Continue walking west on Wisconsin Avenue to 8th Street. Cross 8th Street to Milwaukee's Central Library, one of the city's great public buildings. If you arrive when the library is open, definitely step inside and explore. (Note the Central Library is closed on Sundays from May - September.) The Central Library is a Milwaukee Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Open to the public in 1898, the Central Library was designed by famed Milwaukee architects Ferry & Clas. (Their design was selected from seventy-four designs submitted as part of a national competition.) The building is built in a combination of French and Italian renaissance styles known as Neo-renaissance at a cost of $780,000.

As you enter the library, you'll be struck by the library's mosaic tile floors, which were hand-laid by master Italian craftsmen from Milwaukee. Note the extraordinary detail of the design, made possible by using smaller than normal pieces of colored marble and tile. As you explore Central Library, you'll find this fine level of craftsmanship at every turn. Additional materials used in the building's interior include yellow Sienna marble, brass, stained glass and hardwoods such as oak and mahogany. As an FYI, in addtion to designing the building, Ferry & Clas also created plans for all of the building's original furniture and equipment!

Today, the Milwaukee Public Library collection includes more than 2.7 million books and other materials (such as magazines, newspapers, records, CDs, etc.) as well as more than 1.5 million government documents. The resources of Central Library serve not only Milwaukee and the surrounding area, but the state of Wisconsin as well.

If you're interested in learning much more about the history of Central Library, a free tour of the library is offered every Saturday at 11:00am. Tours begin in the library's rotunda.

When finished exploring Central Library, step back outside to Wisconsin Avenue.