With its ancient Roman pillars and picturesque transom window, the Verona Public Library is such an architectural gem, it’s hard not to climb its front steps and explore the treasures inside. That’s exactly what steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie intended when he helped Verona build its library a century ago.
To celebrate the Carnegie building’s centennial, the Friends of the Verona Public Library (FoVPL) is inviting elementary and middle school students to design posters that illustrate why the building, and its treasures, are so beloved.
- Posters should be no larger than 22″ x 28″ and must feature the slogan “I Love My Library.”
- Entries must be turned into the library’s front desk by 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 31.
- Winners will be announced, artwork will be on display, and prizes will be given out at the library’s Summer Reading Kick-off on June 10.
- Young artists can attend a poster-making workshop at the library from 3-4:30 p.m. on Monday, May 15.
“We wanted to do something special for our 40th Anniversary and, in particular, engage directly with the elementary and middle-school students,” said Mindy Rosenthal, president of the FoVPL, noting the FoVPL provides scholarships to graduating high school students who live in Verona. “We’re excited to offer something extra special at the Summer Reading program kick-off,” she added. Summer Reading is one of the many popular children’s, teen and adult programs that contributions from the Friends make possible.
It was an $11,000 Carnegie grant a century ago that funded the construction of Verona’s library – one of more than 1,600 public and university libraries financed by Carnegie across the U.S. Some, like Verona’s, have expanded. Others have been razed. But in many towns, Carnegie libraries remain an architectural centerpiece.
Delayed by World War I and a fire that destroyed most of the library’s original book collection, Verona’s Carnegie library building opened on September 7, 1923. Since then, the library’s acquisitions have grown from the 325 books that survived the fire to a catalog of more than 55,000 items and dozens of programs.
