Cedar Rapids Public Library
Coordinates: 41°57′10″N 91°43′06″W / 41.952833°N 91.718248°W The Cedar Rapids Public Library (CRPL) serves the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It consists of two locations: the Ladd Library, located at 3750 Williams Blvd SW, and the Downtown Library, located at 450 5th Avenue SE. The CRPL works in cooperation with the Marion Public Library and Hiawatha Public Library to form the Metro Library Network, which allows them to share a collection of materials, partner on programs, and make resources more available to all citizens.
The Iowa flood of 2008, considered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to be "one of the worst and most costly floods in Iowa--and even U.S. history," destroyed the building at the previous downtown location of the main branch, along with over half of the library's collection. The flooding of the library may have been the worst natural disaster to affect a public library. The new Cedar Rapids Public Library opened to the public on August 24, 2013. More than 8,000 people attended opening day festivities. In the first year of service, the new library saw over 660,000 visits from the community, and over 100,000 people used the meeting room spaces, including the new 200-seat Whipple Auditorium.
On March 2, 1896 the city of Cedar Rapids was to make a vote on whether or not they would have a public library. Due largely to the work of a group of women called the City Federation of Ladies Literary Clubs led by Ada Van Vechten, the vote was favorable. On January 15, 1897, the first public library was to open its doors to the citizens of Cedar Rapids. It was located in a small room of the Granby building.
After a few years, the library had outgrown the room. It was moved to the Dows auditorium in May 1900. Andrew Carnegie was contacted in late January 1901 to request money to construct a dedicated library building. He agreed to give $75,000 if the town would pledge $7,500 in taxation annually to support the maintenance. In early 1903, the library chose Ely corner at Third Avenue and Fifth Street as the future site of the Carnegie library. On June 23, 1905, the new library was open.
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