Addressee: Mr. Ben Klock Polson Camp 1 Hoquiam Wahs

The Carnegie Library, built in 1903 is now home to the Special Collections department of the Tacoma Public Library. The Pierce County Courthouse is visible in the upper right corner, and the old Central School can be seen to the left. Printed on front: Tacoma, Wash. Public Library, Court House in the distance.

Current location of Tacoma Public Library's Main Branch. Printed on front: Public Library also showing Court House, Tacoma, Wash.

Current location of Tacoma Public Library's Main Branch with the Armory and Courthouse in the background. Printed on front: Carnegie Library, Court House and State Armory, Tacoma, Wn.

Current location of Tacoma Public Library's Main Branch. Printed on front: Carnegie Public Library and Court House -- Tacoma, Wash.

Current location of Tacoma Public Library's Main Branch. Printed on front: Public Library and Court House, Tacoma, Washington.

Current location of Tacoma Public Library's Main Branch with the Armory and Courthouse in the background. Printed on front: Carnegie Library, Court House and State Armory, Tacoma, Wn.

Current location of Tacoma Public Library's Main Branch. Printed on front: Public Library and Court House, Tacoma, Washington.

Current location of Tacoma Public Library's Main Branch. Shown is the Carnegie Library exterior and interior.

• The Carnegie Library, built in 1903 is now home to the Special Collections department of the Tacoma Public Library. The Pierce County Courthouse is visible in the upper right corner, and the old Central School can be seen to the left. circa 1909.
• Printed on front: Carnegie Library & Pierce Co. Court House, Tacoma, Wash.

• An early view of the Carnegie Building, part of the Tacoma Public Library's Main location. It now houses the library's Special Collections in the Northwest Room. circa 1914.
• Printed on front: Carnegie Library, Court House, State Armory and Central School, Tacoma, Wash.

• Tacoma's Carnegie Library, built in 1903, now home to the Northwest Room and Special Collections. circa 1906.
• Printed on front: Carnegie Library, Tacoma, Washington (Court House Tower Beyond)

• Large postcard commemorating the renovation and expansion of the Main Library. circa 1990.
• Printed on front: The Tacoma Public Library

ca. 1971. 1971 Richards color stock footage. View of the Tacoma Public Library, located at the corner of So. 11th & Tacoma Ave. So. The Carnegie Building, built in 1903 with funds donated by industrialist Andrew Carnegie, is center-left. It now holds the Special Collections including the Rare Book Room. The Main Library, with its Walker Wilkeson sandstone exterior, was built in 1952. It would be closed for remodeling in 1987 for nearly three years. In 2006 the Main Library is again undergoing remodeling with closure of the 11th St. entrance and several departments reorganized.

Public libraries--Tacoma; Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma);

The American Institute of Steel Construction sponsored an exhibition in the Tacoma Public Library's Handforth Gallery on structural steel in architecture. Photographs and sculptures were on display in mid-May, 1958. View of portion of Handforth Gallery, bright fluorescent lighting was aided by the use of small spotlights further illuminating the photographs on the wall. Photograph ordered by Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation.

Exhibitions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Steel industry--Tacoma; Thomas S. Handforth Gallery (Tacoma); Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma);

An exhibition of photographs and artwork was sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction and held in the Tacoma Public Library's Handforth Gallery in mid-May, 1958. All displays dealt with structural steel in today's architecture, including an metal art piece created by Glen Alps, professor of art at the University of Washington, entitled "Contours." Photograph ordered by Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation.

Exhibitions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Steel industry--Tacoma; Signs (Notices); Thomas S. Handforth Gallery (Tacoma); Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma);

Tacoma Public Library; two book shelves in the cataloging room. These 42 volumes published by Yale University Press were an anonymous gift to the library in the memory of George Fitch Stacy of Tacoma, Yale class of 1885. This donation was received in 1943 and was in addition to the George Stacy memorial gift of 258 volumes received March 4, 1937.

Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Public libraries--Tacoma; Books;

An unidentified young woman, dressed in a flowered calf-length frock, exits the Main branch of the Tacoma Public Library, 1102 Tacoma Ave So., in July, 1954. Book in hand, she has pushed open the glass door leading to the small foyer. There is an arrangement of music sheets and scales with a stringed instrument in the side display window. The new main library building had opened in 1952. Photograph ordered by the Crane Co.

Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Public libraries--Tacoma; Window displays--Tacoma--1950-1960; Women--Clothing & dress--Tacoma--1950-1960;

ca. 1954. Directly below an enormous circular skylight is a matching circular stage. Both were located in the Tacoma Public Library's Main Branch circa 1954. This auditorium was located in the library's older Carnegie Building portion and was used for public and staff meetings. The skylight has since been beautifully restored and a focus point in what is now the library's Northwest Room which houses special collections including Northwest history, Genealogy, and a Rare Book Room.

Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Public libraries--Tacoma--1950-1960; Skylights--Tacoma; Stages (Platforms); Auditoriums--Tacoma; Chairs;

ca. 1954. An elevated view of what may be the basement of the Tacoma Public Library was taken possibly in the summer of 1954. There are rows of shelving, most filled with books and manuals. This may be the reference section of the basement. Photograph ordered by the Crane Co.

Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Public libraries--Tacoma; Bookstacks--Tacoma; Books;

ca. 1954. There was ample space for meetings in the Carnegie Library building, a part of the Tacoma Public Library's Main branch. Rows of chairs face a semi-circle around the circular stage. An enormous skylight is situated directly above the stage. The room pictured here is now part of the library's Northwest Room; the skylight has been restored and is the room's focal point. The Northwest Room houses a large and extensive collection of northwest history in addition to genealogy resources. Photograph ordered by the Crane Co.

Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Public libraries--Tacoma--1950-1960; Skylights--Tacoma; Stages (Platforms); Auditoriums--Tacoma; Chairs;

A man and a young girl approximately two-years old sit on a bench built into a large stone fireplace surround built of stone. The fireplace was included in the children's library on the second story of the new addition to the Tacoma Public Library built in 1952. The fireplace was removed during the complete remodeling of the building in 1987. Ordered by Ann E. (Mrs. Thomas J.) Porro, Tacoma Public Library.

Public libraries--Tacoma; Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Fireplaces--Tacoma;

ca. 1952. Librarian Elfriede Gudelius displays one of the many bound volumes of the Tacoma News Tribune stored in the basement of the Tacoma Public Library's new Main Library. The library kept copies of the News Tribune, Daily Ledger and Tacoma Times on rows of metal shelving. The volumes could be retrieved for use by patrons and/or staff.

Gudelius, Elfriede; Librarians; Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma)--Employees; Public libraries--Tacoma--1950-1960; Newspapers--Tacoma; Bookstacks--Tacoma;

ca. 1952. Arlys Olson, a clerical worker in the Order Department, kneels next to the Official Seal of the Tacoma Public Library which was located in the floor at the main entrance to the building. The date 1894 refers to the year the City of Tacoma took over financing the library.

Olson, Arlys; Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma)--Employees; Public libraries--Tacoma--1950-1960; Seals (Insignia)

Father Time Has a New Face. Mrs. Betty Overland, clerk in the Fine Arts department of the Tacoma Public Library, stands on a ladder next to a wall clock placed high above book stacks. This photograph was included in a special section of the October 31, 1952 News Tribune filled with articles and photographs of the new Main Library. The clock shown above was embedded in the wall with stainless steel rectangles and triangles appearing as its "numerals." It, and other clocks, was an example of modern features now prevalent throughout the new structure. (TNT 10-31-1952, C-2)

Overland, Betty; Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Public libraries--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma)--Employees; Clocks & watches; Books;

ca. 1952. Mrs. Patricia Reed, a clerical worker in the Order Department, examines several cumulative book indexes in this circa 1952 photograph. The Order Department was located on the second floor of the new Tacoma Public Library building located at 1102 Tacoma Ave. So. Books and other materials would be ordered for the Main library and its other branches and once received, would be catalogued and delivered to the designated locations. (TNT 10-31-1952, C-6)

Reed, Patricia; Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma)--Employees; Public libraries--Tacoma--1950-1960; Books;

Somewhere in this stack of books must be the answer! Kenneth Morrison intently examines one of the many reference sources found in the Tacoma Public Library's new Main Library. Awaiting his perusal are copies of Granger's Index to Poetry, Columbia Encyclopedia, Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, Information Please Almanac, Index to Children's Poetry, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable and Twentieth Century Authors. Kenneth was looking for a quotation needed for school work. Students were urged to ask for assistance from library staff if they needed help with tough questions. The Main Library was dedicated on November 2, 1952 and provided residents with a much larger building and expanded collection of books. (TNT 10-31-1952, C-12)

Morrison, Kenneth; Books; Reading--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Public libraries--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Agnes Martin, a clerical worker in the General Reference Department, looks over a hanging row of newspapers at the new Tacoma Public Library Main location in late 1952. Each paper was in its plainly marked niche. Four patrons are enjoying reading in the Newspaper area on the first floor, sitting at spacious tables with backstops that were designed to prevent personal belongings from falling to the floor. The area's new bright lighting was highly praised by readers. The smoking lounge is directly in the rear, next to the staircase. This room was set aside for people to relax and read while smoking. (TNT 10-31-1952, C-13)

Martin, Agnes; Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma)--Employees; Public libraries--Tacoma--1950-1960; Newspapers--Tacoma--1950-1960; Reading--Tacoma--1950-1960;

ca. 1952. Mrs. Constance Piccioni and Mrs. Charlotte Rafto, assistants in the Acquisitions Department, Catalog section of the Tacoma Public Library, are busy at work in this 1952 photograph. Each has her own desk, complete with typewriter. Facing them are rows of card catalogues. Charlotte (Mrs. John) Rafto was a graduate of the University of Wyoming and had obtained her library degree from Pratt Institute. She had previous library experience with Cornell University as a document cataloguer and with Harvard law library as an English law cataloguer. (TNT 8-21-1952, A-12-small article on new Tacoma librarians including information on Mrs. Rafto)

Piccioni, Constance; Rafto, Charlotte; Librarians; Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma)--Employees; Public libraries--Tacoma--1950-1960; Typewriters;

Northbound view of Tacoma Avenue South in the fall of 1952, showing newly completed Main Branch of the Tacoma Public Library and older Carnegie Library with impressive dome. The library's third-floor deck overlooks the Charles Geiger Building (formerly housing the Lein & Selig drugstore). It appears to now have the Sunshine Apartments on the top floors. Leeder's Grocery, Tacoma Meats, City Dye Works, the Carpenters Building and on the So. 8th St. block, Central School, are lined up on the same side of the street as the new library. The Geiger Building and businesses adjacent to it would be demolished later in the decade for the construction of the new County-City Building. The Main Library would be extensively remodeled in the late 1980's.

Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Public libraries--Tacoma--1950-1960; Charles Geiger Building (Tacoma); Central School (Tacoma); Carpenters Building (Tacoma); City Dye Works (Tacoma); Signs (Notices);