New Orleanians of a certain age might remember the old New Orleans Public Library seen here on St. Charles Avenue at Lee’s Circle, now Harmony Circle. At its dedication in late October 1908, orators described it as state-of-the-art center of knowledge for “the men and women of the unborn to-morrow.”
With a $275,000 grant from the industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, construction began in late 1906 and completed in March 1908. Soon after, library employees faced the tedious task of moving furniture and books from the city’s then main library on Prytania Street to its new home on St. Charles. Describing that move, the Daily-Picayune, forerunner to the Times-Picayune, quoted Librarian Henry Gill on Oct. 27, saying it was like “Hercules must have felt when he faced those Seven Labors of his which helped give him a reputation of his which time has not affected.”
Apparently, Professor Gill, as he was called, was proud of the new children’s reading room. “It is for all the world like the reception-room in Hop o’ My Thumb’s palace,” the article continued, “and Prof. Gill thinks the lads and lassies (or Lilliputians as he called them) will be among his regular and constant visitors after they once see the room.”
The formal opening took place on Oct. 31 with windy speeches by a long list of local political, social and religious dignitaries. The task of giving the main address, however, fell to City Attorney Samuel Gilmore who spoke long and eloquently in the flowery style of the day.
“To none is denied,” he said in part, “but all are urged to use, the inestimable privilege of drinking at this well containing the collected wisdom of all ages and nations, offering the ancient ‘liquor of Knowledge,’ which has not lost its savor, but which is continually increased and refreshed by the sweet waters of new springs.”
The following day, Nov. 1, the Daily-Picayune described the building in detail down to its flooring:
“The Library Building is largely a reproduction of the Mars Ultor Temple, of Rome, built in honor of Mars, the God of War, by Augustus Caesar, to commemorate the victory of Phillippi. It is of the classic order, inside and out, of the Roman-Corinthian plan, and was carefully studied by Allison Owen, the architect of the firm of Diboll, Owen & Goldstein, from the style of the Temple of Mars the Avenger. . . The building of steel-concrete fireproof construction, the walls are of Bedford stone, and the dome of copper.
“The main floor contains reading rooms, reference-room, periodical-room, children’s room, board-room, work rooms and the Librarian’s office. The books on this floor are shelved upon three tiers of steel stacks, backed in green enamel, and the floors upon which the stacks stand are of glass, which permits the light from the basement to percolate through, and add to the illumination.
“The interior of the main floor is very striking in its design and 22 Scagliola columns, reproducing Siena marble effect, reach from the floor to the ceiling. The floors are of maple; the furniture quarter-sawed oak, and the light fixtures are verde antique bronze. The basement contains a lecture hall, conference room for the use of educational and literary societies, newspaper room, book tiers for non-fiction works, rest room for the library staff, book repair room, reading room, lavatories, engine room, receiving room for books, and vault.
“The building stands on a slight elevation and the stately portico, with its four limestone columns, each 30 feet high, is approached by wide steps, which ascend from either side of the mound. The building is 160 feet long, 65 feet deep, and the dome rears 78 feet.”
The library officially opened its doors to the public on Nov. 2.
Unfortunately, this faux “Temple to Mars the Avenger” on St. Charles Ave. lasted only 50 years. According to a Dec. 20, 1958, article in the Times-Picayune, the city sold the property at public auction to a single bidder, the Harshep Realty Co., for the sum of $279,166. A few months later, work crews demolished the building once celebrated as the “well containing the collected wisdom of all ages and nations.” The vacant land was then sold to the John Hancock Insurance Company which built a modernistic office building on the site that later became K&B Plaza. The “new” library on Loyola and Tulane Avenues opened Dec. 15, 1958.
