Carnegie Public Library

Carnegie Public Library sits on East Fourth Street with Roman-style mottled tan and brown brick walls accented by white tile trim. The building houses over 70,000 books and can be accessed through several doors, with an elevator serving all levels.

Andrew Carnegie funded construction in 1900, while the city agreed to provide the land and cover yearly maintenance costs. The library quickly became an educational hub and gathering place for the community.

The second floor once housed exhibits from local pottery workshops, showing how deeply ceramics shaped the community's identity and daily life. These displays reflected the town's role as a major center for ceramic production.

The building is easy to navigate with multiple entry points and accessible facilities throughout. It tends to be busiest in the afternoon and on weekends, so visiting earlier in the day offers a quieter experience.

In its first year, the library lent out more books per month than the entire collection it inherited from the previous reading room. This explosive start shows how eagerly residents embraced this new resource.