Every profession has its heroes. Those people who have done more for the profession than others. Strangely librarians have an odd hero to thank. The profession, particularly public librarianship, was changed more than anything by a man who wasn't a librarian. Nor was he really that interested in libraries. And we, both librarians and American citizens, owe him a debt of gratitude.
Andrew Carnegie didn't start out to build libraries. In fact the idea of a public library, which was city funded and free for the community, was still something of a novel idea. But Carnegie was asked to do something for one of his towns. (a town populated mostly by his workers) So he built them a community center. And then he built them a library. I'm not sure where the idea started that Carnegie was handing out money for libraries but people started writing him letters. Hundreds of letters. Letters from Mayors and rotary clubs and private citizens and investors.
And Carnegie started handing out funds. His institution built more than 1600 libraries across the country. Mostly because people asked for money. He personally spent $40 million dollars for these buildings, not a small sum in the early 1900s. For many small towns this was the only way they could get a library. There were stipulations to the money though. The town would have to maintain the library and provide upkeep. The town would also have to match a certain amount of funds. It was one of the first times that libraries were designed to be financed by the city. Carnegie built the building, but the city had to do the rest.
I love libraries. I've been in tiny libraries and massive multi-story libraries and haven't found one yet that I didn't love. For library lovers out there, or even book lovers, check out this page from Curious Expeditions. It includes some of the most beautiful libraries in the world. Some of them can be found in Cynthia Hofer's stunning book entitled Libraries (pictured below) but many of them are simply photos gathered from many different sources that showcase just how incredible libraries can be. I mean it, check it out. You won't be disappointed.
There were over a hundred Carnegie libraries in Iowa and although some have been torn down, I am vowing to go visit (and photograph) all the remaining ones. This will give me a chance to get into some of the smaller Iowa towns and the excuse to visit some interesting libraries. And maybe even preserve some history before it gets torn down. So although you may not care, expect to start seeing library pictures, hopefully soon.
