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Andrew Carnegie was the foremost supporter of public library construction to the point that Carnegie Library became a cliche, synonymous with the public library, especially in small towns. Yet some communities that asked for Carnegie's funds to build a library later took public action to decline the funds. Because he was viewed as a robber baron, it has been assumed that these refusals were motivated by a desire not to take tainted money. This work documents that this was rarely the case. Indeed, there were many reasons for opposition to the Carnegie library grants. In some cases, local authorities remained unconvinced of the need for a public library. Some communities were under legal or financial restrictions that prevented them from taxing themselves in support of the library. In some, there was simply opposition to increasing the tax burden; in others the opposition focused on the perception that Carnegie was building memorials to himself.
Experienced historians were commissioned to conduct thorough studies of regional clusters. The authors made the broadest possible use of primary sources, including public archives, manuscript collections, local newspaper accounts, and the records of the Carnegie Corporation in the Library of Congress. Of particular relevance were the files of the Carnegie Library Correspondence, documenting most of the history of first, Andrew Carnegie's--and later, the Carnegie Corporation's--program to fund library construction programs.
List of contents
Introduction by Robert Sidney Martin
The Founding of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh by Rosemary R. DuMont
Aborted Library Projects in Pennsylvania: Community Reactions to Library Offers in Carnegie's "Native State" by Pamela S. Richards
The Carnegie Question and the Public Library Movement in Progressive Era New York by Frederick J. Stielow and James Corsaro
Women's Club Culture and the Failure of Library Development in Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio by Daniel F. Ring
No Palace for the People: Carnegie Rejections in Indiana by John Mark Tucker
Mistaken Pride, Unseasonable Rush: Rejected Carnegie Grants in Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska by Robert Sidney Martin, Anne P. Diffendal, Loren Nelson Horton, and Randy Roberts
Poverty of Mind and Lack of Municipal Spirit: Rejection of Carnegie Public Library Building Grants by Seven Southern Communities by Donald G. Davis, Jr. and Ronald C. Stone, Jr.
Summary and Conclusions by Robert Sidney Martin
Index
About the author
ROBERT SIDNEY MARTIN is Assistant Dean of Libraries for Special Collections Louisiana State University Libraries, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
