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http://www.omniture.com --> Sections Home Page Local News AP News AP Entertainment Archives Business Classifieds Event Calendar Forums Life Opinion Obituaries Photo Gallery Readers Photo Gallery Sports Tempo Weather Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Distinctly Northwest Readers' Choice Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Holiday Guide Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Other Publications Local Links Ashland News eSouthernOregon Newspapers In Education Personals Moving Here Movie Listings TV Listings Volunteer Customer Service Advertise With Us Media Kit Place Classified Ad Contact Us FAQ's Home Delivery Site Map --> Email Story to a Friend December 30, 2006 The Carnegie Building Through the Years 1903-1908: Medford Library Association is formed with 50 people paying $2 each plus 25 cents per month to check out materials from a collection held at Haskins Drug Store. Women of the Greater Medford Club begin fundraising for a free library and petitioning for a Carnegie library grant. First free library opens in 1908 in a room in Medford's new City Hall (which now houses a small Mellelo's coffee shop and other tenants at Front and Sixth streets). Two requests for Carnegie grants for Medford are initially turned down. 1910: As a demonstration of support for a library in hopes of landing Carnegie funding, the city sets aside $2,000 and tears down a municipal water tower from what would become the Carnegie site. The city paid about $250 years earlier to banker Cornelius C. Beekman for the property. January 1911: Medford is approved for a Carnegie library grant of $20,000. It would become one of more than 2,500 Carnegie libraries worldwide and the money came with the stipulation that the city annually underwrite the library's operation at least 10 percent of the original grant. Feb. 18, 1912: Medford opens its new library, which includes a small museum of donated items in the basement. 1919: Jackson County takes over operation of the library, opening it to all county residents. 1952: With the city growing and the library bulging at the seams, an addition is built on the rear of original Carnegie building. 1977: Jackson County Library Board proposes to level the Carnegie building and replace it with a larger library on the same site. The board later unanimously supports saving the Carnegie building as a downtown branch with a larger main building elsewhere. 1979: City of Medford deeds the library to Jackson County. Medford stipulates that if the library vacates the building it would revert to city ownership. 1981: Carnegie building added to National Register of Historic Places. Application was made in 1980 partly as an attempt to keep the old building from being demolished. County hires architect to design new main library (proposed for Crater Lake Avenue east of Medford Center) and renovate the old Carnegie as a downtown branch, counting on a Nov. 3, 1981, bond of $5.3 million. November 2000: Voters approve a $38.9 million library construction bond, which includes new branch construction countywide and a new main library branch in Medford that will vacate the Carnegie building. April 2002: Ground is broken in Medford for the new central library branch. March 6, 2004: Carnegie library closes to allow library workers to move materials to the new building. April 4, 2004: Jackson County Central Library holds a grand opening ceremony at its new building on Central Avenue, kicking the event off with a "book brigade" in which 92 books (one for every year the Carnegie was open) are hand-delivered from the old library. The new library, five times the size of the Carnegie, opens for normal business the following day. May 2004: City solicits proposals for use of Carnegie building. Proposals for use include parks department staffing, new Southern Oregon Historical Society headquarters and a community/cultural center. July/August 2004: Engineering study reveals at least $500,000 in retrofits needed for aging Carnegie building. City hires architect to research possible uses for the now-vacant structure. When retrofit costs later escalate to about $1 million, the city slows plans to find a tenant for the building. December 2006: City announces plans to eventually reopen the Carnegie building as a community and cultural center. Sources: Oregon Library Association, Southern Oregon Historical Society, Mail Tribune archives Would you like to respond to this story? If so Click Here to visit our forums. Advertisement Copyright © 1997-2007 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback online casinos news Home Security Systems Online Casino Reviews Men's Clothing Fundraisers UK Homeowner Loans Discount Hotel Reservations Send Flowers Casinos Canada Texas Electric Choice Compare Electric rates in Texas Windermere Van Vleet Trunks, Footlocker Online poker at AbsolutePoker.com