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Andrew Carnegie in his lifetime made new library buildings available to 1,412 communities across the country. He contributed funds to build libraries in 46 states and the District of Columbia. Very few towns who requested his monies and agreed to his terms were ever refused. He donated $41,033,850 to build 1,679 library buildings in the United States between 1890 and 1917. His requirements were simple. To be eligible a community had to demonstrate the need for a library, provide a building site, and promise to support library services and maintain the library with tax funds equal to 10% of the grant amount annually. Carnegie never formally announced a library grant program. He just began giving money to people to build libraries, and the word spread. His first library building was erected in 1881 in his hometown of Dunfermline, Scotland. Following that he funded libraries in the communities where his company had business interests. His first library building donation to a community with which he did not have personal ties or business investments was in 1891 to Fairfield, Iowa. Goshen received the first promise of funds for a library in the state of Indiana. This occurred because the son-in-law of Goshen resident C.A. Davis lived in Pennsylvania and knew about Carnegie's contributions there. He told Mr. Davis of this opportunity. The Goshen community showed immediate interest and mobilized themselves to make the request to Carnegie. The first letter to Mr. Carnegie was dated January 9, 1900, and funds were promised to Goshen in a letter dated January 15, 1901. Other Indiana communities received promises for funding later in 1901: Marion in February; Crawfordsville, Elkhart, Fort Wayne, Muncie, Peru, Portland, Wabash and Washington in March; Bloomington and Elwood in October; and Columbus, Huntington and Shelbyville in December. In 1901 Carnegie promised to donate funds for 131 libraries across the country. People in the state of Indiana took particular interest in the library funding program. Indiana ranks first in the number of communities that were given Carnegie grants during the program. 155 communities in Indiana received grants to erect 164 buildings. Indiana ranks fourth in the amount contributed to a state. When grants are ranked according to appropriation per 100 of population, Indiana ranks second. The Carnegie library program ended in 1917 following a resolution adopted by the Carnegie Corporation in New York that no new applications were to be considered. Some money was allocated after the war for offers made previously. The last grants in Indiana were given to North Vernon in February of 1918 and Lowell in March of 1918. Sources: Bobinski, George S. Carnegie Libraries: Their History and Impact on American Public Library Development. Chicago: American Library Association, 1970. Jones, Theodore. Carnegie Libraries Across America: A Public Legacy. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 1997. |
