Hosmer Community Library
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Thirty-sixth Street Branch Library
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| Location | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
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| Coordinates | 44°56′14″N 93°16′13″W / 44.93722°N 93.27028°WCoordinates: 44°56′14″N 93°16′13″W / 44.93722°N 93.27028°W |
| Built | 1916 |
| Architect | Whitfield, Henry D.; Brown, James H. and Co. |
| Architectural style | Tudor Revival |
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| Added to NRHP | May 26, 2000 |
Hosmer Library, originally known as the Thirty-Sixth Street Branch Library, is a branch library of the Hennepin County Library system located in the Central neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
It was built in 1916 during a period of rapid immigration into Minneapolis. At the time it was built, the library was in a sparsely developed Scandinavian neighborhood and one block away from the since-demolished Central High School. The library was built under the leadership of librarian Gratia Countryman and financed with support from the Carnegie Corporation. The building is in the Collegiate Gothic style, with polygonal towers on either side of the main entrance, a crenellated parapet, and terra cotta trim.
Hosmer Library was Minneapolis’ fourth and final Carnegie branch. Following Gratia Countryman’s research-based application to secure the funds from the Carnegie Corporation (she prepared a compelling summary of library circulation, and analyzed the city’s residents, identifying demographic and ethnic patterns, resulting in tailored programming for each neighborhood’s library), construction of 90’ by 54’ building began in May 1914. Total costs ran to $27,700 for the plans designed by Henry D. Whitefield, a New York-based architect who was brother-in-law to Andrew Carnegie. The tenth library built in Minneapolis, the Thirty-sixth Street Branch Library opened on March 8, 1916. Honoring James Kendall Hosmer, Minneapolis’ second city librarian, the branch was renamed for him in 1926. The two granite lion-dogs outside the entrance were donated by family of Mrs. Lewis Gillette. Branch libraries were conveniently located near streetcars and Hosmer was no exception. It is one of nine Minneapolis libraries still in existence which is directly attributed to the important contributions of Gratia Countryman in building the library infrastructure for the city. When built, Hosmer was situated in a neighborhood without many residents, and those who lived there were primarily Scandinavian. In 1969, reflecting the changing composition of the neighborhood, an African American reading room was dedicated in Hosmer to serve patrons. Today, it is one of eight Minneapolis public libraries which are listed as historic landmarks with the National Register of Historic Places.
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