Over its long and illustrious lifetime, Boulder’s Carnegie Library has been many things: a temple of learning, a community gathering spot, a basketball court (briefly), and even a storage closet.

Built in 1906 with a $15,000 check from steel magnate Andrew Carnegie — back when $15,000 could buy you an entire building, not a used car — the little space opened as Boulder’s first public library, cementing for the city one of its nicknames, “Athens of the West.” But by 1961, it was clear Boulderites needed more space for their books, and the building pivoted to a series of odd jobs for the city, including hosting dances and stashing excess stuff.

In 1983, the Carnegie building, 1125 Pine St., Boulder, got a glow-up, reopening as a local history library and archive, and for 37 years remained the pantheon of Boulder’s past, preserving everything from rare books to oral histories to vintage photos of Pearl Street when it was still a dirt road.

Then came 2020, and we all know what happened — the pandemic temporarily silenced the library’s hallways. After four long years, thanks to new funding from the voter-approved Boulder Public Library District, the doors have opened again. To mark the occasion, the exhibit “Carnegie Library: Then and Now,” in the Canyon Gallery inside the Boulder Public Library, offers a peek into Carnegie’s greatest hits.

Jennifer Lord, who curated the exhibit, called it “the perfect time to highlight what’s in the collection, especially after such a long closure.”

The exhibit features a smorgasbord of treasures, including the “Then and Now” photographs of downtown Boulder, vintage yearbooks and even a Boulder-themed puzzle. Like a crash course in Boulder’s evolution, “Carnegie Library: Then and Now,” is a place where zoning changes are fascinating, Pearl Street always has a story, and history isn’t just preserved — it’s celebrated.

The exhibition can be viewed on the Arapahoe Ramp in Boulder Public Library’s Canyon Gallery, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. “Carnegie Library: Then and Now” is on display through Jan. 30.

For Lord, curating the “Carnegie Library: Then and Now” exhibit gave her an introduction to the remarkable figures of Boulder’s past — like Marcelee Gralapp, the visionary former library director who transformed Boulder into a thriving hub for arts and culture.

“[Gralapp] was instrumental in creating many of Boulder’s art spaces, like the Dushanbe Tea House, the Dairy Center and the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art,” Lord said. Gralapp died in 2019 at 87 years old.

Through Gralapp’s oral history, which is included in the exhibit, Lord gained a vivid sense of the woman many have described as a “force” in Boulder’s cultural history. Visitors can listen to her narrative, along with other firsthand accounts by scanning QR codes that are displayed alongside the photographs and artifacts in the exhibit. This offers guests a front-row seat into Boulder’s past and evolution.

In addition to highlighting notable names, the exhibit focuses on the changing face of downtown Boulder, particularly Pearl Street, through a mix of historic and more recent photographs.

“The ‘Then and Now’ photos show how much the area has transformed over time,” Lord said.

“What’s interesting is that many of the sets of ‘Now’ photos, taken in the early 2000s, are already completely outdated. It shows just how much Boulder has grown and changed — and continues to grow and change.”

The images are paired with artifacts from the Carnegie Library’s archives, from vintage yearbooks to a Boulder-themed puzzle, creating a comprehensive picture of the city’s past and present. For Lord, one of the most surprising discoveries was learning that Boulder’s original courthouse burned down, making way for the current structure.

“The original building was beautiful, and the new one is stunning too, but learning about that history was fascinating,” she said.

Another favorite story from the exhibit? The evolution of a single Pearl Street address over the decades.

“Another funny, or favorite, thing I learned from the exhibition was that what is currently the Capital One Cafe on 1247 Pearl St., was formally the Boulder National Bank in 1934, and then was home to the Boulder Café 2007,” Lord said. “The building went from a bank, to a café, to a bank café.”

While Lord brought her fresh perspective to the exhibit, the archive manager at Carnegie, Caroline Woodiel, her deep and institutional knowledge of the library’s collections provided critical context.

“Boulder is incredibly fortunate to have a local history library and archive like this,” Woodiel said. “The Carnegie Library has been preserving Boulder County’s history since 1983. Its collections include rare and reference books, archival materials, a digital archive, oral histories, microfilm, clippings, real estate records and more. It’s an incredible source of local history knowledge, and because we’re part of the public library system, everything is easily accessible to everyone.”

For Woodiel, the importance of Carnegie goes beyond its collections — it lies in its ability to connect the past to the present in ways that resonate with the community.

“It’s fascinating to see the evolution from a small outpost supporting miners in the mountains to a city that’s now recognized all over the world,” she said. “Pearl Street has always been the main thoroughfare. People still come to shop on the Pearl Street Mall, just as they have for as long as it’s existed. It’s fascinating to look at how things like that have endured.”

Now that Carnegie is back open, it’s better than ever. At Carnegie, visitors can hear contemporary stories that spotlight Boulder’s Black history, or flip through the library’s original 1907 book collection.

Feeling nosy? You can read a 100-year-old diary or uncover who lived in your

house 50 years ago. If you find yourself longing for simpler times, you can picture yourself hiking Chautauqua in a long skirt and corset or calculate how far $10 would stretch on groceries 75 years ago.

And if you’re not quite ready to dive into the archives and you need a sampler of Boulder’s rich history, that’s OK — the exhibit “Carnegie Library: Then and Now” offers the perfect introduction.

Find more information at boulderlibrary.org/exhibitions.