LIS 651, Information Professions
Library Leader Paper
Andrew Carnegie
By Younsook (Suki) Park
Andrew Carnegie is one of the most influential figures of the 19th century. Not to mention
his unprecedented success in business fields from steel, iron to railways which made the
wealthiest man in the world, he is far more remembered as one of the greatest
philanthropists whose influence still continues strongly among hundreds of thousands of
people today.
Among the extensive areas of his philanthropic accomplishments, this paper focuses on
the area where Carnegie devoted himself most in many parts of the world over an
extended period of time: Providing communities with free public libraries.
Andrew Carnegie had begun his new life as a philanthropist a few years before his
retirement from business in 1991. Although his official launch of philanthropic mission
began at the age of 56, one of his memos to himself indicates that he had kept that
mission in mind from a very early age.
Thirty three and an income of $50,000 per annum! By this time tow years I can so
arrange all my business as to secure at least $50,000 per annum. Beyond this never
earn- make no effort to increase my fortune, but spend the surplus each year for
benevolent purposes! Cast aside business forever, except for others1
In his in-depth essay “The Best Fields for Philanthropy, 1889”, Carnegie provides a
detailed vision of what people of wealth, or philanthropists like him need to do for the
good of the people in seven areas such as universities, libraries, hospitals, public parks,
city halls, swimming baths and churches. Among them, his emphasis on free public
libraries stands out most.
What is the best gift which can be given to a community? … a free library occupies
the first place, provided the community will accept and maintain it as a public
institution, as much a part of the city property as its public schools, and, indeed, an
adjunct to these. It is, no doubt, possible that my own personal experience may have
led me to value a free library beyond all other forms of beneficence.2
Carnegie’s first experience with a library in his childhood left a lasting impression on him.
Being a son of poor immigrant parents, Andrew Carnegie did not have much opportunity
for education. His parents struggled in order to make a living in a new land, and young
Carnegie rather hoped to get a job to help support the family.
When Carnegie was still a working boy in Pittsburgh, a Colonel Anderson of Allegheny
established in 1850 the J. Anderson Library of Allegheny City to furnish reading for the
mechanics and workingmen in the trades. Young Andrew wrote a letter to the newspaper
requesting that the library be opened to all working boys, and he was invited to its use.3
By the time Carnegie declared his retirement and the beginning of philanthropy,
numerous requests arrived from virtually everywhere, and it was James Bertram,
Carnegie’s private secretary that received, organized and responded to all those
applications and Carnegie provided grants according to his guideline.
As more communities received grants for free libraries, the number of request increased
and Carnegie’s mission of providing people, rich or poor, the access to information was
being realized.
By the time of his death, Carnegie had given the money to build 2,811 free public
libraries, of which 1,946 were located in the United States; 660 in Great Britain,
including Ireland; 156 in Canada; 23 in New Zealand; 13 in South Africa; 6 in the British
West Indies; 4 in Australia; and 1 each in the islands of Seychelles, Mauritius, and Fiji.
The total cost for these libraries was $50,364, 808. Every state in the Union except for
Rhode Island had at least one Carnegie library.4
One man’s act of giving did reach out to every part of the country and to foreign nations
as well giving people opportunity to advance their lives. Carnegie, however, also faced
opposition and criticism in this act. Opposition varied from conflicting interests in local
politics and taxation, discontent with lack of funds such as books, to attack on Carnegie’s
as an immoral businessman by organized labor and the left, etc.
Many communities did not reach an agreement on the requirement for grants that they
have to levy a tax for the maintenance of their libraries and many other communities
complained that Carnegie provided them only with library building, not books and
trained librarians. And labor organizations and the left criticized the way Carnegie
accumulated his wealth at the expense of workers’ wages and the intention of his library
philanthropy for glorifying his personal monument.
It is interesting to see that Carnegie emphasizes the role of each community in the library
philanthropy even before the start of it,
An endowed institution is liable to become the prey of a clique. The public ceases to
take interest in it, or, rather, never acquires interest in it. The rule has been violated
which requires the recipients to help themselves. Everything has been done for the
community instead of its being only helped to help itself.5
Carnegie, indeed, had it in mind that each local community should be an active part in
building and maintaining their libraries in terms of flow of books and personnel once they
were granted a building from him.
Ralph Munn, formerly director of the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, called Andrew
Carnegie a great library patron and a stimulator of library development. He credited the
benefactor for emphasizing the library as a responsibility of the local government,
spurring education for librarianship, and bringing about improvements in library
architecture.6
Despite all the criticism and opposition, there is no denying in Carnegie’s great
contribution to the movement of free public library in United States and other parts of the
world. From a very humble beginning as a son of poor immigrants and a hardworking
self-made man, he became one of the most successful and wealthiest businessmen in the
world, who had strong commitment and vision in distributing his surplus for the
enlightenment of his fellowmen by offering free libraries in an unprecedented way.
The importance of Carnegie library philanthropy lies in its perfect timing. It came in the
best possible period-during the height of library expansion in the United States.
Beginning in the 1890’s, states began to lay active roles in organizing public libraries in
each community. The need for library buildings was desperate, and Carnegie’s gifts
helped to fill the void.7
Andrew Carnegie, indeed, brought enormous impact on millions of people’s lives at time
of his library philanthropy, and his mission and vision continues beyond time and place,
continuing its benefits generation after generation. His influence exists in every library
visit we make today, in every improvement we have made to our libraries and in every
effort we have made in distribution of access of information.
1
Milton Meltzer, The Many Lives of Andrew Carnegie, p 63
Andrew Carnegie, The Best Fields for Philanthropy, North American ReviewVol149, Issue397, 1889.
3
George S.Bobinski, Carnegie Libraries: Their History and Impact on American Library Development
(Chicago: American Library Association, 1969) , p12
2
4
5
Andrew Carnegie, Autobiography (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1920), p.819
Andrew Carnegie, The Best Fields for Philanthropy, North American ReviewVol149, Issue397, 1889
( p.689)
6
George S.Bobinski, Carnegie Libraries (p.186)
7
George S.Bobinski, Carnegie Libraries (p.191)