The Urbana Free Library has been running since 1874, and the building it occupies went up in 1918 on W Green Street in downtown Urbana. Joseph Royer designed it, an Urbana native whose work is all over the town, including the Champaign County courthouse. The building has been extended twice since, so what stands there now is three eras of architecture joined together. That mix is the interesting part. The original entrance is on the east side, facing S Race St, and features heavy Doric columns and a recessed arch. Make sure to take a few minutes and walk the perimeter after that and find the joins, because the later work didn't try to match the previous expansions at all. A plain modernist block went on the west side in the seventies, and a classical revival front carrying the current main entrance came in the 2000s. Getting all three into one frame takes some work, but it's worth some patience and experimenting with angles. It's a working public library so make sure to give the patrons their space. The outside is free to capture any time, but if you want to photograph the interior you will need to check with the staff first. Downtown Urbana is a listed historic district and worth taking some time to explore while you are in the area. (Urbana, Illinois, United States)
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