Thomas Crane Public Library

Thomas Crane Public Library
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
File:Thomas Crane Public Library, Quincy, Massachusetts (Front view).JPG The original building (1882), front view, architect H. H. Richardson
Location	Quincy, Massachusetts
Coordinates
Built	1881
Architect	Henry Hobson Richardson
Architectural style	Richardsonian Romanesque
NRHP reference No.	72000143
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 18, 1972
Designated NHL	December 23, 1987

Wollaston Branch, Thomas Crane Public Library
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
File:Wollaston Branch Thomas Crane Public Library Quincy MA.jpg The Wollaston Branch
Location	41 Beale St., Quincy, Massachusetts
Coordinates
Area	0.2 acres (0.081 ha)
Built	1922
Architect	William Chapman
Architectural style	Classical Revival
MPS	Quincy MRA
NRHP reference No.	89001316
Added to NRHP	September 20, 1989

The Thomas Crane Public Library (TCPL) is a city library in Quincy, Massachusetts. Noted for its Richardsonian Romanesque architecture, the building was funded by the Crane family as a memorial to Thomas Crane, a wealthy stone contractor who got his start in the Quincy quarries. The Thomas Crane Library has the second largest municipal collection in Massachusetts after the Boston Public Library.

Architecture

The Thomas Crane Public Library was built in four stages: the original building (1882) by architect Henry Hobson Richardson; an additional ell with stack space and stained glass (1908) by William Martin Aiken in Richardson's style; a major expansion (1939) by architects Paul A. and Carroll Coletti, with stone carvings by sculptor Joseph Coletti of Quincy; and a recent addition (2001) by Boston architects Childs, Bertman, and Tseckares, which doubled the size of the library. H. H. Richardson considered this library among his most successful civic buildings, and Harper's Weekly called it "the best village library in the United States". The library was ranked 43rd in a national poll conducted in 2007 by the American Institute of Architects of the favorite buildings in the nation.

In addition to its architecture, the original building contains a 30 × 10 inch stained-glass window by noted American artist John LaFarge in memory of Thomas Crane, entitled the Old Philosopher. To the left of the elaborate carved fireplace is a second LaFarge window, "Angel at the Tomb", given in memory of Crane's son Benjamin Franklin Crane. The library's grounds were designed by landscaper Frederick Law Olmsted.

The main library was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987, recognizing it as one of Richardson's finest library buildings.

File:Thomas Crane Library, Richardson Reading Room.jpg

Aiken Ell Interior

Branches

By 1910 there were two "reading rooms," one in the Atlantic neighborhood on Atlantic Street and one in West Quincy. By the 1920s the system had expanded to nine branches in all, adding ones near the Parker Elementary School and the Furnace Brook Parkway, and ones in the Squantum, South Quincy, Wollaston and Quincy Point neighborhoods. Municipal budget cutbacks in 1981 slashed the number to just three besides the main building: the Wollaston branch (1922), which is listed separately on the National Register of Historic Places, the North Quincy branch (1963) on Hancock Street near North Quincy High School, and the Adams Shore branch (1970) on Sea Street in Hough's Neck.

Community

The library often hosts concerts, lectures and art exhibitions. There are also private rooms available for use free of charge to the public or to small community organizations. Also, the library hosts Quincy's local public-access television cable TV channel, QATV.

See also

• List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Quincy, Massachusetts

External links

• Thomas Crane Public Library Website
• Thomas Crane Library Quincy, Massachusetts: Dedication October 14, 2001
• Quincy Access Television