The Pawtucket Public Library, formerly known as the Deborah Cook Sayles Public Library, is located at 13 Summer Street in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Its main building, designed by Ralph Adams Cram and built in 1899-1902, and was a gift to the city from Pawtucket's first mayor, Frederic Clark Sayles, in memory of his recently deceased wife.
History
The library was founded as the Pawtucket Library Association in 1852. This group purchased private libraries around the city, and in 1876 gifted its 4,700 volumes to the town for public use. The library's first librarian was Minerva Sanders, who worked there until her retirement in 1910. Sanders was nationally recognized for her innovative services such as allowing open access to book stacks and permitting children to use the library. By 1898, it became clear that the library needed a permanent home. A competition to design the library attracted twenty-four entries. The winning entry was submitted by Boston's Cram, Goodhue, & Ferguson. The building's cornerstone was laid on Nov. 18, 1899, and the building opened on Oct. 15, 1902. The library was the first in the nation to allow patrons to browse the shelves directly, instead of requiring a librarian to retrieve books for them. Architect Raymond Hood, a Pawtucket native, and sculptor Lee Lawrie, a team who much later became known for their work on Rockefeller Center, worked on the library building while in the employ of Boston architectural firm Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson. An expansion to the library in the 1960s has been called "awkward and insensitive." The library's main building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975; the connected former Pawtucket Post Office building was listed in 1976. Efforts began in 1979 to renovate and join the two buildings, with work completing in 1982. The post office building was dedicated as the Gerald S. Burns building, and together with the Deborah Cook Sayles Public Library building, became what is known today as the Pawtucket Public Library.
The six bas-reliefs above the library windows depict scenes from literature and mythology. Depicted are scenes from the German epic poemNibelungenlied, Dante's Inferno, and scenes from Shakespeare and King Arthur. Across the library's front doors are depictions of Moses, as well as Egyptian, Greek, and Roman figures of law and wisdom. The sculptures were designed by Lee Lawrie and carved by Hugh Cairns. These reliefs were Lawrie's first ever commission. Lawrie would go on to become "one of the country’s foremost architectural sculptors."
Gerald S. Burns building
Under U.S. Treasury supervising architects William Martin Aiken, and James Knox Taylor, construction of the Pawtucket Post Office commenced in 1896, on Summer Street, and High Street, downtown Pawtucket. Built of red brick on a granite pedestal, and with a domed tower, the Beaux-Arts inspired building was completed in November, 1897. The tower entranceway, now closed off, is framed by granite Doric columns supporting an entablature, on top of which sit two stone eagles. The street-facing facades radiate away from this entrance, with five round-arch window bays separated by pilasters, with pedimented secondary entrances at the far end. Serving as the post office until 1941, the City of Pawtucket acquired the building to become the Municipal Welfare Building until the late 1970s when renovations began to join it with the Deborah Cook Sayles Public Library, later renamed and dedicated as the Gerald S. Burns building. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
