Built c. 1918, the Panguitch Carnegie Library is significant as one of sixteen remaining Carnegie libraries of the twenty-three built in Utah. Thirteen of the sixteen library buildings maintain their original integrity and are included in the Carnegie Library Thematic Resource Nomination. In addition to making significant contributions to public education in their respective communities, these libraries are Utah’s representatives of the important nation-wide Carnegie library program, and they document its unparalleled effect in the establishment of community-supported, free public libraries in Utah.
Located at 75 East Center Street in Panguitch, Utah. It is on the National Historic Register (#84000148).
I really liked seeing the cool clinker brick on the face near the entrance.
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The Panguitch Carnegie Library was built c. 1918 with a $6,000 grant from millionaire/philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie funded the construction of over 1650 library buildings in the U.S., 23 of which were built in Utah communities. The conditions upon which all Carnegie grants were given were that the recipient community donate the building site and provide an annual maintenance budget of at least 10% of the grant amount.
The Panguitch Carnegie Library was one of the smallest of the Carnegie libraries built in the state. The $6000 grant received by the town was much less than the $10,000 or more that was given to 17 of the 23 Utah towns that built Carnegie libraries. Parowan also received $6000, and Tooele received only $5000. The property upon which the library was built was purchased by the city in February 1916, soon after the city received the Carnegie grant. Architect of the building was probably Isaac L. Wright of Richfield, who worked in the Richfield area from about 1912 to 1919.
The library building was evidently completed in 1918, as indicated by the minutes of the city council meeting of May 22, 1918 in which the lighting and furnishing of the building was discussed.
The Panguitch Carnegie Library was apparently not the first library to be established in the town but it has certainly been the most long-lasting, having continued to serve as the town’s library up to the present. The building has also served the city in other capacities, although auxiliary uses of Carnegie library buildings were disapproved of by the Carnegie Library Board. The basement and west room of the building have been used extensively for city meetings and even as city offices.
The Panguitch Carnegie Library is a one story rectangular brick building with a raised basement and a flat roof. It was designed in no particular style, but the balance of the decorative elements and openings on the façade, and the
suggestion of a classical portico in the frontispiece of the entrance give it a slightly classical flavor.
The façade is symmetrical, with a raised entrance centered between two bands of windows. There are three panels per window band, and each band has a transom with an elliptical upper edge. Each transom is accented by squares of
stick work. Above the windows are decorative ledges supported by brackets. Below the windows are pairs of double hung sash basement windows. An arch motif links the openings on the façade. The transom over the entrance is
arched, as is the opening of the frontispiece, the transoms over the large front windows, and the contrasting dark brick relieving arches of the large front and basement windows. The most prominent feature on the façade is the brick and frame frontispiece at the entrance. Brick piers frame the entrance and are topped by truncated frame piers and an entablature with dentils under the cornice.
No alterations have been made to the exterior of the building, therefore it maintains its original integrity.
