Structure: Burlington Branch Library
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
Prototype architect: Mario Bianculli
Library architect: Bealer & Wilhoit
Date: 1947
Story: In 1945, the librarians of Tennessee came up with a brilliant idea to have TVA Chief Architect Mario Bianculli design modern library prototypes which could be easily recreated whenever the state needed a new library.

The prototypes were, as you might imagine, differentiated by how many books they could hold. Let’s have a look at the different variations

^{Type 4 was a full blown county library and could hold 10,000 books.}

In 1947, two years after Bianculli finished his prototypes, Tennessee’s librarians were ready to give his Type 2 prototype a test run. West Knoxville, Tennessee was in need of a new library brach and so, with support from local businessmen, a garden club, the PTA, and several churches, the city worked worked with local architectural firm Bealer & Wilhoit to turn Bianculli’s prototype into an actual building.

The design was very well received, so much so that Architectural Forum did a write-up of the building (in May of 1947). The building still stands and although its been less-than-sensitively modified, the original core is still in decent shape. The extension isn’t half bad, but the removal of the full glass windows is a bummer.