The Carnegie Free Library of Swissvale is celebrating 100 years, which is an amazing feat when you think of it, and it is not the only 100-year (or more) birthday party I've been to for a library. I also had the pleasure of attending the 125th celebration for the Braddock Carnegie Library three years ago. We in the Pittsburgh area continue to be recipients of Andrew Carnegie's generosity, but we are not alone.
There are only three U.S. states that do NOT have a Carnegie Library: Rhode Island, Delaware and Alaska. There are 2,509 libraries around the world that were built by Carnegie: the first in Dunfirmline, Scotland, his hometown, and the second in Braddock, the home of one of his major steel mills - the Edgar Thomson Works. I had no idea the scope of his philanthropy until doing some research. Being from Pittsburgh, I sometimes tend to not look beyond the three rivers but Carnegie's reach was huge.
I heard a story recently about Carnegie in his youth. According to this account he was not able to utilize libraries because his family was poor. I have not been able to confirm that story, but I have learned that as a teen who worked long hours in a cotton mill after coming to America, Andrew had little time for formal education. In his few hours of spare time, Carnegie read books lent to him by Colonel James Anderson, a citizen of Allegheny, who had his own private library and looked out for the local working boys.
Carnegie was self-taught thanks to his access to books. By the age of 24, he was the superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He knew first hand how important books were to immigrants coming to America, being able to learn about a new culture and possibly read their way to a better future. A few years down the road in 1870, due to the success of his steel empire, he was able to start his philanthropic projects, which included more than just libraries.
I am embarrassed to say many of the facts I've stated above were news to me. I knew very little about Carnegie's life and being born and raised near Pittsburgh, I should be able to write his biography.
As a child I fostered my love of reading at the Carnegie Library of McKeesport. I loved going to the castle on the hill and perusing the shelves filled with books. I used the card catalogue to find many a book on presidents, for school reports, astronomy and weather, for my own curiosity and books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, to follow the story of life on the prairie. These were the days before DVDs, CDs and computers were part of the library scene, but I had yet to learn what I had been missing.
My current local library is not a Carnegie Library but has access to everything in the county library system. When my older kids were younger my husband and I were involved in the library helping with the summer reading program and various fundraisers throughout the year. We still utilize our library often, since we can walk to it, and I think the fines we have paid through the years have purchased at least one of their computers.
I don't mind paying those fines. I love the fact that my kids love to read. All three learned to read early and bedtime stories from our library were probably a contributing factor. But it all got started back in the 70's when a little girl made her first trip to a Carnegie Library and fell in love.
It is important for us to remember what the people who came before us did to help create the world we now live in. I have heard some stories that paint Carnegie as a bad boss who paid his employees very little for the long hours they endured in poor working conditions. He may be one of those people who have two sides that make them hard to truly understand. Nevertheless, around the world there are many libraries, colleges, schools, and nonprofit organizations that were established thanks to this complex man.
Almost 100 years after his death, people around the world are still being affected by his generosity and ultimate desire to promote education as a means to success. Libraries these days are so much more than books and I think Carnegie himself would be impressed at the way these institutions have adapted to meet the needs of their communities in a digital age. He probably would have been touched by the way Braddock citizens came together to save their library from demolition after it was closed in the 1970's.
But most importantly, Carnegie would probably be happy to know that generations of families have ensured that libraries continue to be relevant - and it all started with that first page turn - and the rest is not just his-story but our story too.
Below is the magnificent Carnegie Library of McKeesport.
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