Bette Ammon received a big surprise Wednesday night when she was perusing a list of the 50 best libraries in America on Facebook.

She didn’t expect to find her very own library on the list. But there it was, wedged between Hawaii State Library in Honolulu and Chicago Public Library’s Chinatown Branch.

“It was out of the blue. I have no idea how this happened,” Ammon said.

The list, published by elledecor.com, notes Coeur d’Alene Public Library is positioned with views of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

“The neutral-hued library, which opens up onto a neighboring park, also won an Idaho Library of the Year Award in 2012,” the article states.

In existence since 1904, Coeur d’Alene Public Library has operated in several locations. Its first home, in April 1905, was in the store of E.B. Keller and Company, east of the intersection of Fourth Street and Sherman Avenue. At the end of 1905, the library moved into the Exchange National Bank building on the southeast corner of Fourth and Sherman. The library and its reading rooms moved into City Hall in 1909, when it was located at Fifth and Sherman. Then in 1945, the library moved into a donated building at 703 Lakeside Ave. It remained there until a new library was dedicated in 1986, at 201 Harrison Ave.

The current library building at 702 E. Front Ave., sits adjacent to McEuen Park. It was constructed in 2006 and 2007 and began full operations there on Sept. 10, 2007.

Ammon said it feels good to have the library recognized in this way.

A humanities scholar offering a program at the library recently complimented the library.

“He said to me, ‘You know, this is the most beautiful library in the state,’” Ammon said. “So it’s not the first time I’ve heard this.”