Carnegie Library
My retreat was a Carnegie Library
I was in 2nd grade when I discovered the public library in Clinton, Iowa. It gave me not only a love of books, but a serene place to learn about anything and everything. Years later, I realized that my retreat was a Carnegie Library.
Carnegie was an immigrant to this country. He was born in Scotland and came with his parents to Pennsylvania in 1848. Even though only 12 years old, he went to work almost immediately in a cotton mill. His career advanced rapidly and by the 1860s, he had investments in railroads, bridges, and oil. This led to the creation of the Carnegie Steel Company. Years later, he sold it to J.P. Morgan, becoming one of the richest men in America.
After working so hard to get his fortune, Carnegie began to re-think his life. In 1899, he put his thoughts in an article called “The Gospel of Wealth.” It was a call to the ultra-wealthy to actively support self-improvement for everyday people. To prove his point, Carnegie began to give his wealth away. When he died in 1919, about $350 million of his fortune had been allocated to projects he approved of. In today’s money, this is the equivalent of about $6.9 billion dollars.
Andrew believed that a key to self-advancement was the ability to access books, no matter who you were. He said: “There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.” Consequently, one of his programs was aimed at helping communities build public libraries.
Iowans knew a good thing when they saw it and between 1892 and 1917, 104 communities applied for Carnegie library grants. Of the 101 libraries built, Fairfield was the first one to open. (Today it houses a fabulous museum.) In fact, over a century later, 93 of these buildings still exist and are in use.
Carnegie Historical Museum
In the spring of 2002, a project was launched to document the history and changes in Iowa’s Carnegie libraries. Known as CLIP (Carnegie Libraries in Iowa) it is preserving this history, including how they have survived in changing communities.
The Hidden Iowa assignment this week is to find a Carnegie Library near you and go there. Worth the trip!