Day 51, Wednesday April 17: Idaho Springs, Colorado to Golden, Colorado

Carnegie libraries visited: Idaho Springs, Denver Smiley Branch, Denver Decker Branch, Colorado

Traffic was light when I was pulling into Denver, and I was well ahead of schedule. A quick search showed that I was unlikely to find much of use regarding the women who helped establish Denver’s libraries, because they didn’t appear to have much to do with it. In Denver, the library grew out of the Chamber of Commerce efforts. I’m learning the pattern: in small towns, the women are essential; in bigger cities, not so much. It was fun driving from library to library, so I could get a feel for the city. Denver originally had been awarded five Carnegy libraries; it successfully applied for an additional four. Today, four have new purposes: a private home (oh, how I would love to live there!), an architectural firm, private lofts (maybe even more so), and the civic center. The remaining five are still in service, exteriors mainly unchanged for the last century.