Woodland Public Library, Carnegie library in Woodland, United States.
Woodland Public Library is a Mission Revival library building on First Street in downtown Woodland, California. Dodge & Dolliver of San Francisco designed the first phase, built by contractor William Henry Curson, after Andrew Carnegie's 1903 grant of $10,000; Carnegie's secretary James Bertram objected to the style. A west wing by W.H. Weeks followed in 1915, and the 1985-approved expansion added the Leake Room and an interior courtyard, doubling the building's size by 1988.
Woodland's free public library opened in a corner of City Hall in 1891 after a $500 donation. In 1903 Andrew Carnegie granted $10,000 for a dedicated building, designed by San Francisco firm Dodge & Dolliver in Mission Revival style over the objection of Carnegie's secretary James Bertram; William Henry Curson, contractor of the Woodland Opera House, built it. Carnegie gave $12,000 more in 1915 for a west wing by W.H. Weeks, and further expansions followed in 1927-1929 and 1985-1988.
The library's origins lie in ice-cream socials and book donations organised by Woodland's women in 1874, and a $500 gift in 1891 opened a free public library in a corner of City Hall. From 1915 to 1979 the city and Yolo County libraries shared the building, with separate entrances marked "City Library" on First Street and "County Library" on Court Street.
The library stands at First and Court streets in downtown Woodland, part of the Downtown Woodland Historic District. The original entrance faces First Street, while the 1915 west wing opens onto Court Street under a "County Library" sign. The building is a contributing property of the historic district, so it is reached on foot from the surrounding downtown blocks.
The 1903 design by Dodge & Dolliver was chosen against the objection of James Bertram, Andrew Carnegie's personal secretary, who disliked the Mission Revival style for Carnegie libraries. The same firm later designed the San Mateo County Courthouse, and the contractor William Henry Curson had built the Woodland Opera House.
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