The Crescent Hill Branch Library, constructed in 1908 in Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

, was one of the first of nine Carnegie

Carnegie library

A Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, including some belonging to public and university library systems...

-endowed libraries built in Louisville, and is a branch of the Louisville Free Public Library

Louisville Free Public Library

The Louisville Free Public Library is the largest public library system in Kentucky. Officially opened in 1908, the library's main site resides south of Broadway in downtown Louisville. Additional branches were added over time, including the Western Colored Branch, which was the first...

. The building has a Beaux-Arts architecture style created by the Thomas & Bohne architect firm. The west side of the library was added in 1961 and the entire library was renovated in 1988. It was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1981 for its architectural significance and the educational impact on the community up to 1924.

Renovation

In 1988 the library began its renovation process and didn't reopen to the public until March 24, 1994 with a gala reception. During the renovation progress, library materials were stored at the Masonic Home on Frankfort Avenue and remained available for use by the public.

Public relations

The library has a longstanding relationship with the community. Sallie T. Berryman, the second librarian, began in 1909 and stayed for 30 years. She started the first story hour, night classes, boy's and girl's clubs, a child health clinic, and two groups that would become the Crescent Hill Women's Club. In 1922 a memorial was created Crescent Hill residents that died in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. The library also has public Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...

available.