Designed by Edward Lippincott Tilton

Italian Renaissance Revival Style

79 Highland Avenue, Somerville MA  02143-1797

Library web site:  http://www.somervillepubliclibrary.org

A Brief History of the Building

1907:  Andrew Carnegie gave $123,000 to Somerville to build a central library and two branch libraries.

1911:  The old library, built next to City Hall in the 1880s, was turned over to City Hall offices.

1913:  The new library was dedicated on December 17.  It opened in January 1914.

1975-1976:  A $1.7 million renovation took place.

2007:  The library was awarded a $40,000 Planning and Design Grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.

This library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989.