The Boise Public Library is a public library system in Boise, Idaho, that includes a main library at 715 South Capitol Boulevard and four branch libraries within the city.
History
Territorial Library
In 1863 the Idaho Territory was created with Lewiston as the capitol, and when the capitol was moved to Boise City in 1866, the Territorial Library was relocated to Boise City with "2000 pounds of books" from Lewiston. Although not a public library, the Territorial Library served as a venue for public meetings at its location in the 3-room Curtis building, also known as the "Stone Jug," until the library was moved in 1872. The Curtis building was demolished in 1899 when the Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone Building was constructed at 609 Main Street. Still not considered a public library, the Territorial Library continued as a public meeting space after 1872, and Boise's Board of Trade was organized at the library in 1883.
Misener & Lamkin
The firm of Misener & Lamkin operated a circulating library in Boise City in the 1860s. The firm, later known as Brown & Lamkin and then as H.H. Lamkin, managed the library from a bookstore at the Boise City post office. And a library operated at Fort Boise as early as 1867, but it was not a public library.
Bennett Committee
In 1874 a committee headed by territorial governor Thomas W. Bennett discussed plans for establishing a university at Boise City, and the committee recommended a free library open both to students and to the public. Centers of higher education in Idaho were later founded in Moscow (1889), in Caldwell (1891), and in Pocatello (1901), but the Bennett committee was unable to establish neither a university nor a free library in Boise City.
Firemen's reading room
In 1882 the Idaho Statesman reported that "a movement is on foot to establish a library and literary association in this city," and in 1883 a free library again was in planning, including a plan for $10,000 in capital stock. By 1886 a reading room had been created in the Boise City firehouse, also the location of City Hall, and by 1887 the reading room was billed as the only public library in Idaho. By 1890 the library was under management of the "ladies of Boise." In that year the friends of the library began a fundraising campaign to raise $100 per month for acquisitions to the library. In 1894 the firehouse library requested that all circulating books be returned.
Columbian Club
The library came under the management of the Columbian Club, also known as the Columbian Exposition Club, a women's club established in May, 1892, to advance the interests of Idaho during the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The Columbian Club in 1893 requested space for the library in the new City Hall (1893), and late in 1894 the request was granted by the Boise City Council. When the library opened in 1895, it included furniture formerly on display in the Woman's Room in the Idaho Building at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. The club also hired its first librarian, Ella Reed, in 1895, and in that year the library catalog included 982 books. In 1896 the library counted 12,358 visitors.
Traveling library
The Columbian Club began a traveling library in 1899, and in 1900 the club managed 15 traveling libraries that served regional communities and mining camps. Early in 1901, the Idaho legislature passed a traveling library bill, informally known as the "Columbian Club Bill," to promote free public libraries and to establish a state library commission.
Carnegie library
In 1902 the Idaho State Library Commission requested from Andrew Carnegie that he establish a Carnegie library in Boise. Carnegie agreed to donate $25,000 toward a library if the city provided matching funds, yearly maintenance funds of $2500, and property for a building site. Voters approved a $25,000 bond levy that year, and the city purchased land on Washington Street between 8th and 9th Streets from the Independent School District at a cost of $4000. The site was the location of Pioneer School (1868-1905), built by early residents of Boise City, and the schoolhouse was demolished when the library building was nearing completion. The city council established a board of trustees to oversee the library, and library management passed from the Columbian Club to the city, although the club continued to donate books and materials to the library and to raise money to furnish the new library.