Manchester and Monticello Among Carnegie Libraries Awarded Grants

The Manchester Public Library and Monticello Public Library among dozens of Carnegie libraries in Iowa receiving a grant.

The libraries are each getting 10-thousand dollars from the charity founded by the man who built nearly 17-hundred free public libraries in America. The Carnegie Corporation’s donations are part of its 250-million dollar initiative to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. Andrew Carnegie is a Scottish immigrant who arrived in America in 1848 when he was 12 and got a job in a factory. A video on the charity’s website describes how Carnegie’s interest in libraries started.

The video ends by quoting Carnegie.

Carnegie made his fortune in the steel industry and became the richest man in the world. In 1873, Iowa became the 10th state to pass a law that allowed towns to build and maintain libraries with tax dollars. Carnegie grants required local matching funds and the first Carnegie grant in Iowa went to Fairfield in 1892. That was the first year Carnegie’s charity started financing construction of libraries — but requiring the local city council to provide a site for the building and establish a tax to support the library’s operation. 

There are 101 Carnegie Libraries in Iowa.

story and audio courtesy of Radio Iowa; photo courtesy of Janelle Tucker/KMCH