Farmington Public Library
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| Farmington Public Library
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| Location | 2101 Farmington Ave., Farmington, NM 87401 |
|---|---|
| Established | 1921 [1] |
| Number of branches | 1 |
| Collection size | 203,167 [2] |
| Annual circulation | 521,500 [2] |
| Population served | 112,008 [3] |
| Director | Karen McPheeters |
| Website | http://www.infoway.org/ |
Farmington Public Library is a public library system in San Juan County, New Mexico. The main library is in Farmington and there is one branch library in Shiprock.
[edit] History
The library was founded in 1921 in the living room of Mrs. Lorena Mahany’s home [1] at 506 West Arrington in downtown Farmington, New Mexico. Mrs. Mahany offered her services as the first librarian. In 1938 the library was moved to a new building constructed as a Works Progress Administration project [1] located on the small city park at the corner of East La Plata and Orchard. The collection consisted of 2,000 books. This building was remodeled in 1961 and again in 1974. In 1984 the library was moved into the former First National Bank building located at 100 West Broadway in downtown Farmington.
Groundbreaking for the new Farmington Public Library building occurred in March 2002 in a vacant lot located on East Twentieth Street between Farmington Avenue and Schofield Lane. The architects were Bill Hidell and Associates [2] of Carrollton, Texas. The project was paid for by the City of Farmington, partly through its reserve fund and partly through the sale of municipal bonds. The cost of the library building was $9,767,773. The grand opening of the new building took place on the evening of August 23, 2003. [4]
[edit] Notable features
The building won New Mexico's Best New Buildings awards for Interior and for Best Lighting - Interior in 2004, awarded by Associated General Contractors New Mexico Building Branch and the New Mexico Business Journal. [5] [6]
The building is decorated with images of local petroglyphs sandblasted onto glass panels. The words "Summer Solstice" and "Winter Solstice" are engraved at precise locations on the rotunda floor and are highlighted by the sunlight passing through a small window exactly on those dates. [6]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c Harris, Linda G. [1998]. One Book at a Time: The History of the Library in New Mexico. Albuquerque, NM: New Mexico Library Foundation. ISBN 9781887045032. OCLC 38324662.
- ^ a b c Farmington Public Library Needs Assessment and Master Plan (PDF). City of Farmington, NM (2007-04-02). Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
- ^ New Mexico Public Libraries Legal Service Area Populations FY2005-FY2008 (PDF). New Mexico State Library. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
- ^ "New Library for Farmington" (PDF) (2003-09-15). Hitchhiker: for librarians in New Mexico (1515): 1. Santa Fe, NM: New Mexico State Library. OCLC 2251674.
- ^ "NM's Best Buildings" (PDF) (2004-05-24). Hitchhiker: for librarians in New Mexico (1550): 1. Santa Fe, NM: New Mexico State Library. OCLC 2251674.
- ^ a b "Special Section on New Mexico's Best Buildings of 2004" (May 2004). New Mexico Business Journal. ISSN 01646796. OCLC 4408579.
