The Fulton County Library System (FCLS; originally the Atlanta Public Library, or APL) is descended from the Young Men's Library Association (YMLA), a subscription library system established in 1867.[2][3] The YMLA occupied several locations before moving to Marietta Street in 1892.[4] A central public library for Atlanta was suggested in 1897 by Walter M. Kelly, a member of the YMLA's board who argued that the YMLA could not serve Atlanta's growing population.[5][6] Kelly, a regional manager for the industrialist Andrew Carnegie, had become involved with the YMLA following a request from the association's president Eugene M. Mitchell, the father of writer Margaret Mitchell.[7] In turn, Kelly convinced Carnegie to donate money for a public library in Atlanta.[6][8] At the time, Carnegie had donated various Carnegie libraries to other American cities.[9]
Development
Founding and Carnegie gifts
In February 1899, Carnegie offered Atlanta's government $100,000 for a public library, on the condition that the city government pay for annual maintenance.[10][11] The Atlanta City Council accepted the gift the next month,[12] and the city government allocated $5,000 annually for maintenance.[13][14] The YMLA donated its assets to the city for the proposed public library that April,[15] and a board of trustees was established.[16] The library system was formally established on May 6, 1899;[4] the trustees named it the "Carnegie Library of Atlanta" in recognition of Carnegie's gift.[17] The trustees debated where to place the library building, which delayed construction for several months.[18] Ultimately, in September, they sold the YMLA's Marietta Street building[19] and signed a leaseback agreement with the new owners, allowing the collection to remain in the YMLA building for two years.[11]
The APL trustees unsuccessfully requested a further $125,000 for the third floor in 1935[102] and again in 1938.[103] Additionally, a plaque honoring the philanthropist Harriet Harwell Wilson High was dedicated in the children's room in 1939 following a donation from the High estate.[104] The building continued to be overcrowded and understaffed.[105] APL librarian Fanny Hinton proposed constructing a new central branch for $2 million in the APL's 1946 annual report.[105] An advisory group proposed in April that $1.7 million for the APL (including $1.5 million for a central branch) be included in a referendum for a proposed bond issue,[106] which was approved by voters that August.[107] The APL hired the library expert Joseph L. Wheeler in early 1947 to study the feasibility of relocating the central branch or replacing the Carnegie Library building.[108] Wheeler's report, published that June, recommended demolishing the Carnegie structure and erecting a replacement building several times as large.[109] Subsequently, both Hinton and the chairman of APL's board of trustees requested $1.7 million from the approved bond issue in early 1948.[110]
The primary elevations of the facade, on Forsyth Street and Carnegie Way, were divided vertically into bays; there were two Ionic columns between each bay, while the extreme ends of each elevation had one Ionic column and one flat, Ionic pilaster. The columns and pilasters supported a frieze with an inscription. Within each bay, the first floor had round-arched windows.[23] With the exception of the central arch on Carnegie Way—which contained the main entrance—there were doorways and pediments in each first-story arch, topped by plaques bearing inscriptions of notable literary figures' names.[23][172][c] The main entrance was accessed by a flight of stairs and topped by a carving of Andrew Carnegie's face;[23] early plans had called for lions flanking this staircase.[28] On the second floor, the windows in each bay were divided into three panels each.[23] Embedded into the facade was a stone bearing the YMLA's initials, salvaged from the former YMLA building.[173]
↑"Carnegie Library Popular". The Macon Telegraph. March 7, 1902. p.6. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑"Big Crowds at the Carnegie". The Atlanta Constitution. April 6, 1902. p.6. ISSN2473-1609. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
12Hand-book of the Libraries of the State of Georgia. 1907. Carnegie library. 1907. p.23. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
12345678"Short Sketch of the Carnegie Library, Atlanta". The Atlanta Journal. September 28, 1902. p.27. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑"Sensational Bill is Filed by Durce". The Atlanta Constitution. October 12, 1902. p.5. ISSN2473-1609. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com; "Atlanta Sued". The Savannah Morning News. October 12, 1902. p.2. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑"Contractors Lose Suit to City". The Atlanta Journal. October 17, 1903. p.1. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑"City Library Reports Progress Toward Building New Facility". Atlanta Daily World. December 12, 1976. p.2. ProQuest491474259.
↑"Anne Wallace Library Is Formally Opened". The Atlanta Journal. October 31, 1909. p.6. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑Riley, Albert (August 19, 1949). "Board Renames Carnegie 'Atlanta Public Library'". The Atlanta Constitution. p.8. ISSN2473-1609. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com; "Carnegie Library Gets New Name; It's Atlanta, Now". The Atlanta Journal. August 19, 1949. p.5. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑Du Bois, W E Burghardt (April 3, 1902). "The Opening of the Library". The Independent ... Devoted to the Consideration of Politics, Social and Economic Tendencies, History, Literature, and the Arts. Vol.54, no.2783. p.809. ProQuest90551506.
12Collier-Thomas, Bettye; Franklin, V. P. (January 17, 2000). My Soul Is a Witness: A Chronology of the Civil Rights Era, 1954-1965. Macmillan. p.107. ISBN978-0-8050-4769-1. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
↑Knight, Kiana (March 12, 2024). "Atlanta's Black Libraries and the Push for Black Voters". AAIHS - African American Intellectual History Society. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
12Jackson, Andrew P.; DeLoach, Marva L.; Fenton, Michele (December 15, 2024). Handbook of Black Librarianship. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. p.250. ISBN978-1-5381-8111-9. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
12Perkerson, Medora Field (November 30, 1930). "Library Outgrows Its Home". The Atlanta Journal. p.73. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑"Dainty Park to Be Made of Carnegie Library Yard". The Atlanta Constitution. May 17, 1903. p.4. ISSN2473-1609. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑"New Department Opened". The Atlanta Constitution. October 26, 1904. p.7. ISSN2473-1609. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com; "Magazine Reading Room Proves Popular". The Atlanta Journal. October 29, 1904. p.4. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑"Carnegie Library May Lose School". The Atlanta Constitution. December 19, 1920. p.8. ISSN2473-1609. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑"Carnegie Library Addition Move Launched As City Celebrates 25th Anniversary". The Atlanta Constitution. November 16, 1924. p.14. ISSN2473-1609. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
12"Architects Begin Carnegie Library Third Story Plans". The Atlanta Journal. December 7, 1924. p.30. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑"$150,000 Declared Needed For Library Improvements And for Two New Branches". The Atlanta Constitution. December 28, 1924. p.6. ISSN2473-1609. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com; "Building Additions and Books Totaling $157,000 Asked for Local Library". The Atlanta Journal. December 28, 1924. pp.B1, B8. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
12Wilensky, Harry (December 27, 1931). "Carnegie Library Reports Increase in Circulation Under Trying Conditions". The Atlanta Journal. p.9. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑"Carnegie Library Addition is Urged". The Atlanta Constitution. May 16, 1928. p.2. ISSN2473-1609. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑"Bond Issue Proposed to Improve Library". The Atlanta Constitution. May 19, 1928. p.18. ISSN2473-1609. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com; "Bonds to Improve Atlanta Library Facilities Sought". The Atlanta Journal. May 18, 1928. pp.1, 21. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑ハンコック、ハーマン(1948年1月17日)「あなたの市役所」アトランタ・コンスティテューション紙、 2ページ。ISSN 2473-1609 。 2025年12月26日取得– newspapers.com経由; "Library Inadequate in Size, Plan, Salaries Too Low, Says Miss Hinton". The Atlanta Constitution. January 11, 1948. p.27. ISSN2473-1609. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑"City to Buy Hotels' Site for Library". The Atlanta Constitution. March 16, 1948. p.1. ISSN2473-1609. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com; Carter, Don (March 16, 1948). "Library Expansion Approved by Council". The Atlanta Journal. p.9. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑"Annex to Library Bought by City". The Atlanta Constitution. May 2, 1948. p.48. ISSN2473-1609. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com; "Pickwick and Lorraine Bought for $300,000". The Atlanta Journal. May 2, 1948. p.42. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑"Atlanta Library Marks Busiest Postwar Year". The Atlanta Journal. January 16, 1949. p.31. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑Riley, Albert (July 15, 1948). "Your City Hall". The Atlanta Constitution. p.14. ISSN2473-1609. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑Hancock, Herman (April 15, 1948). "Your City Hall". The Atlanta Constitution. p.17. ISSN2473-1609. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com; "Higher Architecture Fees Paid by Library Here". The Atlanta Journal. February 8, 1949. p.4. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑"Library Project Wins Initial OK". The Atlanta Journal. January 8, 1949. p.4. Retrieved December 26, 2025– via newspapers.com.
1 2 3 4 Martin, Lorraine (1966 年 1 月 30 日). 「改修工事完了、しかし図書館の拡張が必要」. The Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Constitution . p. 14. ISSN 1539-7459 . ProQuest 1635856250 .