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The '''Salt Lake City Public Library''' is a system of free [[public library|public libraries]] in [[Salt Lake City, Utah|Salt Lake City]], [[Utah]]. There are six locations: the main library [[downtown (Salt Lake City)|downtown]], the Anderson-Foothill branch, the Chapman branch in [[Glendale (Salt Lake City)|Glendale]], the Day-Riverside branch in [[Rose Park (Salt Lake City)|Rose Park]], the Sprague branch in [[Sugar House (Salt Lake City)|Sugar House]], and the Corrine & Jack Sweet branch in [[the Avenues (Salt Lake City)|the Avenues]].
==History==
The Salt Lake City public library system began in [[1896]] when Utah was admitted to the union as a state. The newly formed legislature passed a law establishing free libraries. Previous to this the only libraries were a small reading room set up by a group of women from [[1872]] to [[1876]] and a library run by the [[Masonic Order]] from [[1877]] to [[1891]]. In 1891 the Masonic library was donated to the newly-formed Pioneer Library Association, which lasted until statehood.
The City's first government-run free public library was founded in 1898 on the top floor of the [[Salt Lake City and County Building]] It consisted of 11,910 books and was run by Annie E. Chapman, for whom the Chapman branch is named. In 1900 the library had outgrown its housing and was proposed to move to a new locale on State Street, which opened in 1905 with a new librarian Joanna Sprague.
In November [[1998]] taxpayers were asked to fund the building of a new main [[library]] building [[downtown (Salt Lake City)|downtown]]. Voters approved a $84 million bond. Several [[architect]]s submitted plans, but the firm of [[Moshe Safdie]] and Associates was eventually chosen. Ground broke in October [[2000]] with construction completed in February 2003. The downtown library is inspired by the Central branch of the [[Vancouver Public Library]], also designed by Moshe Safdie and Associates.
