Reed Memorial Library

Reed Memorial Library is located at the junction of US 6 and NY 52 in Carmel, New York, United States. It is the oldest library building in Putnam County, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.It was built in 1914 by Arietta Crane Reed as a tribute to her late husband, William Belden Reed, an ardent supporter of the Literary Union of Carmel, which operates the library. It is a Tudorbethan-style building of local stone with marble accents, and much original period furnishing inside.BuildingThe library occupies a corner lot; it takes the form of a one-story trapezoid faced in rock quarried around nearby Lake Gilead. Its slate roof has three gables; a flat-roofed section between the two in the rear curves to form a rounded rear elevation. The main entrance has double doors flanked by narrow windows in a rusticated surround with quoined corners.It opens into a small vestibule of tile with marble trim. Behind it is an oval lobby paneled in oak. A colonnade separates it from the reading rooms and stacks in the rounded rear section. The fireplace in the main reading room has a mantel carved in the shape of monks' heads; the one in the children's reading room is a more restrained, standard Gothic Revival style.