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The Cornell Public Library

Ezra Cornell
Free Public Library
The First Inauguration
"Foster Sisters"

Cornell’s Twelve Presidents

Inaugurating the Presidents

The Cornell Public Library

Free Public Library

In 1863, Cornell asked his counselor and trusted friend, Francis Miles Finch, an Ithaca native and Yale-educated lawyer with the law firm of Boardman and Finch, to assist him in drawing up a charter for a Library Association. Cornell purchased a lot on Tioga Street along the south side of Seneca, across the street from the City Hall, at a cost of $2,772.97. In order to obtain public support and cooperation, he formed an advisory committee of local citizens to help him. William Hodgins, an Albany architect, was chosen to prepare the plans.

The building included not only the library room with a capacity for holding 30,000 volumes, but also reading rooms, a lecture room seating 800 people, and space for community organizations like the DeWitt Guard, the Ithaca Farmer’s Club, and the Ithaca Historical Society. In order to make the library self-supporting, the building contained commercial space for a post office, a bank, and other businesses. The Cornell Library was incorporated on April 5, 1864 and formally “presented to the citizens of Tompkins Co. N.Y. as a free Public Library” on December 20, 1866.

At the opening of the Library, Ezra Cornell contributed 3,000 volumes, with the stipulation that he would add 1,000 volumes each year for twelve years. Many other community members also donated books to the library. At the Dedication, it was further proposed that every person present should “during the ensuing holiday week, present to the Cornell Library at least one good book as a Christmas gift.”

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The Cornell Library
Ezra Cornell's Library was built between 1864 and 1866. For many years it was the largest building in Ithaca. It was sold in 1960 to the First National Bank of Ithaca, and was demolished soon thereafter.

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Dedication of the Cornell Library, which served the town of Ithaca
“Dedication of the Cornell Library at Library Hall, Thursday Evening, December 20th, 1866, Ithaca, N.Y.”

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Dedication of the Cornell Library, which served the town of Ithaca
“Dedication of the Cornell Library at Library Hall, Thursday Evening, December 20th, 1866, Ithaca, N.Y.”

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Letter from Francis Miles Finch to Ezra Cornell, January 4, 1867
Francis Miles Finch helped Cornell draw up a charter for the Library Association. Finch was a native of Ithaca and a Yale-educated lawyer with the law firm of Boardman and Finch.

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The Cornell Library Association
Laws and Regulations of the Cornell Library Association, 1867

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Minutes of the first meeting of the advisory committee
On February 5, 1863, members of the Village of Ithaca council met “to consider the proposal of the Hon. Ezra Cornell to invest $15,000 in a lot and building to be used for a free library for the Village of Ithaca,”

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