The Building

In January 1893, Mr Thomas Greenwood, a tireless campaigner for public libraries, had a letter published in the Dumfries and Galloway Standard and Advertiser.  This letter entitled "Why should Dumfries have a public Library?" was just one of many letter writer by Mr Greenwood raising the awareness of the need for Dumfries to have a public library service.

William Ewart MP, Member of Parliament for Dumfries was responsible for the introduction of the Free Libraries Acts of 1850 in England, and 1853 in Scotland, allowing public libraries to be supported by local taxation for the first time.  On 20th August 1898, the Dumfries and Galloway Standard and Advertiser published a letter from Andrew Carnegie to the Provost of Dumfries, Mr Glover, expressing surprise that considering the influence of William Ewart MP, the burghs of Dumfries and Maxwelltown had not adopted the library acts.  He wrote that two prominent members of the community, Mr Thomas McKie and his sister Miss Jessie McKie, from Moat House, had informed him that a suitable site for a library would be gifted, and he offered the sum of £10,000 towards building a library, provided that the two burghs adopted the acts.

The two burghs of Dumfries and Maxwelltown agreed that the project should go ahead, providing special arrangements were made to allow for the joint running of the library.  Following a special act of parliament put through by Sir Robert Reid MP, which enabled the burghs to combine for library purposes, agreement was reached to go ahead with the project.

In March 1899, the Joint Library Committee came into being and the design for the building was decided by an architectural competition, which had become popular in the early Victorian period, and by the 1890's were the standard means of deciding upon architect and design for public buildings.  The building and furnishing was to cost £8,000.  Out of 84 enquiries there were 31 final entries, of which 8 plans were considered.  Mr George Corson, architect of Leeds Public Library, the assessor, and author of the conditions of the competition, recommeded the plans drawn up by F J C Carruthers, who had designed Dumfries Academy in 1897.  However, the council chose local architect A B Crombie, because his proposals were the cheapest.

The laying of the foundation stone on 13th October 1899 was a grand civic occasion at which Andrew Carnegie was present.  The stone was laid by Miss Jessie McKie of Moat House, the donor of the site.  The silver trowel she used is still today on display inside the Ewart Lending Library.

The library was built on two floors and included lending and reference rooms, newsroom, ladies room and committee rooms/librarians room and lecture hall.  Crombie's original submission had included the required librarian's accommodation but the council were given advice on the  size of the building by Hew Morrison, Carnegie's adviser, who told them to dispense with the house.  This condition was becoming more common as Carnegie and his team were less convinced of the necessity of the librarian living on the premises and were more in favour of the total building being available for public use.

In April 1900, the Joint Committee noted that Crombie's working drawings differed from his competition plan both in length and breadth.  After being asked to redraw, he submitted new plans which were marginally shorter than the originals.  The tender also included the erection of parapet wall and railings to Cathering Street, which was not in the original specifications.  This however was accepted and built.  The whole project eventually cost more than the intended sum.  The £10,000 grant was almost gone.

Despite the pomp and circumstance of the library's founding, all was not well.  Finally erected and opened on 8th September 1904 a sum of £1,000 was borrowed for the purchase of books.  In 1903, the 1d rate produced only £360 and had not been collected in the previous years, despite the fact the Acts had been adopted in 1898 and funds should have been building up. 

Crombie had produced a massive fake Italian Renaissance structure impossible to maintain on the rate which was itself inadequate.  The library did not have good natural light and it was so cavernous that it was virtually impossible to heat, the only fire being in the janitor's small room at the back of the hall.  The entrance hall in the middle of the gorund floor occupied a third of the floor area and was a complete waste of space.  It had no proper front door and was always very cold.  The fabric of the building was a mostly local, red ashlar sandstone from Corsehill Quarry near Annan which did not stand up well to the elements.  With no money available for maintenance, the outside of the building deteriorated to the extent that in 1918, the librarian was worried that readers would be killed by falling lumps of masonry.  More problems were caused by the permanent damp as the Loreburn stream rose and fell beneath the site.  Crombie had great trouble with drainage when the building was being erected.  The site was virtually a peat bog and the foundations had to go down 16 feet in order to support the walls above.

Staffing the building was not easy as the hall effectively separated the main library from the newsroom at the other side.  Also there was no staff area and no stock or stockrooms in the building. 

For those, the library had to wait till 1936...