Ayer Public Library (Delavan, Illinois)
Ayer Public Library | |
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Location | 200 Locust St., Delavan, Illinois |
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Coordinates | 40°22′27″N 89°32′49″W / 40.37417°N 89.54694°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1914 |
Built by | Lillibridge, Ray |
Architect | Simmons, A.T. |
Architectural style | Classical Revival |
MPS | Illinois Carnegie Libraries MPS |
NRHP reference No. | 98001352[1] |
Added to NRHP | November 12, 1998 |
The Ayer Public Library is a Carnegie library located at 200 Locust Street in Delavan, Illinois. The library was the city's fifth attempt at forming a library; it succeeded and assumed the collection of a library founded in 1902 by the Blue Button Army temperance organization. When the Blue Button library closed in 1907, supporter Amos K. Ayer called for the city to establish a permanent public library. With Ayer's financial backing, a library for all citizens of Delavan Township was approved the same year; however, it used a temporary space and lacked a permanent home until the city applied to the Carnegie Foundation for assistance in 1912. After a protracted misunderstanding with James Bertram, who expected a city library tax and did not understand that the township provided tax support, the Foundation provided a $10,000 grant for the library and construction began in 1914. The Classical Revival library opened later in the year; it remains open to this day.[2]
The library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 12, 1998.[1]
References
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Ayer Public Library" (PDF). Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. May 1975. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
- Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois
- Carnegie libraries in Illinois
- Neoclassical architecture in Illinois
- Library buildings completed in 1914
- National Register of Historic Places in Tazewell County, Illinois
- Public libraries in Illinois
- Illinois Registered Historic Place stubs