Diamond Jubilee: Central Library, St Louis

The train ride to the Gateway City was short from Springfield and I felt excited to explore a new place. We crossed the Mississippi from Illinois and I caught a glimpse of the Gateway Arch. Sadly, the city skyline was underwhelming. The train slowly pulled into the station. St Louis long ago abandoned its beautiful railway station and now Amtrak serves a mostly underground, bus/train terminal. Exiting was confusing and I needed to cross a highway to get to the hotel (which I could see across the road but had difficulty walking to). America hates pedestrians.

Finally, I entered the hotel and checked in. The place was cavernous - something industrial turned into hundreds of rooms. During COVID the place was mostly empty which lent it a creepy air. Definitely my least favorite hotel of the trip for services, at least it was across from the train station.

I set off to explore.

the library

Straight down 14th Street from the hotel lies the St Louis Public library. On the way there I crossed a magnificent mall, giving some competition to Indianapolis in its layout. By the time I reached the library, I was already impressed.

St. Louis Public Library was established in 1865 as the Public School Library Society of St. Louis. In the beginning, it was a subscription Library open only to paying members. Then it opened to the public for reference and reading on the premises in 1874. During 1893-94, the Library was re-established by voters to be run by an independent board and supported by a property tax as a free service available to all St. Louis residents. In 1901 Andrew Carnegie made a substantial gift to the St. Louis Public Library which allowed for the construction of Central Library and six neighborhood Branches, four of which still exist today (Barr, Cabanne, Carpenter and Carondelet) and are still in use. The original collection owned by the Library in 1865 included 1,500 books and by 1893, that number had grown to 90,000 items. Between 1894 and 1917 book deliveries, children’s programs and a Librarian training school began.

https://www.slpl.org/our-history/

St Louis Public Library might only be surpassed by the New York Public Library in architectural terms. The exterior is impressive, but the interior is flat out astounding. I literally walked around the building slack-jawed. I had made a good choice for my first visit in the city (after a frustrating arrival).

Tiffany window (there are several)

I exited at the rear of the building in a state of awe. Inside the library, one of the staff suggested I see the well-known butterfly sculpture next to the building. Apparently, it was locally well-known. After experiencing the library interior, the sculpture left me flat.

July 2021

My head still swimming with Andrew Carnegie's legacy gift to the city, I walked back toward the central mall to explore the heart of the city.

St Louis - amazing!