Old Norfolk Public Library
Norfolk had several libraries for public use during the nineteenth century, among them that of the Norfolk Library Association, organized in 1870. Though designated "public," membership was not free. The fee to use the reading rooms and to check out books continued even after the Norfolk Public Library was incorporated by the Virginia General Assembly in 1894.
The book collection of the Library Association was moved from one rented space to another for more than 30 years. In 1901 the library board applied to philanthropist Andrew Carnegie for a grant to build a permanent home and received a pledge of $50,000. The children of William Selden donated the site for the library on West Freemason Street in memory of their father.
The Beaux Arts Classical library was designed by the Boston firm of Herbert D. Hale and Henry G. Morse. Details include a bust of Minerva over the entrance and a frieze engraved with the names of classical authors on the lintel cornice. The library opened free of membership dues on 21 November 1904.
Marker is on West Freemason Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
