Old Library Restaurant- Olean, NY

I get very excited about Carnegie Libraries. While I love to find them functioning in their original capacity, that is exceedingly rare. Admittedly, library needs are wildly different today than when the Carnegie’s were built. However, considering the craftsmanship present in these buildings, they are ripe for reuse, such as in the case of Olean, New York’s branch.

Built in 1909 by Edward Tilton, the beautiful Beaux Arts Olean Carnegie Library was one of 1689 such libraries built across the U.S. between 1883-1929, funded by steel baron Andrew Carnegie. Featuring a sweeping staircase, large reading rooms, and a central open atrium, the building cost an estimated $40,000 to construct.

The grand building served as the town’s meeting space for over 60 years, before a new library opened in 1973. The original space then housed the town’s historical society, as well as the Department of Aging. In 1982, the property was sold to Louis Mara, who later purchased the adjacent residential property, which he converted to a Bed and Breakfast in 1988.

Mara and his family invested more than $1 million to renovate the old library before opening the first incarnation of the restaurant in the 1980s. While Mara died in 1990, his family ran the enterprise until 2012, when they shuttered the restaurant side of the business. In 2018, new owners re-established the building as a full service restaurant, lounge, and event venue.

Today, the space retains all of it’s Art Deco and Beaux Art beauty, while also managing to be delicious and modern. An unexpected small town surprise, the Old Library will not disappoint.