St. Petersburg Mirror Lake Library

St. Petersburg is divided by a major street, Central Avenue, that runs East to West from the bay side all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. “Avenues” in St. Pete run East and West. “Streets,” North and South. Any street or avenue north of Central Avenue is North; any street or avenue south of Central Avenue is South. Very logical. One should never get lost. Unless, of course, you realize that the other city with streets and avenues, New York City, has a plan that is exactly the reverse of St. Pete’s. That can cause some confusion for visitors.

Just north of Central Avenue, in downtown St. Pete, is a large lake that was the first water supply for the city. Here’s a great description of the area by Bob Vila, the home improvement expert in his article on the North Downtown district, also known as the Mirror Lake neighborhood:

“North Downtown Neighborhood is located in central St. Petersburg, just north of downtown and west of Tampa Bay. It is home to Mirror Lake, the city’s first source of drinking water and continued source of recreation. The Carnegie Library or Mirror Lake Branch Library was built in 1914 and sits at the east end of the lake in Mirror Lake Park. The nationally recognized Coliseum Ballroom is also located in North Downtown, as are the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, the National Shuffleboard Hall of Fame, the Chess Club, and Lawn Bowling Club. The neighborhood offers a mix of residential and commercial buildings built between 1900 and the 1940s, architectural styles that range from Florida Cracker style to Spanish stucco and Mediterranean. Residents of North Downtown have an easy walk to galleries, Tropicana Field, restaurants, and City Hall.”

Eventually, I’ll cover all the historic buildings he mentions. Inkwatu has already had a couple articles on programs in the Shuffleboard Club (St. Pete Shuffle India Night and The St. Pete Shuffle).

Today’s post is about the Mirror Lake Public Library (280 5th St. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33701; 727-893-7268), one of the set of historic buildings that are around the edge of Mirror Lake. According to this Wikipedia article: “The St. Petersburg Public Library (also known as the Mirror Lake Library or Carnegie Library) is a Carnegie library built in 1915 in Beaux-Arts style. It is located in St. Petersburg, Florida (280 Fifth Street North). On June 13, 1986, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.” Another Wikipedia article explains: “Carnegie libraries are libraries which were built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. More than 2,500 Carnegie libraries were built, including some belonging to public and university library systems. Carnegie earned the nickname Patron Saint of Libraries.” Again Wikipedia: “Beaux-Arts architecture denotes the academic neoclassical architectural style that was taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris…The Beaux-Arts style heavily influenced US architecture in the period 1880–1920.”

The State of Florida website, MyFlorida, has an extensive article on Carnegie and libraries in Florida at Florida’s Carnegie Libraries — A Lasting Legacy. One of the interesting sites I stumbled across when researching for this post is this one by R. George & Associates, who apparently provided some of the furniture and interior design for the restoration of the Mirror Lake Library.

The venerable old Mirror Lake Library with its quiet, upstairs reading room is a hushed experience. Sure, it has its Internet computer stations and DVDs and CDs, so it’s a fully modern library; but, the interior design and architectural style make everyone who visits this library feel, and behave, as if they really were in a “real,” old-fashioned library. It’s a joy to visit.