Andrew Carnegie was a Pittsburgh industrialist who made a fortune from his huge Carnegie Steel Company in the late 1800s, but who also wrote that the "man who dies rich dies disgraced."[4] One of his philanthropic ventures was the support of public libraries. Initially he helped fund them in places where he had a connection, but starting in 1898 he began helping fund new libraries nationwide, if the local community would provide the building site and ten percent of the operating costs.[5]
This library was built in 1901 to a Neoclassical design by John T.W. Jennings, who also designed the Dairy Barn and several academic buildings for UW-Madison. Jennings designed a 3-story structure, with the first story clad in rusticated brick, and the second in brick. The front entrance protrudes from the rest of the building, with two round-arched doorways at the first story and Ionic columns and a pediment at the second story, like a Greek temple up in the air. Inside, the library occupied the main floor, with reading room, a research alcove, and a children's room which was finished with a $10,000 donation from local businessman F.S. Eldred in memory of his daughter Ada. The second story housed the assembly hall of the Apollo Club, a local musical group.[6]
In 1932 the second-story auditorium became the home to the Janesville Little Theatre. A stage with classical proscenium was added and the first production was Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, in December of 1932.[6]
The library moved to new quarters in 1968. It has since been used as an auditorium and a senior center. Located in the South Main Street Historic District, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.[6]
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