AV 73 Carnegie Libraries in Ohio

              AV 73
Carnegie Libraries in Ohio
Page 1
OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Manuscripts/ Audiovisual Collections
AV 73
CARNEGIE LIBRARIES IN OHIO
Ca. 1990- 2000
OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION
Number:
AV 73
Title:
Carnegie Libraries in Ohio
Creator:
Ritchie Thomas
Dates:
Ca. 1990- 2000
Media:
Black & White and Color Photographs, Contact Prints, 35mm & 2” x2” Negatives
Quantity:
0.42 Cubic Feet
Location:
Ohio Historical Society
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE COLLECTION
Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland in 1835. He grew up very poor and in 1848 left school and came to the United States with his family to settle near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While working in a textile factory he met the man that would change his life, a Colonel James Anderson. Anderson opened his library to his workers every Saturday, Carnegie took full advantage of this. Over the next 50 fifty years Carnegie would amass a fortune that was unheard of in the nineteenth century. He would become the richest man in the world after developing his steel empire. Carnegie never forgot his former employer and believed that the rich should give back to society.
Andrew Carnegie felt that a library was the most important aspect of a community. Therefore, he developed a plan to build hundreds of libraries throughout the English speaking world. From the 1880’ s through the beginning of the twentieth century he built 2,509 libraries, 1,679 of which were in the United States, and 111 of those were in Ohio. For these libraries he spent approximately $ 56,000,000, which was about $ 10,000 to $ 20,000 per building. Carnegie had strict guidelines for donating money. The town or city had to provide a good location and be willing to operate the library after construction. He usually leaned towards the small towns and only after a great deal of thought decided to donate to cities such as Cincinnati ( he didn’t trust major cities). Of the 111 Ohio libraries, 101 are still standing. Some buildings are better off than others. Some of the old libraries have become offices or condominiums, others are still used as libraries.
Source:
Armentrout, Mary Ellen. Carnegie Libraries of Ohio, Our Cultural Heritage. Mansfield, Ohio: Rainbow Publishing, 2002.