Auburn Public Library
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	306 Auburn Ave., Auburn, Washington
Coordinates	47°18′34″N 122°13′38″W / 47.30944°N 122.22722°W / 47.30944; -122.22722
Area	less than one acre
Built	1914 (1914)
Architect	Myers, David J.
MPS	Carnegie Libraries of Washington TR
NRHP reference No.	82004221[1]
Added to NRHP	August 3, 1982

The Auburn Public Library is a former library building located in Auburn, Washington listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Auburn Carnegie library is a rectangular 2-story brick building with a cast concrete foundation. It has a hip roof with a slight flare at the projecting eaves. The roof is composition tile. The building measures 35 by 50 feet (11 by 15 m), and there is a 4 by 10 feet (1.2 by 3.0 m) extension at the center of the west facade.^[2] The extension projects above the eaves. The gable is highlighted with a parapet trimmed with pressed metal. A 12 feet (3.7 m) cast stone entrance arch with two panel doors in the face of the extension forms the main entry.^[2] Fenestration consists of long casement windows in front and smaller ones on the sides and in back. Above each is a small fixed window divided by muntins into eight triangular panes.^[2]

History

Women volunteers promoted and staffed the early libraries of Auburn. In 1912, the city was promised $9,000 by Andrew Carnegie for a library. It opened in 1914. The land was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Authur C. Ballard, who originally had plated Auburn as the "Town of Slaughter." The donation contained a condition that the land would revert to the original owners when it ceased to be used for a library. The Carnegie building served the community for many years, but it ultimately proved too small to hold all the books and magazines it owned. In 1962, a $225,000 bond issue was approved by the voters and a new library opened in 1964. The proviso about the land being used for library purposes was then discovered and the property reverted to the Ballard family.^[2] It is a pure example of the typical Carnegie Library and is unaltered. The architect made a conscientious effort to incorporate all Carnegie's suggestions for library design, and all the elements of what Carnegie considered important are faithfully represented.^[2]