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A line forms alongside the APL bookmobile as it makes
neighborhood rounds in the mid-1950s.[PICA 01442]
The Austin Public Library is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, and to help commemorate the important milestone, the Austin History Center is presenting a new exhibit entitled, "Austin Public Library Jubilee: 75 Years of Building Community," on display May 4-October 28, 2001. The exhibit traces the history of the Austin Public Library from its humble beginnings in a small upstairs room on Congress Avenue in 1926 all the way up to present day.
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Architectural rendering by Hugo F. Kuehne of the Italian Renaissance Central Library, completed in 1933. The building, located on the corner of 9th and Guadalupe Streets, served as Austin's Central Library until a new Central Library was built next door in 1979. The Kuehne building now serves as home to the Austin History Center. [PICA 01492]
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Cozy view of the Children's Room within the new Central Library, November 13, 1933. This room now serves as the Reception Room of the Austin History Center. [PICA 25449]
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Viewers are offered an intriguing and informative look at some of the people, organizations, programs, and challenges that have shaped the organization in various ways over the years. A wonderful collection of historical photographs has been gathered for the exhibit, including images of the APL bookmobile in the 1950s and some beautiful interior/exterior scenes of Austin's Central Library in the 1930s and 1940s. The exhibit also features artifacts, a pictorial timeline, and plenty of library memorabilia.
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Library Commission members (l to r) O. Douglas Weeks, Mrs. Claude Hill, Esther Buffer, and A.W. Harris take a moment to pose in front the newly arrived "bookmobile #2," December, 1953. The first bookmobile, a gift from the Austin Chapter of the American Association of University Women, was launched in 1951. [PICA 01439]
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Central Library customers patiently wait to check out books, c. 1962. [PICA 28201]
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The free exhibit may be seen during regular hours at the Austin History Center: 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Monday-Thursday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and noon-6 p.m. on Sunday. The Austin History Center is located at 810 Guadalupe Street, adjacent to the John Henry Faulk Central Library, and serves as a special branch of the Austin Public Library system. For more information on the Austin History Center Association, which is a nonprofit citizens' group dedicated to the support of the Austin History Center, visit http://www.ahca.net or call 512-974-7383.
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With an armload of books, librarian Margaret Bagley enters the Northwest Station Branch at 5923 Burnet Road in 1958. Northwest Station opened in 1956 as Austin Public Library's third branch library. [PICA 01539] |
Proud of their accomplishments, and rightly so, are these Book Week award winners at the George Washington Carver Branch, c. 1961, [PICA 28046] |
Two traveling exhibits offering condensed versions of the exhibit will be circulating among APL's various branch libraries for the remainder of the year. For more information on the traveling exhibits or on APL's 75th anniversary "Jubilee Celebration," visit the APL Web site at: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/.
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