 It was built in 1914 by Arietta Crane Reed as a tribute to her late husband, William Belden Reed, an ardent supporter of the Literary Union of Carmel, which operates the library.It is a Tudorbethan-style building of local stone with marble accents, and much original period furnishing inside.The library occupies a corner lot; it takes the form of a one-story trapezoid faced in rock quarried around nearby Lake Gilead.