Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, “built by a Pittsburgher with Pittsburgh money for Pittsburgh,” in the words of Andrew Carnegie.

Carnegie libraries have served American cities and towns, large and small, for well over 100 years. In 1892, Andrew Carnegie provided $30,000 to build a free public library in Fairfield, Iowa, launching a project that continued until his death in 1919. Of the 1,681 such institutions built throughout the United States with Carnegie funding, nearly half still perform their original function, albeit with vastly updated technology.

In October 2007, the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy ceremony will return to Pennsylvania where Andrew Carnegie’s industrial empire was based, focusing public attention on the grandest of these institutions—Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Founded in 1895 with an initial gift of $1.12 million, the library shared its quarters with a music hall and, after additional construction, with several museums comprising the Carnegie Institute. Once construction was complete, the library was maintained by the city of Pittsburgh as Carnegie requested.

	Carnegie Library, Fairfield, Iowa.

Carnegie did not specify that the libraries be named for him…nor did he insist on a single architectural style. Carnegie’s personal secretary, James Bertram, ran the library construction program, which had no formal name yet is considered among the most influential philanthropic programs in American history. Except for its current work in African university libraries, this program ceased activity in the 1920s. But Andrew Carnegie’s belief in bringing education and culture to the masses had set the stage for the Corporation to become associated with virtually all major library developments throughout the U.S. and Commonwealth countries.

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