104 E PERKINS ST

104 E PERKINS ST

Taylor

Medford

1916

1999

library

Prairie School

Brick

Hans T. Liebert

No

A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. BUILT W/CARNEGIE FUNDS MOULDED BELT COURSE SEPARATES BRICK LOWER WALL FROM STUCCO UPPER STUCCO WALL W/ GEOMETRIC BRICK PANELS BRICK SQUARE COLUMNS TOPPED W/ VASES FLANK ENTRANCE STAIRS PRAIRIE SCHOOL MOTIF BRICK WORK. As of 1998, 104 E. Perkins has been abandoned by the library and is now owned by the city. The Medford Public Library is located at 400 N. Main Street. In 1999, the new library is using the old library for storage. Middle class women commonly led the way in establishing libraries in Wisconsin, partly in hopes that good books would offer men sober recreation, away from saloons. In 1902, the Medford Women's Club joined with the Women's Christian Temperance Union to organize a lending library, housed in the WCTU's Temperance Hall. By 1913, those quarters became too small to accommodate the collection, so the library board applied to the Andrew Carnegie Foundation for a grant to construct a modern library. The Medford Women's Alliance raised funds to furnish the library and purchase books. Liebert designed the building following the Carnegie Foundation’s strict guidelines, developed by Carnegie’s secretary, James Bertram. After 1908, every Carnegie library had to adopt one of Bertram’s six plans. Bertram insisted on symmetry, simplicity, and an efficient layout. The ideal Carnegie library consisted of a one-story rectangle with a small vestibule leading directly into a large reading room, edged by bookcases. A central circulation desk could divide the reading room into sections for children and adults. In the basement below, a lecture hall provided space for lyceum talks and community meetings. Bertram’s influence was most evident inside. His open plans transformed library design by emphasizing progressive, egalitarian ideals. Gone were the small rooms that had once articulated a sense of Victorian middle-class domesticity. Gone were the segregated ladies’ reading rooms. Gone were the closed stacks and other physical boundaries that had once subordinated patrons to library staff. Instead, patrons found spacious areas where they could browse and pluck the books they wanted directly from the shelves. Bertram allowed communities to express their individuality in the design of the exterior, providing that the architectural detailing was not extravagant. Most library architects chose symmetrical, classically based designs. In Wisconsin, however, many communities opted for the low, horizontal lines of the Prairie style. Here the low-hipped roof hovers above the brown brick walls, an effect created by the broad, stuccoed frieze banding the building. The fenestration extends into this frieze, rendering the band almost transparent. Below the belt course defining the frieze, a dagger motif formed of brick and tile adds Arts and Crafts ornamentation. Covenant/Easement: In Perpetuity. Effective 9-24-2010. A 'covenant file' exists for this property. It may contain additional information such as photos, drawings and correspondence. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office.

Marshfield News Herald 5/10/1997. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript.

Medford Free Public Library

Apr 01, 1993

Jan 15, 1993