Sunday, August 21, 2011

August 21, 2011 : Walker Community Library - Minneapolis, Minnesota


The Walker Branch Library is a branch of the Hennepin County Library system in the East Isles neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is located on Hennepin Avenue one block north of Lake Street.

The original building was built in 1911, when the Hennepin/Lake area was sparsely populated. T. B. Walker, the president of the library board at the time, donated some land for the site of the library. The opening of this library coincided with the opening of a streetcar line on Lake Street, and it helped fulfill head librarian Gratia Countryman's wishes to expand the library system and bring books closer to people. Local architect Jerome Paul Jackson designed the library in a Classical Revival design. The portico, with Ionic columns, shows Beaux-Arts characteristics.

In 1981, the growth of the library required a new building, which was built just across the street at 2880 Hennepin Avenue South. The two main floors of the building are underground. There is a large "LIBRARY" sign on Hennepin Avenue with an entry pavilion to indicate the presence of the library. Although the library was built underground to conserve space and save energy, the underground building is not very visible, and has problems with water seepage. As of 2006, proposals were being considered to replace the library with something that would be more visible.

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