Mary Briggs Benn
Caroline Hoxett
F . R . F . G . ( Freely Received , Freely Given ) Study Club in 1949
applying for to receive a grant : the local community must provide a site for the building , and citizens were required to support the library with tax funds .
By November 1907 , a temporary Gilroy Public Library space was established upstairs at the newly completed City Hall on Monterey and Sixth Streets . A month later , the space was open and functioning with its first collection of volumes donated by the Ladies Reading Circle . At a salary of $ 30 per month , Mrs . Mary Briggs Benn operated the library daily from 2 to 5 pm and 6:30-9 pm . After the first year , Sundays were discontinued for lack of attendance .
Within the year , a search was on to find the right lot to build the Carnegie Library . In 1909 , local philanthropist Caroline Hoxett presented the city with a check for $ 1,000 to purchase a public tennis court located at Fifth and Church Streets . By mid-August , blueprints by Watsonville architect William Weeks were submitted to Andrew Carnegie for approval and in October 1909 , the first incremental check came in . Enthused citizens proceeded to hold the groundbreaking ceremony .
On the big day , July 27 , 1910 , Gilroy ’ s brand new public library opened its doors , with 1700 volumes on the shelves . An evening reception celebrated the event , complete with a musicale , speeches and refreshments . Beneath the central skylight rotunda , four archways opened into spacious reading and book rooms , where sturdy oak tables and bentwood chairs awaited eager readers . A wood-burning fireplace
in the largest reading room provided heat for the building , along with a central coal powered heating system .
A popular community spot for 65 years , the Classical Revival style Carnegie Library served Gilroy citizens until 1975 when , no longer able hold its book collection or provide adequate services to patrons , the building was closed . A newer , larger public library was built two blocks away at Rosanna and Sixth Streets , to be replaced once again by an even larger structure in 2012 .
The original Carnegie Library space , which took the citizens of Gilroy so long to achieve , was renovated and reopened in 1976 , to continue as the Gilroy Museum . Visitors will still find much of the building ’ s original , and now historic , charm when they step into the venerable structure .
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