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Portland Public Library

Portland Public Library is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Portland Public Library rather than just read about it. In short: Portland Public Library is the main library of the public library system in Portland, Maine, USA. It is located at 5 Monument Square on Congress Street in the Old Port of Portland, Maine.

Portland Public Library — main illustration
Portland Public Library — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Portland Public Library belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Portland Public Library to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Portland Public Library from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Portland Public Library is the main library of the public library system in Portland, Maine, USA. It is located at 5 Monument Square on Congress Street in the Old Port of Portland, Maine. The library has three neighborhood branches, Burbank branch (in Deering), Peaks Island branch, and Riverton branch.

History

Portland Athenaeum The Portland Athenaeum (1826–1876) was a subscription library incorporated in Portland by a collection of local residents. As gratefully noted in a local newspaper in 1826:

Such an institution has long been a desideratum among us. Other towns inferior to this in size and wealth have gone before us in the career of literary enterprize ... and yet we are not willing to allow that there is any lack of literary elements in the town, but they lie scattered and dormant. There is no common centre of gravity to bring them into healthful action; they are like coals lying asunder which give no heat. We have scholars in town ... but their lights are hid under a bushel. ... We want an institution which shall bring them in contact, and give them the benefit of mutual light and heat, and action. ... [It] shall combine a reading-room, a library and cabinet. ... It is contemplated to unite, if practicable, the two reading-rooms now open in town, together with the Portland Library. Early supporters included Stephen Longfellow (father of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow), and William Willis. By 1856, the Athenaeum had "160 proprietors and ... a library, in the hall second story of the Canal Bank building [on Middle Street], of 8,500 volumes." James Merrill served as librarian, c. 1850. In 1861, the Athenaeum erected a brick building on a lot previously purchased in Plum street. By 1864, the library contained 10,647 bound books, and additional pamphlets. In 1866, the Great Fire swept through Portland, and the Athenaeum lost its collection in the flames.

Portland Institute and Public Library Immediately following the fire in 1866, critic and writer John Neal proposed merging the Athenaeum with the libraries of the Mercantile Association, Maine Charitable Mechanic Association, and YMCA. The Portland Institute and Public Library formed in January 1867, with its library located in Portland City Hall. Willis served as the first president, and Neal the second. In 1876, the Athenaeum merged into the Portland Institute and Public Library; this bestowed the Atheneum's Plum Street property on the institute, although the library remained at City Hall. In January 1889, the Portland Institute and Public Library was renamed as Portland Public Library, and became free for readers to access.

Portland Public Library

In 1889, the library moved into what is now known as the Baxter Building, at 619 Congress Street. The main library moved to Monument Square in 1979, into a new construction which replaced the three-story Clapp Block. A major renovation of the main building by Scott Simons Architects was completed in 2010.

References

Further reading Portland (Me .). Public Library (1890), Catalogue of Books in the Portland Public Library: With By- Laws, Regulations, Names of Officers, OCLC 27860933, OL 20615848M

External links Official website

Illustrations

Portland Public Library illustration
Portland Public Library: Portland Public's Entrance. Visitors are greeted by The Little Water Girl which has been at the Library since 1979.
Portland Public's Entrance. Visitors are greeted by The Little Water Girl which has been at the Library since 1979.
Portland Public Library: View of the Portland Public Library, 2008, from Monument Square before remodeling
View of the Portland Public Library, 2008, from Monument Square before remodeling

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Portland Public Library

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Portland Public Library claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Portland Public Library before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Portland Public Library ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Portland Public Library

In research
Portland Public Library appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Portland Public Library in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Portland Public Library is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1867 establishments in Maine, Buildings and structures completed in 1979, Libraries established in 1867, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Portland Public Library outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study Portland Public Library in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Portland Public Library means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Portland Public Library out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Portland Public Library in simple terms?

Portland Public Library is the main library of the public library system in Portland, Maine, USA. It is located at 5 Monument Square on Congress Street in the Old Port of Portland, Maine.

Why does Portland Public Library matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Portland Public Library?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Portland Public Library.

Tags

  • 1867 establishments in Maine
  • Buildings and structures completed in 1979
  • Libraries established in 1867
  • Libraries in Portland, Maine
  • Old Port of Portland, Maine
  • Public libraries in Maine

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