The Mobile Public Library has roots going back to the 1850s, when it was started as a subscription organization by the Franklin Society. The library was officially established as the Mobile Public Library in 1902[1] and was originally housed in an antebellum structure at the corner of Conti and Hamilton Street.[4] The library association appealed to city leaders in the late 1910s to provide operating funds for the library and offered to give the city the library property if it would build a new building to house the collections. The city declined to finance the construction of a new building, but did approve funding on 2 April 1918. D
ue to increasing public demand, on 15 December 1925, the city commissioners voted to schedule a special election on a $250,000 bond issue. The voters approved the bond and, along with a gift of $30,000 from Eli H. Bernheim of New York City, the new library building was constructed. Architect George Bigelow Rogers designed the building in Classical Revival style. The new structure, now known as the Ben May Main Library, was opened on 15 September 1928.[4]
Due to segregation, an additional building was needed to serve Mobile's African American community and in 1931 the Davis Avenue Branch of the library, also designed by George Rogers, was established. It was also funded by a bond issue and by the sale of the old library property on Conti Street.[4]
The Ben May Main Library building is a contributing building to the Church Street East Historic District, added to the National Register of Historic Places on 16 December 1971.[5] The system opened a new branch, the West Regional Branch, in 2002, with First Lady Laura Bush making an address.[1] Beginning in 2006, the Ben May Main Library building was restored and expanded by 22,000 square feet (2,000 m2). It was reopened on 31 May 2007.[6]
