Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Rome, Georgia, Carnegie Library


Rome, Georgia, Carnegie Library

LIB720890

Northfield, Vermont, Public Library


Northfield, Vermont, Public Library

LIB400501

Devils Lake, North Dakota, Carnegie Library


Devils Lake, North Dakota, Carnegie Library

LIB787430

Wayland, Massachusetts, Public Library, 1919


Wayland, Massachusetts, Public Library, 1919

LIB701490

Morgan Park, Illinois, Public Library, 1915



Morgan Park, Illinois, Public Library, 1915

LIB398424

Titusville, Pennsylvania, Benson Library, Interior, c1910


Titusville, Pennsylvania, Benson Library, Interior, c1910

LIB299836

Library, Westport, Connecticut, 1910


Library, Westport, Connecticut 1910

LIB845867

Interior, Carnegie Library, Oberlin, Ohio, 1909


Interior, Carnegie Library, Oberlin, Ohio, 1909

LIB381277

Harrogate, Tennessee, Carnegie Library, Lincoln Memorial University, 1938


Harrogate, Tennessee, Carnegie Library, Lincoln Memorial University 1938

LIB283039

Public Library, Dedham, Massachusetts


Public Library, Dedham, Massachusetts

LIB397010

Monday, January 30, 2017

Carnegie Library, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, 1922


LIB603332

1904 - June 1: The first public-library building, funded with $21,000 from Andrew Carnegie, is dedicated. A typical Carnegie library, with a large dome and Roman columns, it stands at the northeast corner of   Clark Street and Strongs Avenue until 1968, when it is razed. Only its bronze front-doors and  lamp-posts—added in 1918 with a bequest from Andrew R. Week, a wealthy local lumberman--are salvaged, and are eventually incorporated into the third (1992) public library.

Public Library, Wellesley, Massachusetts, 1905



LIB693272

Public Library, Waterville, Maine, 1913



LIB101931

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Public Library, Waco, Texas, 1920


LIB145808

Calumet & Hecla Library, Calumet, Michigan


LIB980280

Almost a full decade before Carnegie money found its way to the Copper Country, it was financial support from another capitalist with more local ties that brought the first dedicated library building to the region. That man was Alexander Agassiz, president of the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company. Like Carnegie, Agassiz was an immigrant from humble beginnings that by happenstance and hard work was able to take advantage of the industrial transformation of the country to garner himself great power and wealth. As president of the great C&H Empire, Agassiz leveraged his company’s wealth and prestige to keep his workforce as content as possible through an industrial governance known as paternalism.  Towards that goal the company provided its workforce with cheap housing, public baths at its bathhouse,  free healthcare through its hospital, and assisted in the erection of churches on company property. In 1896 the company added yet another fringe benefit to its offerings – a public library. [http://www.coppercountryexplorer.com/2014/02/the-calumet-and-hecla-library/]

Public Library, Ashby, Massachusetts


LIB400938