew Carnegie for a donation to build a library in 1901; the Carnegie Foundation gave the city $40,000 for a building. The library was built in 1902 and opened to the public in February of the following year.

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