St. Louis Public Library (SLPL) has received a $50,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and to honor the enduring legacy of Carnegie libraries across the United States.
Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie funded the construction of 1,681 free public libraries in the United States between 1886 and 1917. Today, only about 750 of those original buildings continue to serve as libraries. SLPL is proud to operate five of these historic Carnegie buildings:
- Barr Library, 1701 South Jefferson Ave., was SLPL’s first Carnegie building, opening in 1906 on land donated by William Barr of the Famous-Barr department stores.
- Cabanne Library, 1106 Union Blvd., opened in 1907 and welcomed more than 5,000 attendees to its dedication ceremony, reception and musical performance by Peopping’s Orchestra.
- Carondelet Library, 6800 Michigan Ave., designed by architect Ernest Preisler, opened June 9, 1908, and remains a landmark in the neighborhood.
- Central Library, 1301 Olive St., began construction in 1909 after Carnegie’s $500,000 contribution covered roughly one-third of its cost; it was dedicated on January 12, 1912.
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Carpenter Library, 3309 South Grand Blvd., opened on February 14, 1927.
Carnegie, who died in 1919, was one of the richest men in history. He committed almost the entirety of his fortune to philanthropy, with public libraries being his main interest. Carnegie credited being given access to a private library as a young immigrant in the United States as the foundation of his success, and wanted to spread that opportunity to others. His $1 million gift to SLPL in 1901 was one of the largest library grants he made, and transformed the St. Louis Public Library. The Library still holds the simple letter Carnegie wrote promising the money.
“Carnegie was an interesting and complex man, and not without controversy,” said Waller McGuire, CEO of St. Louis Public Library. “But he changed the world, and continues to do so. He intended his philanthropy to express his gratitude to the nation that made his success possible. He believed libraries were the best tool to help those who wanted to work to succeed, and he backed that belief with his vast fortune. The work of a great public library — sometimes gritty, sometimes magnificent, always meaningful — is a powerful force. And now, 120 years after his original gift, Carnegie has reached out again to support that work.”
Founded in 1911, Carnegie Corporation of New York is one of America’s oldest grantmaking foundations, established by Andrew Carnegie to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding. Today, the foundation works to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for the issues Carnegie considered most vital: education, democracy, and peace.
“The response we have had to our renewed focus on libraries has been overwhelming and overwhelmingly positive,” wrote Dame Louise Richardson, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York, in a letter accompanying the donation. “At a time of unprecedented strain on our social cohesion, libraries are among the few public institutions which play a genuinely unifying role. Thank you for all the good work you are doing.”
“We are grateful for the Carnegie Corporation’s recognition of the good that public libraries accomplish in the United States, and their continued support for the libraries they helped create,” says McGuire. This new gift will be invested in the five libraries Carnegie made possible more than a hundred years ago.”