Carnegie was known for donating money to communities in need of libraries that could not afford to build their own. In 1908, the Urbana Commercial Club proposed a new library building and reached out to American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie for help. This combination of issues led to a proposal for a new library building by the Urbana Commercial Club in 1908 In addition to space limitations, the police bullpen was below the library and patrons were interrupted by loud citizens sobering up in the holding cell. Library growth steadily continued into the 20 th century and the two rooms failed to meet the needs of the community. It initially occupied a single room, but an addition was added to the west side of the building to make more space for the growing collection and number of patrons. Library attendance increased greatly following the move, something attributed to the location of the library on the first, rather than the second floor. In 1894, the library moved to the first floor of the Urbana City Building. The library in the Gill Building occupied a 28 feet x 38 feet back room on the second floor for a cost of $150 a year. The library remained in this location until 1876 when it moved across the street to the Gill Building, now known as the Knowlton and Bennett Building. Later that year, the library moved to the Masonic Temple on the southwest corner of Main and Race Streets. The first known location of the Urbana library was on the second floor of Tiernan’s block on Main Street in 1872. (now Broadway Ave), held the library from 1894 to 1918 when it moved to its permanent home at the corner of Race and Green Streets Another week later the ordinance for the establishment of the library passed and The Urbana Free Library was born June 16, 1874. On June 1st, the city council proposed a new free public library in Urbana and a week later the proposal was approved. In 1874, the local government became interested in taking control of the subscription library. Books and magazines were donated by community and association members and other content was purchased with subscription funds. The reading room was officially opened to the public in February 1873 and the remainder of the library was opened in May with Frank M. By January the following year, enough money was raised and the association opened a subscription library in Urbana and changed their name to the Urbana Library Association. Fifty-two young men met in early December 1872 at Busey Hall and created a joint-stock association with each member asked to contribute $25 to found the group. In 1872, interest in an Urbana library was rekindled by a group calling themselves the Young Men’s Library Association of Urbana. This was a subscription library organized by Urbana citizens. The first documented library organization in Urbana was the 1854 Urbana Library Society.
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