On January 4, 1971, the Columbia Public Library opened at a new location on the southwest corner of Broadway and Garth. Six days earlier, library patrons moved the book collection by hand, forming a “book brigade” that stretched over half a mile from the previous location at Broadway and Seventh Street in the Gentry Building.

Prior to this new building, the effort to maintain a public library for the citizens of Columbia had a long history. After separate attempts by prominent men in 1845 and 1866, lasting progress was made in 1899 by a group of women who established the Columbia Free Library. This collection of books and the people who guarded it (mainly women) grew into the library we know today. In 1917 women’s organizations attempted to pass a new property tax to secure a Carnegie library for Columbia, but it failed by a vote of 470 to 606. Five years later, in 1922, shortly after women earned the right to vote, a tax levy did pass “by a landslide.” The Columbia Public Library was officially established as a tax-payer-supported institution that same year, using the location and collection of the Columbia Free Library. Miss Leila B. Willis was employed as a librarian and paid $50 a month. The present building, constructed on the basement and foundation of the 1970 structure, opened in 2002. The Library celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2022. Library history exhibits are on the first floor or you can view their Centennial Timeline online.

In September 2000, the Columbia Public Library began a massive “renovation” of the 1970s structure designed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates. It includes two 39 foot tall sculptures at the main entrance, made of formed and fabricated polychromed steel. Known as “Cypher,” they were created by American modernist metal sculptor, Albert Paley; his website describes the sculptures as follows:

“Cypher is comprised of twin exterior sculptures that function as sentinel guardians that herald the entering and exiting of the Daniel Boone Regional Public Library. The seemingly irrational gestural nature of the Sculptures function as a counterpoint to the formal elegance of the architecture. The title, Cypher, references the signs, symbols and intricacies of the systemization of language.”

Sources

• Daniel Boone Regional Public Library staff (2022). Columbia Public Library Centennial Timeline. www.dbrl.org. Accessed December 31, 2022.

• Paley Studios (2023). Cypher. www.albertpaley.com. Accessed on January 3, 2023.

• City of Columbia Office of Cultural Affairs (2012). Columbia, Missouri Public Art Guide. www.como.gov. Accessed on January 3, 2023.

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