The Oswego Public Library building is a rare example of the Norman Revival style, a style popular only briefly that used design elements copied from classic Roman buildings, and it was built when public library buildings were beginning to be celebrated as statements of civic pride rather than merely utilitarian structures. The great fire of 1853, which leveled most of Oswego's east side, prompted Gerrit Smith to found the library and cleared the way for new construction reflecting the growing city's prosperity. Oswego Library is believed to be the oldest public library in continuous use in its original building in the United States and one of the few surviving structures built at the start of the free library movement, when education reformers such as Gerrit Smith worked to make books available to everyone free of charge rather than limited to mostly private collections. Smith's commitment to education reform and the abolition movement led him to found the Oswego Public Library and donate a large sum for construction, with the condition that it be free and open to all regardless of race, gender, or status. Oswego's public library movement began in 1852, Smith wrote to eight city leaders that year advocating a new public library, the building was completed in 1856, and the library opened to the public in 1857. The building's architectural importance later drew preservation advocacy in 1962, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.