Boulder Public Library - Carnegie Branch050

In the 1970's, Boulder's old Carnegie Library sat empty and neglected. A few blocks away, the Boulder Public Library owned valuable local history materials but had no place to keep them. A perfect match was made, and today the renovated building has been reopened as the Carnegie Branch Library for Local History. Very few public libraries have collections of local history materials as comprehensive or as exciting as those in the Carnegie Branch Library for Local History. Over 200,000 photographs show what life was like in the towns, farms, and mining camps of early Boulder County. A manuscript collection of 700,000 items, many created before the name Colorado was given to this area, includes diaries, letters, maps, oral histories, newspaper clippings, papers of pioneer families and businesses, and records of churches, clubs, and mining districts. Because the materials are stored under conditions to insure their preservation, several historical societies have donated or placed on permanent loan their entire document and photograph collections to the Carnegie. The A. A. Paddock collections of the Boulder Historical Society are known and admired by historians nationwide. For those wanting to trace their roots, the Boulder Genealogical Society collections are also housed in the Carnegie. Society volunteers offer research assistance from 2 - 4 pm daily and from 7 - 9 pm on Mondays and 10 - 12 pm on Wednesdays.