Free Library of Philadelphia, West Philadelphia Branch, 201 South 40th Street, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA

Significance: Completed in 1906, the West Philadelphia Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia was the first of twenty-five branch libraries built through an endowment from industrialist-turned-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The impact of Carnegie's grant program on the development of public libraries cannot be overstated. He came of age in an era when libraries were rare, privately funded institutions and access was through subscription. Believing in the power of libraries to create an egalitarian society that favored hard work over social privilege by allowing equal access to knowledge, between 1886 and 1917 he provided forty million dollars for the construction of 1,679 libraries throughout the nation. The vast resources that he allotted to library research and construction contributed significantly to the development of the American Library as a building type. In addition, by insisting that municipalities supply a building site, books, and annual maintenance funds before bestowing grants Carnegie elevated libraries from the arena of private philanthropy to that of civic responsibility.

Philadelphia was the recipient of one of the largest Carnegie grants for library construction. Although the city was among the first to establish a free library system, it had no purpose-built structures prior to the Carnegie endowment. The branch libraries were built between 1905 and 1930, under the direction of the city appointed Carnegie Fund Committee, and designed by a "who's-who" of Philadelphia's architects. The twenty extant branch libraries remain as a remarkable intact and cohesive grouping, rivaled only by that of New York City, with fifty-seven. The West Philadelphia Branch was the work of Clarence C. Zantzinger. Likely as a result of its primacy, the library is somewhat more sophisticated in design and materials than later branches; it has terra cotta facing and exhibits elements of the French Renaissance style rather than the almost-formulaic understated brick construction and Beaux Arts styling that came to define Carnegie Libraries both in Philadelphia and nationwide. The lot on which the library was constructed was donated by local citizen and library enthusiast Clarence H. Clark.
Survey number: HABS PA-6765
Building/structure dates: 1906 Initial Construction