Before the internet, a Google search for information more often sent you to your local library. A library was a central hub of knowledge and entertainment. From books, periodicals, to microfiche, visual and audio forms, just about everything. Libraries were and still are for all ages and are very relevant today. I still borrow books from our local library and am very thankful to be able to do so.
The “Old” Main Library in downtown Cincinnati once occupied an opera house at 629 Vine Street. It was considered in its day as the most magnificent public library building in the country. Harpers Weekly described it as “The first impression made upon the mind of entering this hall is the immense capacity for storing books in its five tiers of alcoves, and then the eye is attracted and gratified by its graceful and carefully studied architecture…” The Old Main Library was replaced by the “New Main Library” in 1955 and a few blocks away.
In its glorious day, built in 1874, the checkerboard marble floors were illuminated by an atrium of skylight ceiling. Shelving was made of cast iron reaching five tiers. Over the entrances were the busts of Shakespeare, Milton, and Benjamin Franklin.
Looking at some of the historical photos, I’m impressed at how full the building is, not just books that seem to line every surface but by the patrons. One photo shows kids waiting for the library to open and they are reading books to pass the time. It may be a stretch but this is what the “Greatest Generation” did.
(Photo credit: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County).
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