Oskaloosa Public Library

The community of Oskaloosa, county seat of the county seat of Mahaska County, Iowa, established a public library board shortly after the turn of the 20th Century and passed a local tax for operation of such a facility.^[2] Application was made to philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and the Carnegie Corporation for funds for building construction. The application for a grant for $22,000 was accepted on March 14, 1902.^[3] A centrally located site on South Market Street, measuring 120 feet square, was acquired for the facility in May.^[4]

The building was designed by Des Moines architect Frank E. Wetherell, an Oskaloosa native. It was the first major public commission he received.^[5] John Gier was the contractor.

The building is a two-story brick structure in the Neoclassical style built on a raised basement. The main entrance is surrounded by a classical portico. It was dedicated on September 7, 1903.^[6] The library was established with a collection of 5,000 volumes and its operation funded by a tax of one-tenth cent per dollar on all property in the city.^[7]

An additional grant of $2,000 was made by Carnegie in 1905, with proceeds used to finish the second story of the building.^[8] As a condition of this additional grant, the Oskaloosa City Council pledged to support the facility with a sum of at least $2,200 per year, ten percent of the two Carnegie capital grants.^[8] This pledge through city ordinance did not increase the cost to the town's taxpayers as more than $2,200 per year was already being spent on operation of the facility.^[8]

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.^[1] A 1997 addition enlarged the facility.