James Robert Rhind

Rhind’s libraries were all built with locally quarried sandstone, which blended in with the existing tenement neighbourhoods. His landmark buildings were greatly enhanced by his liberal use of columns, domes and sculpted features. Many of the façades were decorated with stone and bronze statues by the noted Glasgow sculptor, William Kellock Brown. Rhind retained his base in Inverness while he temporarily occupied offices in Glasgow city centre during the construction of the new Carnegie libraries. In Scotland the Carnegie libraries were typically built of stone. In the rest of the British Isles there was much more use of brick. The drawings of the Carnegie libraries designed by architect James Robert Rhind are in the Strathclyde Archives, Glasgow.

• Illustration — Calder Street frontage of Govanhill Library • Bridgeton District Library, 1903-1906 • Dennistoun Library, 1903-1906 • Govanhill & Crosshill District Library, 1902-1906 • Hutchesontown District Library, 1904-1906 • Maryhill Public Library, 1903-1905 • Parkhead District Library, 1904-1906 • Woodside Library, 1902-1905 Rhind's best known buildings in the north of Scotland are the Royal Golf Hotel, Dornoch and the Crown Church, Inverness.