The Oregon Public Library is located in Oregon, Illinois, United States, the county seat of Ogle County. The building is a public library that was constructed in 1909. Prior to 1909, Oregon's library was housed in different buildings, none of which were designed to house a library. The library was built using a grant from wealthy philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The grant was obtained after Oregon's citizens voted to change Oregon's library from a city library to a township library. The building was completed by 1908 but the library did not begin operation until 1909.
The Oregon Library was designed by Chicago architects Pond and Pond. The Ponds were members of the Eagle's Nest Art Colony, founded by Lorado Taft, and their association with Taft and the colony led them to design the library. Their design was influenced by the colony, and a combination of two architectural styles, Classical Revival and the Arts and Crafts movement. The completed library included a second floor art gallery to which members of Eagle's Nest donated works for a permanent collection. The gallery's collection includes 64 paintings and sculptures as well as a Currier and Ives lithograph collection appraised at US$700,000. The Oregon Public Library was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2003, three years later it was included as a contributing property in a historic district that received the National Register designation.
History
While the library building dates to the early 20th century the move toward intellectual outreach in Oregon started years before. The first Oregon library was organized in 1872, though it had no building of its own. Before the library had its own building, library books were stored in a drug store and then in the County Treasurer's office. Eventually the Oregon Library occupied rented office space in the First National Bank building. This situation persisted until 1905 when Oregon voters voiced their collective opinion on the library's future.
The citizens of Oregon were faced with a dilemma in 1905: either allow Oregon's library to remain, truly, Oregon's city library, or, by referendum, allow Oregon's library to make the shift into a township library. This change would allow the library one distinct advantage; it would qualify the library for a grant from Andrew Carnegie for the construction of a new building. Initially, Carnegie promised US$7,000 for the new library but once voters approved the change the grant amount was increased to $10,000. The grant, aside from requiring the library to hold "township library" status, required a site to be selected prior to the grant application process; a site, at the corner of Oregon's Jefferson and Third Streets, was selected.
Art gallery
Eagle's Nest influence
Even before the library was built, members of the Eagle's Nest Art Colony were pushing for the new building to include a second-story art gallery. The colony, founded in 1898 by sculptor Lorado Taft, was based on the bluffs flanking the east bank of the Rock River, overlooking Oregon. Later in Carnegie's philanthropy his secretary James Bertram laid out strict requirements, including requirements which discouraged multiple uses for Carnegie libraries. Another requirement stipulated that Bertram approve library plans prior to grant approval or construction. The Oregon library, however, was constructed before Bertram's requirements were published and includes the gallery.
The art colony at Eagle's Nest was populated by Chicago artists, all members of the Chicago Art Institute or the University of Chicago art department, who gathered in Ogle County to escape the summer heat of Chicago. Two of the charter members of the art colony were the Chicago architects, Allen and Irving Kane Pond, who designed the Oregon Public Library building. It was the Ponds' association with the Eagle's Nest Art Colony that led them to design the library.
The building was constructed after the Carnegie grant approval, and its first use came in October 1908 by Leon A. Malkielski, a colony member, for an exhibition of 100 paintings. The library proper did not begin providing its services until 1909. The colony tried to contribute to area culture by requiring its members to hold art shows, lectures, and other exhibitions throughout the early 20th century. With the library complete it began to play a role in those exhibitions. Hamlin Garland, a 1921 Pulitzer Prize recipient for literature, spoke at the Oregon library while he was a member of the Eagle's Nest Colony.