Fairfield Public Library

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Fairfield Public Library

| nrhp_type =

| image = Fairfield library.jpeg

| caption =

| location = Court and Washington
Fairfield, Iowa

| coordinates = {{coord|41|0|21|N|91|57|46|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Iowa#USA

| built = 1893

| architect = C. Stafford

| architecture = Richardsonian Romanesque

| added = May 23, 1983

| area = less than one acre

| mpsub = {{NRHP url|id=64500180|title=Public Library Buildings in Iowa TR}}

| refnum = 83000373{{NRISref|version=2010a}}

}}

Fairfield Public Library is located in Fairfield, Iowa, United States. A library association was founded by a group of local men in 1853, and funded by dues from its members. It was housed in several different buildings for the first 40 years. U.S. Senator James F. Wilson from Fairfield was instrumental in obtaining a grant from Andrew Carnegie for a building of its own. The grant for $40,000 was accepted on January 15, 1892.{{cite web|url=http://clip.grad.uiowa.edu/fairfield-public-library|title=Carnegie Libraries of Iowa Project-Fairfield Public Library|accessdate=2016-05-21|publisher=University of Iowa|author=}} It was the first Carnegie Library outside of Western Pennsylvania and the first of 101 built in Iowa.{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=83000373}}|title=Fairfield Public Library|accessdate=2016-05-21|publisher=National Park Service|author=S. Klingensmith}} with {{NRHP url|id=83000373|photos=y|title=one photo from 1978}} It was also one the few libraries Carnegie funded without stipulations concerning its use, public support, or design. The building was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by Kansas City architect C. Stafford. It was officially opened on Friday, September 29, 1893, and it was dedicated on November 28 of the same year. The association continued to run the library until 1899 when voters approved a referendum to support it with taxes. The building has been altered in the ensuing years, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The library moved to a new building in 1996, and the original building is now home to the Carnegie Historical Museum.