Home Bazaar HB-9066 Public Library Birdhouse

This classic birdhouse is modeled on the Osage, Iowa Public Library, which was constructed in 1910 with a $10,000 gift from Andrew Carnegie. The building, still in use as Osage's city hall, is similar in construction to hundreds of libraries throughout the United States. Mirroring the rich tradition of "library as community center," this birdhouse features three nest boxes: one on each side and one over the front door. Constructed of exterior grade ply-board, painted pine roof shingles and poly-resin details, this style is a fully functional birdhouse with removable back walls, drainage, ventilation and 1 1/4" opening to allow wrens, finches, chickadees, nuthatches and titmice to nest. Intended for outdoor use. A brass plaque mounted on back indicates that a portion of the birdhouse proceeds support the American Library Association's Cultural Communities Fund and Florida State University's Jean E. Lowrie Endowment. The birdhouse is the brainchild of American Library Historian, Wayne Wiegand. The Osage Public Library is one of four Midwest libraries featured in Wiegand’s forthcoming "Main Street Public Library: Community Places and Reading Spaces in the Rural Heartland, 1876-1956" (University of Iowa Press).