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Another Ed Sadowski creation
ED SADOWSKI
LIBRARIES
BOOKSTORES
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Downtown
Denver
LIBRARIES & BOOKSTORES
Denver Public Library
Tattered Cover Bookstore
Denver Public Library /////////////////////////////////////
W. 13th Ave. and Broadway
The Denver Public Library was established in 1889 in a wing of Denver High School under the direction of renowned librarian and John Cotton Dana. Today it is the largest library system between Chicago and Los Angeles, with 23 branch libraries and a collection of over two million items.
A pioneer and innovator in the library world, DPL has several times been rated the nation’s no. one public library. The DPL has been credited with various achievements: the world’s first open shelf system; the first children’s library; the first picture collection; the first library to offer downloadable videos; the largest public library collection of Western history; the largest conservation collection; in the top ten of genealogy collections; one of first telephone reference services. The Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library in Five Points is one of the nation’s premier black history research centers, the only one of its kind west of the Mississippi.
When the present Central library expansion was completed in 1995, it was only among seven public libraries in the country to have display space and a formal exhibit program. The odd-looking postmodern tower-and-drum exterior of the main building has been called architecturally the most unusual among libraries, drawing reviews ranging from “ugly” to “the most spectacular building between the Mississippi and the Pacific.”
The building is the second-largest man-made stone structure in the nation, with 135,556 square feet of limestone, granite and cast stone, second in size only to the Federal Triangle in Washington. Co-designer Michael Graves remarked, “I’ve never seen this degree of craftsmanship in stonework and millwork in a public building. The work in my home isn’t as good.” About the interior, one architect stated, “You will find things in this building that you will not find in other buildings.” The Library has been ranked in the top five of North American libraries as a tourist attraction.
Tattered Cover Bookstore ////////////////////////////////
16th and Wynkoop and Union Station
Superlatives: "The best general bookstore in the United States;" "one of the world's finest and largest independent bookstores."
The above superlatives were heaped on the Tattered Cover in 1989 by The New York Times. The article referred to its former magnificent four-floor Cherry Creek North location, which in 2006 moved to East Colfax. At that time the Tattered Cover was the largest independent bookstore in the nation, with over 400,000 volumes. The Tattered Cover still is one the premiere indie bookstores, with new and expanded locations.
Since 1971, one of Denver's most beloved institutions has weathered the competition of national book chains, Amazon, and the ebook revolution. The death of print books and bookstores was greatly exaggerated, having made a comeback, and the Tattered Cover still leads the way.
The Tattered Cover moved into its second location in LoDo at the renovated former Morey Mercantile Building in 1994, sharing it with a restaurant, wine shop and residential lofts.
For most of its history, the Tattered Cover was owned by Joyce Meskis, recognized as one of the great guiding forces of independent bookselling in the country.
