{{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Thomas Crane Public Library | nrhp_type = nhl | image = Thomas Crane Public Library, Quincy, Massachusetts (Front view).JPG | caption = The original building (1882), front view, architect H. H. Richardson | location = Quincy, Massachusetts | coordinates = {{coord|42|15|6|N|71|0|4|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=title,inline}} | locmapin = Massachusetts#USA | area = | built = 1881 | architect = Henry Hobson Richardson | architecture = Richardsonian Romanesque | added = October 18, 1972 | designated_nrhp_type = December 23, 1987 | refnum = 72000143<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref> }} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Wollaston Branch, Thomas Crane Public Library | nrhp_type = | image = Wollaston Branch Thomas Crane Public Library Quincy MA.jpg | caption = The Wollaston Branch | location = 41 Beale St., Quincy, Massachusetts | coordinates = {{coord|42|16|0.44|N|71|1|4.48|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline}} | locmapin = | built = 1922 | architect = William Chapman | architecture = Classical Revival | added = September 20, 1989 | area = {{convert|0.2|acre}} | mpsub = {{NRHP url|id=64000289|title=Quincy MRA}} | refnum = 89001316<ref name="nrisWollaston">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref> }} The '''Thomas Crane Public Library''' ('''TCPL''') is a city library in Quincy, Massachusetts. Noted for its Richardsonian Romanesque architecture, the building was funded by the Crane family as a memorial to Thomas Crane, a wealthy stone contractor who got his start in the Quincy quarries.<ref>Paula D. Watson. Carnegie Ladies, Lady Carnegies: Women and the Building of Libraries. Libraries & Culture, Vol. 31, No. 1, Reading & Libraries I (Winter, 1996)</ref> The Thomas Crane Library has the second largest municipal collection in Massachusetts after the Boston Public Library.
==Architecture== The Thomas Crane Public Library was built in four stages: the original building (1882) by architect Henry Hobson Richardson; an additional ell with stack space and stained glass (1908) by William Martin Aiken in Richardson's style; a major expansion (1939) by architects Paul A. and Carroll Coletti, with stone carvings by sculptor Joseph Coletti of Quincy; and a recent addition (2001) by Boston architects Childs, Bertman, and Tseckares, which doubled the size of the library. H. H. Richardson considered this library among his most successful civic buildings, and ''Harper's Weekly'' called it "the best village library in the United States". The library was ranked 43rd in a national poll conducted in 2007 by the American Institute of Architects of the favorite buildings in the nation.
In addition to its architecture, the original building contains a 30 × 10 inch stained-glass window by noted American artist John LaFarge in memory of Thomas Crane, entitled the ''Old Philosopher.'' To the left of the elaborate carved fireplace is a second LaFarge window, "Angel at the Tomb", given in memory of Crane's son Benjamin Franklin Crane. The library's grounds were designed by landscaper Frederick Law Olmsted.
The main library was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987, recognizing it as one of Richardson's finest library buildings.<ref name=nhl>{{cite web|url={{NHLS url|id=72000143}}|title=NHL nomination for Thomas Crane Public Library|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=2015-02-22}}</ref>
thumb|Aiken Ell Interior
==Branches==
By 1910 there were two "reading rooms," one in the Atlantic neighborhood on Atlantic Street and one in West Quincy. By the 1920s the system had expanded to nine branches in all, adding ones near the Parker Elementary School and the Furnace Brook Parkway, and ones in the Squantum, South Quincy, Wollaston and Quincy Point neighborhoods. Municipal budget cutbacks in 1981 slashed the number to just three besides the main building: the Wollaston branch (1922), which is listed separately on the National Register of Historic Places, the North Quincy branch (1963) on Hancock Street near North Quincy High School, and the Adams Shore branch (1970) on Sea Street in Hough's Neck.
==Community== The library often hosts concerts, lectures and art exhibitions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thomascranelibrary.org/news/newsletter/newsletterarchive.shtml |title=Newsletter Archive |website=Thomas Crane Library |access-date=August 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091211165045/http://thomascranelibrary.org/news/newsletter/newsletterarchive.shtml |archive-date=December 11, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://thomascranelibrary.org/aboutus/policies/exhibit.shtml |title=Exhibits & Displays |website=Thomas Crane Library |access-date=August 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720210305/http://thomascranelibrary.org/aboutus/policies/exhibit.shtml |archive-date=July 20, 2011}}</ref> There are also private rooms available for use free of charge to the public or to small community organizations.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thomascranelibrary.org/meeting-study-rooms |title=Meeting & Study Rooms |website=Thomas Crane Public Library |access-date=August 3, 2022}}</ref> Also, the library hosts Quincy's local public-access television cable TV channel, QATV.
==See also== *List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts *National Register of Historic Places listings in Quincy, Massachusetts
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} *[http://thomascranelibrary.org Thomas Crane Public Library Website] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070104004123/http://thomascranelibrary.org/aboutus/architecture/dedicationbooklet/dedicationframeset.html Thomas Crane Library Quincy, Massachusetts: Dedication October 14, 2001] *[http://www.qatv.org/ Quincy Access Television]
{{Quincy, Massachusetts}} {{NHLs in MA}} {{NRHP in Norfolk County, Massachusetts}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Crane Public Library}} Category:Library buildings completed in 1882 Category:Public libraries in Massachusetts Crane Public Library Category:National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts Category:Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Massachusetts Category:Buildings and structures in Quincy, Massachusetts Category:Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Category:Libraries in Norfolk County, Massachusetts Category:Tourist attractions in Quincy, Massachusetts Category:National Register of Historic Places in Quincy, Massachusetts