Carnegie library

Carnegie libraries are libraries which were built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman Andrew Carnegie. Over 2,500 Carnegie libraries were built, including public and university libraries. Carnegie earned the nickname Patron Saint of Libraries.

Of the 2,509 libraries funded between 1883 and 1929, 1,689 were built in the United States, 660 in Britain and Ireland, 156 in Canada, and others in Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, and Fiji. Very few towns that requested a grant and agreed to his terms were refused. When the last grant was made in 1919, there were 3,500 libraries in the United States, nearly half of them paid for by Carnegie.

In the early 20th century, a Carnegie library was the most imposing structure in hundreds of small American communities from Maine to California. Contrary to the belief of many people, most of the library buildings were unique, displaying a number of different Beaux-Arts and other architectural styles, including Italian Renaissance, Baroque, Classical Revival and Spanish Colonial. Each style was chosen by the community and was typically simple and formal, welcoming patrons to enter through a prominent doorway, nearly always accessed via a staircase. The staircase was intended to show that the person was elevating himself. Similarly, outside virtually every branch a lamppost or lantern symbolized enlightenment.

The first of Carnegie's public libraries opened in his hometown, Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1883. As with most of the others, contrary to common perception, his name did not appear on the building. Rather, he had a motto -- "Let there be light" -- inscribed over the entrance. His first library in the United States was built in 1889 in Braddock, Pennsylvania, home to one of the Carnegie Steel Company's mills.

Self-Improvement through Learning

Books and libraries were always an important part of Carnegie's life, beginning with his childhood in Scotland. There he listened to readings and discussions of books from the Tradesman's Subscription Library that his father helped create. Later, in the United States, while working for the local telegraph company in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, he borrowed books from the personal library of Colonel James Anderson, who opened the collection to his workers every Saturday. In his autobiography, Carnegie credited Anderson with providing an opportunity for "working boys" (that some said should not be "entitled to books") to acquire the knowledge to improve themselves. (Andrew Carnegie: A Tribute: Colonel James Anderson, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh ^[1])

Carnegie's personal experience as an immigrant who, with help from others, worked his way into a position of wealth reinforced his belief in a society based on merit where anyone who worked hard could become successful. This conviction was a major element of his philosophy of giving in general, and of his libraries as its best known expression.

Fields for philanthropy

Carnegie believed in giving to the "industrious and ambitious; not those who need everything done for them, but those who, being most anxious and able to help themselves, deserve and will be benefited by help from others." (Andrew Carnegie, "The Best Fields for Philanthropy," The North American Review, Volume 149, Issue 397, December, 1889 ^[2]) His other stated "best fields" for donating surplus wealth were universities, health care institutions, public parks, assembly halls, public swimming pools, and churches.

Nearly all of Carnegie's libraries were built according to "The Carnegie Formula" which required the town that received the gift to:

• demonstrate the need for a public library;
• provide the building site; and
• annually provide ten percent of the cost of the library's construction to support its operation.

The amount of money donated to most communities was based on U.S. Census figures and averaged approximately $2 per person. While there were some communities that refused to seek a grant, considering Carnegie's money to be tainted by his business practices, or disdaining the libraries as memorials to himself, the mailbox of James Bertram, Carnegie's personal secretary who ran the program, was always full of requests.

The impact of Carnegie's philanthropy was maximized by its perfect timing. It came during the peak of library expansion in the US. By 1890, many states had begun to take an active role in organizing public libraries, and the new buildings filled a tremendous need. Interest in libraries was heightened at a crucial time in their early development by Carnegie's high profile and his genuine belief in their importance. (Bobinski, p. 191)

Self-service stacks

"The Carnegie libraries were important because they had open stacks which encouraged people to browse....People could choose for themselves what books they wanted to read," according to Walter E. Langsam, an architectural historian and teacher at the University of Cincinnati. Before Carnegie, patrons had to ask a clerk to retrieve books from closed stacks. (Al Andry, New Life for Historic Libraries, The Cincinnati Post, October 11 1999 ^[3])

Continuing legacy

While hundreds of the library buildings have been converted into museums, community centers, office buildings and residences—or demolished—more than half of those in the United States still serve their communities, many in middle- to low-income neighborhoods, over a century after their construction. For example, Carnegie libraries still form the nucleus of the New York Public Library system in New York City, with 31 of the original 39 buildings still in operation. Also, the main library and 7 still-existing branches of the Pittsburgh public library system, the aptly-named Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, are Carnegie libraries.

Distribution of U.S. Carnegie libraries in 1920

Alphabetical by State			Ranked by Number
Alabama	14		Indiana	165
Alaska	0		California	142
Arizona	4		Illinois	106
Arkansas	4		New York	106
California	142		Ohio	106
Colorado	36		Iowa	101
Connecticut	11		Nebraska	69
Delaware	0		Minnesota	64
District of Columbia	4		Wisconsin	63
Florida	10		Michigan	61
Georgia	24		Kansas	59
Hawaii	1		Pennsylvania	59
Idaho	10		Washington	44
Illinois	106		Massachusetts	43
Indiana	165		Colorado	36
Iowa	101		New Jersey	36
Kansas	59		Missouri	33
Kentucky	23		Texas	32
Louisiana	9		Oregon	31
Maine	18		South Dakota	25
Maryland	14		Georgia	24
Massachusetts	43		Oklahoma	24
Michigan	61		Kentucky	23
Minnesota	64		Utah	23
Mississippi	11		Maine	18
Missouri	33		Montana	17
Montana	17		Wyoming	16
Nebraska	69		Alabama	14
Nevada	1		Maryland	14
New Hampshire	9		South Carolina	14
New Jersey	36		Tennessee	13
New Mexico	3		Connecticut	11
New York	106		Mississippi	11
North Carolina	10		Florida	10
North Dakota	8		Idaho	10
Ohio	106		North Carolina	10
Oklahoma	24		Louisiana	9
Oregon	31		New Hampshire	9
Pennsylvania	59		North Dakota	8
Rhode Island	0		Arizona	4
South Carolina	14		Arkansas	4
South Dakota	25		District of Columbia	4
Tennessee	13		Vermont	4
Texas	32		New Mexico	3
Utah	23		Virginia	3
Vermont	4		West Virginia	3
Virginia	3		Hawaii	1
Washington	44		Nevada	1
West Virginia	3		Alaska	0
Wisconsin	63		Delaware	0
Wyoming	16		Rhode Island	0

See also

• Saint John Free Public Library

References

• Molly Skeen (March 5 2004). How America's Carnegie Libraries Adapt to Survive. Preservation Online.
• December 10 2002. Yorkville Library Celebrates Centennial. The New York Public Library.
• Michael Lorenzen (1999). Deconstructing the Carnegie Libraries: The Sociological Reasons Behind Carnegie's Millions to Public Libraries. Illinois Libraries. 81, no. 2: 75-78.
• Theodore Jones (1997). Carnegie Libraries Across America: A Public Legacy. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-14422-3
• George Bobinski (1969). Carnegie Libraries: Their History and Impact on American Public Library Development. American Library Association. ISBN 0-8389-0022-4

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