Buder Branch Reviews
4401 Hampton Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63109
The St. Louis Public Library is a municipal public library system in the city of St. Louis, Missouri. It operates sixteen locations, including the main Central Library location. Although similarly named, the St. Louis Public Library is unrelated to the St. Louis County Library system.HistoryIn 1865, Ira Divoll, the superintendent of the St. Louis Public School system, created a subscription library in the public school library that would later evolve into the St. Louis Public Library. Divoll believed that library should work in tandem with the public education system and offer citizens an opportunity for self-improvement and culture.By 1869, Divoll’s the subscription library moved to the Board of Education building. The library consisted of 4 staff members who offered reference services 12 hours a day. The library also encouraged children visit the library and had no age restrictions like most libraries of the day.Due to rapid growth of the library collection, which grew from 1500 volumes in 1865, to 90,000 volumes by 1893, the library required more space. In 1893, the library moved into a new space on the top floors of the new Board of Education building. Also in 1893, the citizens of St. Louis voted to move the administration of the Library to an independent board, supported by a property tax. This vote enabled to library to offer a library free of subscription fees and be open to all St. Louis residents.The Library occupied the board of education building from 1893 until 1909, as construction on Central Library was being completed. This buildings size wasn’t large enough to accommodate the library's growing collection. It was during this time, the library began its role as a lending library, allowing the public to ‘check out’ and take books home.